Tresha91203
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Louisiana
Questions: Can I tell tenant wife to quit contacting me and if she has further issues to have her husband contact me. I do not appreciate her rudeness and hostility. Also, if I have installed sufficient BTU window AC units for the square footage of the house, do I have to keep installing more and more when she complains she is hot. (They don't even turn on all of the units they have. Every bedroom has a window unit and there are 2 units in the combo living/dining/kitchen). She complains the hallway is hot. I tell her to open the bedroom doors so the air can circulate.
We have rented a 1700 sq ft house to a married couple for the past 17 months, 6-month lease that reverted to a month-to-month. Central AC was working at the start of renting 01/2011. The house we rent to them is next door to the house we live in. Initial lease (which both tenant husband and tenant wife signed) states they are responsible for utilities (except garbage pickup, which we provide), and that we provide a washer/dryer hookup. We have never billed them for water, gas or internet, and we have provided them with a washer and dryer, even installed a brand new one for them when initial one broke. All was fine and dandy.
May 26, 2012 - Get an email from tenant wife stating AC not working.
May 27, 2012 - Checked email, called repairman, responded to email stating I only check email once per day and give her my phone number. Pay repairman to come out that day (Sunday of Memorial Day weekend). Repairman orders a part that he thinks will fix the problem. We offer tenant hotel option or window unit option and they choose window units. We install 3 of them in the windows tenant wife request.
May 29, 2012 - Tenant wife emails that central AC is still not working. This is the day after Memorial Day, the day the part company is likely receiving the part order. I respond same day telling her that part is on order and asking her if window units are working well or do they need an additional window unit. Husband had already been informed that part had to be ordered, but apparently they don't communicate.
June 4, 2012 - Tenant wife emails to inform me that the temperature in the small bedroom, hallway and bathroom is high and not OK. Asks when central air will be repaired. I respond same day, surprised that the temperature was high and she didn't say so when I asked her in writing on the 29th. I explained that the part was on order and the repairman thinks that will fix it but is not positive. Do you want an additional window unit or two in the meantime?
June 5, 2012 - Part comes in and we replace it. Cannot gain access to the thermostat because tenant wife will not answer the door, although she is there. Repairman leaves not knowing if unit works or not. Go back 2 hours later and she still will not answer the door. Cannot turn unit on to check if repair worked.
June 6, 2012 - Tenant wife sends snippy email stating that she perfectly understood that we were willing to install additional window units, but she does not want that as it will not help. Also states that hotel is not an option for them but reduced rent next month would be. I respond same day that the part has already been replaced but we could not check it because she would not answer the door. I tell her to let me know when my husband can come turn on her thermostat. If she doesn't want him inside, she can try it herself. If this does not solve the problem, we will have air conditioner repairman come out again.
June 8, 2012 - Tenant child walks over to inform us that the toilet is overflowing and she is home alone. I go over there and try to plunge it but cannot fix it. While I am there, I turn on the thermostat to check if central AC is working. None of the window AC units are turned on. Tenant child informs me that tenant wife wont allow them to be turned on until right before tenant husband comes home. Call plumber who arrives 8 PM same day (Friday night) and has to do $450 worth of repair, including removing the toilet to get a machine down the hole to blow it out. Plumber says someone flushed something definitely not toilet paper. I ask him to write that on the receipt and he does. He also writes his cell number on the receipt in case we need him for legal reasons. Central AC not seeming to work. Since they aren't bothering to turn on the window AC units, I decide to not pay weekend rate for AC repairman and will call him Monday to come out.
June 11, 2012 - Call AC repairman to inform him unit repair did not work. He orders next part.
June 14, 2012 - Tenant wife sends hostile email saying it is hot over there, demands to know exactly when central AC will be repaired, demands 4 additional window AC units installed by noon tomorrow. I walk over there to discover that only 2 of the window AC units are even turned on, not all 3. She is nasty and hostile, I am offended and hostile right back. I tell her if she is hot to turn on the window AC unit that is currently off. Ultimately, I agree to a larger window unit for the living room and an additional small one for the back bedroom, but not by noon tomorrow.
June 15, 2012 - Repairman replaces 2nd part and wife tenant wont open the door to check thermostat. Bang on door until she relents. Unit still not working. I call second company to verify that unit is unrepairable and to get a quote on replacement.
June 16, 2012 - Purchase 2 additional window units for the rental house and bring them over. Tenant wife runs to her bedroom and closes the door (she does this every time, xenophobic or something). Tenant husband is surprised, says maybe it got a little hot, but not bad. Says he doesn't need the smaller of the window units. We install the large window AC unit in the living area, leave the smaller unit on the porch in its box to return later. 2 hours later, we hear them yelling and see tenant husband installing the smaller unit in the back window to shut her up. Shortly thereafter, tenant wife calls me to send my husband back over because she wants him to move the units around some. My husband basically says she should have come out of her room when he and his helper were there a couple of hours ago. The helper is gone now, so he's not doing it right now.
June 17, 2012 - Second opinion comes through, total replacement needed, $6,900 minimum but $8,000 for recommended unit. OUCH. We cannot do this at this time. I speak to tenant husband and inform him that we will not be able to repair the central AC. Tenant husband states he understands, window units are fine. I express concern that tenant wife will not be happy. Tenant husband says to ignore her, she is irrational and cannot be pleased. He states he is not planning on vacating and that he has told her as much.
June 28, 2012 - Tenant wife emails me to tell me central AC is still not working and she's hostile. She demands that we put them up in a hotel until it is repaired. Claims she has been waiting patiently for 26 days while I just "pretend" to be working on the problem. She demands that all further communication be with her via email (tenant husband does not have computer or email access, so she is basically saying not to talk to her husband, the one who pays the rent and the only one of them with a job). She states they only rented the house because it was advertised with central AC and they would not have signed the lease if it did not have central AC. I respond same day that she has no lease currently, but that she did have working central AC for the duration of her lease. The central AC unit will not be replaced. I inform her that tenant husband says its fine. I would be willing to install different or additional window or portable units, but only if I get to speak to BOTH her and tenant husband at the same time. I don't want to invest more since she has already stated that nothing less than working central AC will satisfy her.
Questions: Can I tell tenant wife to quit contacting me and if she has further issues to have her husband contact me. I do not appreciate her rudeness and hostility. Also, if I have installed sufficient BTU window AC units for the square footage of the house, do I have to keep installing more and more when she complains she is hot. (They don't even turn on all of the units they have. Every bedroom has a window unit and there are 2 units in the combo living/dining/kitchen). She complains the hallway is hot. I tell her to open the bedroom doors so the air can circulate.
We have rented a 1700 sq ft house to a married couple for the past 17 months, 6-month lease that reverted to a month-to-month. Central AC was working at the start of renting 01/2011. The house we rent to them is next door to the house we live in. Initial lease (which both tenant husband and tenant wife signed) states they are responsible for utilities (except garbage pickup, which we provide), and that we provide a washer/dryer hookup. We have never billed them for water, gas or internet, and we have provided them with a washer and dryer, even installed a brand new one for them when initial one broke. All was fine and dandy.
May 26, 2012 - Get an email from tenant wife stating AC not working.
May 27, 2012 - Checked email, called repairman, responded to email stating I only check email once per day and give her my phone number. Pay repairman to come out that day (Sunday of Memorial Day weekend). Repairman orders a part that he thinks will fix the problem. We offer tenant hotel option or window unit option and they choose window units. We install 3 of them in the windows tenant wife request.
May 29, 2012 - Tenant wife emails that central AC is still not working. This is the day after Memorial Day, the day the part company is likely receiving the part order. I respond same day telling her that part is on order and asking her if window units are working well or do they need an additional window unit. Husband had already been informed that part had to be ordered, but apparently they don't communicate.
June 4, 2012 - Tenant wife emails to inform me that the temperature in the small bedroom, hallway and bathroom is high and not OK. Asks when central air will be repaired. I respond same day, surprised that the temperature was high and she didn't say so when I asked her in writing on the 29th. I explained that the part was on order and the repairman thinks that will fix it but is not positive. Do you want an additional window unit or two in the meantime?
June 5, 2012 - Part comes in and we replace it. Cannot gain access to the thermostat because tenant wife will not answer the door, although she is there. Repairman leaves not knowing if unit works or not. Go back 2 hours later and she still will not answer the door. Cannot turn unit on to check if repair worked.
June 6, 2012 - Tenant wife sends snippy email stating that she perfectly understood that we were willing to install additional window units, but she does not want that as it will not help. Also states that hotel is not an option for them but reduced rent next month would be. I respond same day that the part has already been replaced but we could not check it because she would not answer the door. I tell her to let me know when my husband can come turn on her thermostat. If she doesn't want him inside, she can try it herself. If this does not solve the problem, we will have air conditioner repairman come out again.
June 8, 2012 - Tenant child walks over to inform us that the toilet is overflowing and she is home alone. I go over there and try to plunge it but cannot fix it. While I am there, I turn on the thermostat to check if central AC is working. None of the window AC units are turned on. Tenant child informs me that tenant wife wont allow them to be turned on until right before tenant husband comes home. Call plumber who arrives 8 PM same day (Friday night) and has to do $450 worth of repair, including removing the toilet to get a machine down the hole to blow it out. Plumber says someone flushed something definitely not toilet paper. I ask him to write that on the receipt and he does. He also writes his cell number on the receipt in case we need him for legal reasons. Central AC not seeming to work. Since they aren't bothering to turn on the window AC units, I decide to not pay weekend rate for AC repairman and will call him Monday to come out.
June 11, 2012 - Call AC repairman to inform him unit repair did not work. He orders next part.
June 14, 2012 - Tenant wife sends hostile email saying it is hot over there, demands to know exactly when central AC will be repaired, demands 4 additional window AC units installed by noon tomorrow. I walk over there to discover that only 2 of the window AC units are even turned on, not all 3. She is nasty and hostile, I am offended and hostile right back. I tell her if she is hot to turn on the window AC unit that is currently off. Ultimately, I agree to a larger window unit for the living room and an additional small one for the back bedroom, but not by noon tomorrow.
June 15, 2012 - Repairman replaces 2nd part and wife tenant wont open the door to check thermostat. Bang on door until she relents. Unit still not working. I call second company to verify that unit is unrepairable and to get a quote on replacement.
June 16, 2012 - Purchase 2 additional window units for the rental house and bring them over. Tenant wife runs to her bedroom and closes the door (she does this every time, xenophobic or something). Tenant husband is surprised, says maybe it got a little hot, but not bad. Says he doesn't need the smaller of the window units. We install the large window AC unit in the living area, leave the smaller unit on the porch in its box to return later. 2 hours later, we hear them yelling and see tenant husband installing the smaller unit in the back window to shut her up. Shortly thereafter, tenant wife calls me to send my husband back over because she wants him to move the units around some. My husband basically says she should have come out of her room when he and his helper were there a couple of hours ago. The helper is gone now, so he's not doing it right now.
June 17, 2012 - Second opinion comes through, total replacement needed, $6,900 minimum but $8,000 for recommended unit. OUCH. We cannot do this at this time. I speak to tenant husband and inform him that we will not be able to repair the central AC. Tenant husband states he understands, window units are fine. I express concern that tenant wife will not be happy. Tenant husband says to ignore her, she is irrational and cannot be pleased. He states he is not planning on vacating and that he has told her as much.
June 28, 2012 - Tenant wife emails me to tell me central AC is still not working and she's hostile. She demands that we put them up in a hotel until it is repaired. Claims she has been waiting patiently for 26 days while I just "pretend" to be working on the problem. She demands that all further communication be with her via email (tenant husband does not have computer or email access, so she is basically saying not to talk to her husband, the one who pays the rent and the only one of them with a job). She states they only rented the house because it was advertised with central AC and they would not have signed the lease if it did not have central AC. I respond same day that she has no lease currently, but that she did have working central AC for the duration of her lease. The central AC unit will not be replaced. I inform her that tenant husband says its fine. I would be willing to install different or additional window or portable units, but only if I get to speak to BOTH her and tenant husband at the same time. I don't want to invest more since she has already stated that nothing less than working central AC will satisfy her.
