I have a situation at my owner occupied two family, in New England.
Brief Backstory-
-Rental agreement states that tenant is responsible for utilities (landlord responsible for water)
-1st floor tenant was shut off by electric company due to non-payment.
-Tenant paid up, electric company turned power back on
-Power didn’t go on, electric company told tenant shut off main breaker before they release full power
-Tenant complies, electric company turns on full power
-Tenant tries to reset main breaker, resulting in a trip.
-Tried again, tripped again.
-Called electric company, they came out and cut power at the box (pulled meter off) and recommended I have the main breaker replaced
-Due to the steps taken, I now have to have a licensed electrician come out and swap the breaker, then get it inspected by the city “wiring inspector” before calling electric company to turn power back on.
I am told there is no way I can get this sorted out before Monday. The city inspectors are on summer hours (half-day fridays) still. So even if my electrician makes the repairs, the electric company cannot turn the power on until the inspector signs off. Which will be Monday at the earliest.
My Question: I understand I, as the landlord, am responsible to repair the breaker, assuming it was faulty and not damaged due to tenant mis-use. However, they will be without power for the weekend now, (they have been out of power for 3 days already). Am I responsible to somehow supply them with power, or suitable housing, or anything like that? Or do I just get the repair done as soon as possible and let them deal with living without power for the next few days?
If it had been my fault, I’d see it differently. The problem was caused by the tenant not paying their power bill, so I wouldn’t be feeling too sorry for them.
You are getting it taken care of as fast as you possibly can.
Trip was very possibly because tenant had everything in the house turned on, neglected to go around and turn everything off before turning main breaker on. Again, tenant error causes no electricity.
The Rental Agreement doesn’t get into this specific situation. Obviously as the landlord I understand my responsibility to maintain the “equipment”, water meter, water heater, boiler unit, gas meter, and electrical meter and breaker boxes. However, its not a question of whether I NEED to fix the problem, as it is obvious that I do. The question then becomes, due to the inconvenience this causes the tenant would I in some way be responsible to find them temporary suitable housing while I resolve the issue.
Where I am located, Landlords are responsible to provide a heating system in good working order. The boiler will obviously not function if their power is off. The one thing that works in my favor is that where I am located the “heat provision” is only in effect during the “Heating Season” which they have indicated runs from Sept 16th - June 14th. So, say this little hiccup happened a week from now, and now I am in violation of the law. Would I then be required to put them up in a hotel or something like that while I resolve the electrical issue.
I don’t see why you would be. I have a generator that I would offer to let them borrow for the refrigerator only- I keep it for stuff like this or the power going out in winter - frozen pipes.
It’s not an ideal situation, but it’s obvious that it was caused from too many nuisance trips. Pick your electrician wisely and be there when they perform the work to keep the electrician from talking to the tenant and somehow getting this blamed on you.
Get it fixed immediately and document everything. There won’t be enough damages for a lawsuit. Anything in their fridge is already spoiled and it’s not hot enough for them to freeze to death or bake away in the heat of summer.
Regaurdless of what the lease says, you are responsible to provide the tenant with a habitable house. No power is not habitable. In court they can get anything from you they ask for. The only tangible losses will be food spoilage in the refrigerator. What I would do is put a generator on their refrigerator because although all they had in the refrigerator was 2 six packs of beer and yesterdays pizza, their lawyer will sue claiming that they had a million dollars worth of frozen beef in it.
FWIF, I just had a tenant NOT KNOW HOW TO PROPERLY RESET A BREAKER
They would push it to “ON” without resetting it to “OFF” first. The breaker only popped once. When that happens the breaker switch sits in the center. They repeatedly would try to go from the center to “ON” and the switch simply would return to center. IT WAS NEVER RESET.
Have them turn off all lights, fans, appliances in their unit and then properly reset the breaker by switching the breaker to “OFF” and then to “ON”. Problem solved.
Rental agreement or lease is an agreement that the landlord and the tenant, which gives the tenant the right to use and manage the rental property for a certain period. When the tenant to turn right or part of the right to use and manage the properties for rent or a roommate agreement that the subtenant is sometimes called rent.