Landlords fixing our air-conditioning... advice?

[Kay in Cal]

OK, here's the set-up. We just moved into a house that we rent. We pay a total of $3000 a month, including a separate flat that our friends live in.

 

The house had stood empty for several years, and even though the owner did a lot of "work" on the house, there have been many repairs to be made by the management company. A door that wouldn't close (it was installed upside down). Parts of the deck had to be replaced (crumbling insect-eaten boards were just painted over, but would give way underneath you). The management company has been pretty cooperative doing all this stuff.

 

The problem now is air conditioning. When we first moved here, we knew it was going to be hot. Summer temps are usually in the low 100s. My dh has health issues that make him susceptible to heat, and he's a SAHD. When we had the tour of the property, I specifically asked about the AC, and the property manager assured me that it worked (or would, by the time we moved in).

 

Well... it's hot in the house. The AC cycles on all day, is costing us a fortune, but in the "cool" part of the house will only get down to around 80 degrees. That is in the bedrooms. The kitchen, dining room, living room--all the places you want to be in the day--are 10 degrees hotter.

 

They've sent 2 people to "check it out". The second one was supposed to be an AC guy, but he was just driving a logo-less pickup with a few tools in it like the usual handyman. Both said it needed freon, and charged it, though neither mentioned leaks. The second guy said he thought the unit was too small. Mostly they both said that the AC was just designed wrong, didn't have enough vents, etc, but was "working fine". The landlord says the AC is working fine, so everything is OK. But according to anything I've read on the net, air from your furthest vents should be 18-23 degrees cooler than inside intake air. Ours is maybe 5 or 6 degrees cooler.

 

Meanwhile, we are sweltering. I don't want to be the lousy tenant (we have a one year lease), but I'm losing patience. I hate the heat. Advice?

[Mommyof4ks]

If the freon has been changed twice then there is a leak somewhere. My parents just had this problem, and after the leak was fixed and freon added all was well. The people who came out should have guaranteed their work for a year of something, so a call to one of them should fix the issue. Hopefully y'all get that fixed soon. 100 is way too hot to be in a house. We live in Tx, so we feel your pain.

[lgm]

Sounds like it has a major leak if it's been charged twice and still cycles on all day. It could also be undersized for the current landscaping/weather. It's also quite possible that it's designed wrong or parts of the ductwork aren't even hooked up. We've friends who've bought houses with bizarre installations such as fresh air intake being drawn from a damp (think mold & allergy source) unairconditioned basement, and upstairs duct work not connected (air shooting out into the attic).

 

Maybe you could get a window a/c until the management company can make it liveable. Any chance an advocacy group or newspaper columnist or tv station can help? At last resort, a good lawyer to break the lease?

 

Adding: I googled a little..tenant laws have changed for the better since I last rented...you have some legs to stand on..

 

http://www.caltenantlaw.com/Habitability.htm

 

http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/catenant.pdf

Edited August 6, 2009 by lgm

[KingM]

I think I would put all of this in writing and tell them that you are not paying any more rent until the AC is fixed. I'll bet they'll get it done ASAP.

[Aubrey]

I don't know what to tell you, but this is the *exact* problem we had last summer. They actually tried to tell me that an a/c just can't handle triple digit heat. They said I shouldn't expect it to get more than 10-20 degrees cooler in our apt than the outside temp! :001_huh:

 

Then they started greeting me by the title, "Crazy Pregnant Lady." :glare:

 

It took getting thermometers out & placing them around the house to convince dh there was a problem (he was gone all day), but even that didn't get them to fix the unit.

 

All that's to say, *we* don't have backbones. I encourage you to use yours if you've got it, because...I think you're getting the run-around. Fixing an a/c may be expensive, but there are laws governing having one that's working. (Google it for your state.)

 

I actually googled legal temps for schools & nursing homes, & our apt was hotter. Of course, they came in w/ different thermometer thingies & got different readings, & they'd always comment when they first walked in on how cool it was, to make me feel stupid. I really wanted to say, Sure, if you stand right. there.

 

(They also told us our apt was hot because we turned on the lights & closed the baby's bedroom door when she napped.)

 

Wow. I haven't thought about this in a while. That was a rough summer. (And #4 was born in the apt, & it was, um, REALLY hot.) I've just about decided I must be a saint. (Or one of those animals that has no spine, lol.)

[gardenschooler]

Wow. I haven't thought about this in a while. That was a rough summer. (And #4 was born in the apt, & it was, um, REALLY hot.) I've just about decided I must be a saint.

 

You were a saint. I just wanted to get to TX and rip those guys to shreds for you! Grrrr.

 

Kay, you do have the law on your side. Use it! I'd insist on a pro-rated month - you're not paying for a house with mediocre a/c. I'd also insist on one or two window units in addition to the central a/c being fixed. It probably isn't big enough, on top of the freon and design problems. I hope this gets resolved ASAP.

[Ferdie]

I would get an indoor thermometer and a log book and record the temp. during various times of the day. Then you will have solid evidence to give to your landlord.

 

When we lived in CA we didn't have AC so we used indoor fans and spray water bottles to stay cool on the hot days.

[gardenschooler]

I think I would put all of this in writing and tell them that you are not paying any more rent until the AC is fixed. I'll bet they'll get it done ASAP.

 

I agree. I wouldn't pay for those days at all, and I'd go out shopping for window units today (to be deducted from the rent). We had to do this recently, because I wasn't about to wait until the ll got around to it (and I didn't really trust his choices in a/c units).

[Melissa in FL]

Fixing an a/c may be expensive, but there are laws governing having one that's working. (Google it for your state.)

 

 

This isn't necessarily true. We are landlords in FL (where I think we will all agree it's hot). We have to provide a heat source, but a/c is not required in a home.

 

To the OP: it sounds like the unit is to small. In our house one of the units is to small. The a/c runs non-stop in the summer but loses ground slowly during the day. The only thing we could do is replace both the inside and outside to upgrade it. Because of the expense we haven't done that (hopefully next summer).

 

Since this is something that you had taken up with the management company before you signed the lease, I would ask them to let you out of the contract (remind them it's a health issue for your family). I know that moving probably doesn't sound very good, but the threat of it may be enough to get the landlord to replace it. Between the advertising, and a month of lost rent the landlord may choose to replace the a/c instead of losing good tenants. We try to go out of our way to keep tenants that take good care of the place and pay on time.

 

The only other thing would be to get a couple of window units to help, but I'm not sure you want to do that. Good luck

Melissa

[LaxMom]

No advice, per se, but I will say, based upon an "incident" in town here a couple summers ago, if you're demanding the landlord come in and deal with the AC, you probably want to take the goats out of the living room.

 

 

 

:D

[TraceyS/FL]

Melissa you will probably be very thankful you are NOT a landlord in CA. I'm guessing there is something that says if a unit is present, it's gotta do its job. Because that is the way CA works! LOL!!

 

Kay - stand your ground.... i'd certainly let the management company know that you consider it uninhabitable, and since you were assured it would be, that you will be purchasing window units (we have one that does 500sf that plugs into a regular plug - its a freestanding unit vs window) and deducting the cost from the rent.

 

UGH.

 

Oh and another option to help lower the cost might be the 3M window tint. It is supposed to work miracles!

[Annie G]

I would caution you not to withold rent unless you have carefully researched your area's laws. When we were landlords, our leases specifically said tenants cannot withold rent in such cases as yours. This is NOT to say that you don't have a valid reason because you do. But landlords write such clauses because some tenants will withold rent because they neglected to tell us they broke a toilet and then expected to not have to pay rent because it was broken all month. And our local courts take that very seriously and it's really easy to evict someone who hasn't paid rent even if it seems like a valid reason to the tenant.

 

As landlords, if we were told about a problem and it wasn't fixed within 24 hours, we did deduct a prorated amount of the rent. But it wasn't required- we just did it. And many of our area landlords would rather evict people than fix an air conditioner - isn't that awful???

 

If you're not willing to move (which is a real pain!), maybe the landlord will provide some fans or a window unit. It sounds like he's making some sort of effort if he's paying for a repair guy to charge the system with freon- so maybe there is some hope there. I bet you can't wait for cool weather!

[TXMomof4]

Seeing as you're in CA - I'm sure it's not legal for them to keep replacing freon without addressing the leak. It's not legal in TX I know. We got a new AC at our old place because there was a leak that couldn't be repaired. If it's been recharged twice this summer it's got to be a pretty serious leak.

[Tap]

I would do a few things.

 

1. Review your lease and any documentation you have regarding the house. Check to see it he AC is listed.

 

2. Check the AC and find out what BTU it is and what area it is expected to cover. Is this an appropriate sqft? If you need help with this step call the AC's manufacturer.

 

2. Check you state laws. A good way to do this is to call a landlord/tenant dispute organization. There are free ones in many states. Find out what is required to have a functioning AC unit. Having an appliance that is running at 50% efficiency is not 'working'. Find out your legal resources.

 

3. If you find that the landlord is responsible, call them and ask a few questions. The first I would ask is the name of the companies that have serviced your unit thus far. That way you can find out if they are licenced to work on ac units or not. I would then discuss the information you have found out via the other resources.

[KatieJ]

My DD built a new home a year ago..a/c was not working well. They decided the unit was not big enough and put ina new one last summer. This year, still not working. Same guy insists it is working.

She called in her own a/c company and they found the coil size was not upgraded when the a/c unit was replaced last year. She called the original contractor back and they are coming out to make the changes at no expense to her. Altho I do believe she will probably get stuck with the bill from the guy who figured out the problem.

 

DH knows a/c well, and he says there are many things that can be an issue when a/c doesn't do it's job.

Our a/c unit has a slow leak and we need to charge it at the beginning of each season. DH puts a thermometer...just a plain old meat thermoter into the vent and checks the reading of the air coming out when the unit is running. (we have floor vents and he just hangs one in there..make sense?)

He says it should read about 55 degrees.

You might want to trouble shoot the a/c with a contractor of your choosing. I am not saying you shoudl fix it, just have someone in to diagnose the problem and then go back to your landlord with the results.

I suggest you notify your landlord in writing that you intend to do that first.

[newbie]

My DD built a new home a year ago..a/c was not working well. They decided the unit was not big enough and put ina new one last summer. This year, still not working. Same guy insists it is working.

She called in her own a/c company and they found the coil size was not upgraded when the a/c unit was replaced last year. She called the original contractor back and they are coming out to make the changes at no expense to her. Altho I do believe she will probably get stuck with the bill from the guy who figured out the problem.

 

DH knows a/c well, and he says there are many things that can be an issue when a/c doesn't do it's job.

Our a/c unit has a slow leak and we need to charge it at the beginning of each season. DH puts a thermometer...just a plain old meat thermoter into the vent and checks the reading of the air coming out when the unit is running. (we have floor vents and he just hangs one in there..make sense?)

He says it should read about 55 degrees.

You might want to trouble shoot the a/c with a contractor of your choosing. I am not saying you shoudl fix it, just have someone in to diagnose the problem and then go back to your landlord with the results.

I suggest you notify your landlord in writing that you intend to do that first.

 

:iagree:ASI Hastings heating and Air is a great company for a review,