Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

My question pertains to a landlords responsibility to provide a washer and dryer in my rental home. I recently rented a home that I own, the washer needed a few repairs that were brought to my attention by the new renters. I removed the washer for the repairs and the dryer for preventative maintance. The tenant has told me they would withhold rent until the washer and dryer were repaired and returned. Also because it took longer than she liked to get her clothes out of the locked washer she was going to sue me because a few baby clothes were "ruined" from the 3 days in the locked washer. Due to cost of the repairsI have chosen not to replace the washer and dryer and have informed them they can purchase their own machines and they have my permission to move them into the house. Our lease does not specify anything about appliance repairs or replacement should something go wrong. As well I have looked through the landlord tenant codes and have found nothing pertaining to repairing or replacing of washer/dryers. I did see that problems such as no heat, no water, broken windows, handrails and things such as this, that I am required to fix them in a reasonable time frame, but does a washer and dryer fall under this umbrella. Am I with in my legal bounds to remove the appliances (W/D) and not replace them, but allow the tenants to bring in there own W/D into the residence.

Thank You

Craig


Asked on 10/05/11, 12:35 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

You are both wrong. She has no right to withhold rent over this issue, and you are free to evict her if she does. On the other hand, you are not free to rent a property with a washer and dryer in it, with the obvious implied representation that the tenants is renting a unit with a washer and dryer provided, and then remove them without replacing them. An implied term of every rental agreement is that the property will be maintained in substantially the same condition as it was rented in, reasonable wear and tear, and tenant caused repairs excluded. No one rents a unit with only washer and dryer hook-ups for the same rent as one with a washer and dryer provided. So you are in breach of an implied term of the lease. Her remedy, however, is not to force you to provide the washer and dryer, but rather reduced rent by the difference between the value of the unit with a washer and dryer, versus the fair rental value of the unit with only hook-ups. So if push comes to shove, she could sue you for the difference in value times the remaining months on the lease. Since you are free to modify the lease when it is up for renewal, or on 30-days notice if it is already a month-to-month or converts to one at the end of the lease, you would be free to alter the terms at that point, including no longer providing a washer and dryer, and therefore her entitlement to rent reduction would end.

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Answered on 10/05/11, 12:54 pm


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