Adjusterjaksoff
New Member
- Jurisdiction
- New Jersey
A new tenant recently moved into a two-family property that I own. They pay their security deposit they pay their first month's rent and they sign the lease. The previous tenant had turned off the gas. The new tenant moved in on the 1st. Had the gas turned on on the 7th, when the gas was turned on the person from the gas company told them that the heating unit was having a problem. This was news to me since the previous tenant had no issues with the heat. I had a plumber there the next afternoon. He informed me that a valve needed to be replaced. But he did not know if he could locate one since the heater was very old. I called another plumber who tried to locate the valve from warehouses this took about a day for him to get back to me. And then I was informed that would probably take him 2 days to get the part. This would mean that I would be replacing a part on an old heating unit and the heat would not be on until the 11th or 12th. I opted for replacing the heating unit which was a bigger job much more expensive but I felt was a better decision in the long. This job ended up taking two days to complete because of the size of the project and it was completed on the 13th. My tenant whom I believe is a first-time renter has been complaining to me for 3 days that she is paying a gas bill and not even getting to use the Heat. I explained to her that she's not paying for gas unless she's using gas. She became irate with me and will not let it go. Explain to her that it's much like a car if you don't go anywhere you don't use any gas. She's trying to blame me that you didn't have heat for 13 days but I explained to her that she only attempted to turn the gas on the evening of the 7th. She also told me several outlets were not working I asked her to check the breakers to make sure they didn't rip anything because the Outlets were working when she moved in. She said none of the breakers were tripped I had someone check at my expense and it turns out that the breaker was tripped. I informed her of this got more of an attitude from her and I told her that the outlets were working when they left. She texted me two days later telling me the outlets were broken again I told her to check the breakers and see which one she tripped apparently her hair dryer draws a lot of electricity. When the tenant was looking at the apartment she made a comment about the carpet in the living room. It wasn't brand new carpet but I told her if she didn't like it I could rip it out because there's hardwood underneath she told me she would rather keep the carpet because she has a small child. I told her if she wanted she could rent a carpet cleaner and clean the carpet and I would cover the cost of the rental. she informed me 2 days ago that she had been calling carpet cleaning companies and they were giving her prices in excess of $300. I reminded her about our conversation that I said I would cover the cost of renting a carpet cleaner. She gave me an attitude once again and told me she will rent a carpet cleaner and she will let me know when she has it so I can come clean the carpet. In my opinion the carpet isn't in bad shape the only reason we were on the topic was because she was complaining about it when she looked at the apartment and in my opinion it was because of the color it's kind of an ugly pink color. The tenant also complained about the basement carpet which I had replaced because I wasn't too fond of it myself. Another thing to mention to add to this tenants highlight reel is that she was informed that the plumber would be at the house at 9 in the morning. I asked them if anybody would be there or if they could leave the key in the mailbox or if they wanted me to give the plumber the key. they told me they would leave the key in the mailbox because they were leaving shortly before 9 and he could let himself in. that morning the plumber showed up there was no key in the mailbox and when I asked them where the key was they told me they decided not to leave it there because they didn't know if it was safe. They never informed me of this so the plumber was waiting until someone could let him in approximately 45 minutes. Another issue I have is that I gave them W-9 forms to fill out so that I can open the bank account for their security deposit and we are now at the 13th and they still havent given me the form. When i asked them for the form I got another attitude.
Sorry for being long winded but I want you to get the jist of what I have been going thru before I get to my question.
Q: since I never signed the lease and I haven't given them a copy. Could I rip up the lease and give them a month to month lease. These people are driving me crazy and I cant deal with them for another 11.5 months.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Sorry for being long winded but I want you to get the jist of what I have been going thru before I get to my question.
Q: since I never signed the lease and I haven't given them a copy. Could I rip up the lease and give them a month to month lease. These people are driving me crazy and I cant deal with them for another 11.5 months.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
