rental charge

J

jejolla

New Member
Jurisdiction
Florida
I rented an apartment for a couple months now. the landlord rents out washers and dryers to tenants at a charge of $50 per month each. approximately one month ago i reported to my building office that the washer was not working. They promised to come out to fix it. They have not come out, although i reminded them on the 2nd and 3rd week. Today they said that they will send someone out soon. I told them that I will not be paying for the days that the washer did not work. They said that I have to pay and I will be billed, since this is their common business practice.
I do not plan on paying. Should I write them a formal letter or what should i do?
I did not want to go to small claims court as the amount seems small. But i will if i have to. Advice?
 
Depending on the terms of your rental, it's quite possible that you'll be going to the county court to answer an eviction motion.

Pick your battles...
 
jejolla said:
They said that I have to pay and I will be billed, since this is their common business practice.
Click to expand...

Charging you for something you can't use is breach of contract.

jejolla said:
I do not plan on paying. Should I write them a formal letter
Click to expand...

Yes. Include the dates that you notified them and name the people you talked to. Hand carry it to the management office and write down the name of the person you hand it to.

I suggest you deliver written notices every two days until it's fixed.

The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

I further suggest you read and study the Florida landlord tenant statutes. Tenants have a lot of protection in Florida. Make sure you follow the statutes with regard to notices.

Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes :->2021->Chapter 83->Part II : Online Sunshine (state.fl.us)
 
I agree with the abovee about written notices. In fact, your rental agreement likely requires you to give written notices of any damages.
Any conversations made in person or over the phone never happened. Leave a paper trail, or even email is acceptable.
 
jejolla said:
Should I write them a formal letter or what should i do?
Click to expand...

Doesn't matter (unless the appliance rental agreement or your lease says it does).

jejolla said:
I did not want to go to small claims court as the amount seems small. But i will if i have to. Advice?
Click to expand...

Go to small claims court for what? If you're not going to pay, then you have nothing to sue about, and billing you for something that doesn't work is NOT breach of contract. Of course, not paying may get you sued or may get you an eviction notice, but you'll be a defendant in that situation (and the machine not working would give you a defense to any such claim).

I don't know what your credit situation, but I have a hard time believing you couldn't BUY a new washer and dryer on credit for less than $50 per month.
 
adjusterjack said:
Whoa there Zelda, I pay you $50 per month to rent a washer and you don't fix it when it doesn't work.

Yeah, that's breach of contract.
Click to expand...
It *might* be a breach of contract, depending on the terms of the contract. It's entirely possible that the renter is responsible for repairing the washer. I'm not saying that's what's going on here...I'm just saying it's not cut and dry in either direction without further info.

EDIT: Yes, in this thread it's a fair assumption that the LL is supposed to repair it, as evidenced by their promise to get it fixed.
 
adjusterjack said:
Whoa there Zelda, I pay you $50 per month to rent a washer and you don't fix it when it doesn't work.

Yeah, that's breach of contract.
Click to expand...

Maybe; maybe not (one would need to read the contract to know for sure). However, what I wrote was, "billing you for something that doesn't work is NOT breach of contract." That's not the same thing as not "fix[ing] [the rented item] when it doesn't work."
 

Share this page

Get a free case review from a lawyer
Back
Top