I am furious at my landlord.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Not quite a pitting, but close.
We moved in here - officially on June 8th, actually on July 1st. (We took the 3 weeks of June to be able to move our crap without rushing.) Our landlord is Mr. Chin, a late-middle-age American-Born-Chinese man, who manages the various apartments for his parents, a very cute very old Chinese-born couple who come around the complexes a couple times a week to do watering, weed the gardens, etc.

The apartment comes with a dishwasher, a really really old one. So old that we don’t know what brand it is; so old that the lettering that tells you which wash cycle is which has worn off. So old that it is, no lie, Harvest Gold.

Neither Husband nor I has ever lived in an apartment with a dishwasher before, and we do the first couple loads by hand since we’re kind of scared of it and aren’t sure what to do (due to the aforementioned lack of labeling).

So, around mid-July we try to use it. Nothing happens. We investigate and find that it’s unplugged - and that apparently at some point water has dripped onto the plug, leaving it corroded and unable to actually plug into the wall.

August 7th, the Elder Mr. Chin comes to collect our rent (due on the 8th). We point out the plug to him, and I tell him that he could buy a brand new dishwasher for $200-300. He says “Why don’t you do that then, and give me the receipt, and I’ll pay you back.” His English is not great, but not horrible either - he’s lived here for 50-60 years, so even though his accent is thick I have no reason to believe that we’ve misunderstood each other.

I do research, and find a decent dishwasher for about $329, plus the installation kit is $25, plus tax brings it up to about $380. The store wants $200 for delivery and installation, but we pick it up ourselves and I have a handyman friend who installs it for $103. It gets installed on August 15th. Total cash outlay on my part: $480 & some change.

Sometime between August 21st & 30th, Husband runs into the Younger Mr. Chin. He says that he is vexed with his father, because he has several dishwashers in storage that he could have used instead of having to buy a brand new one.

Today, we went to the Chins’ house to drop off the rent, with the receipts for the purchase of the dishwasher plus the bill for my friend’s services. We had made the check out for the adjusted amount, and thought all would be fine and dandy.

But no.

The Elder Mr. Chin is now claiming that I only showed him a broken hose (?) and that he only authorized the repair of the hose. He did not authorize purchase of a whole new machine. HELLO, YES, YOU DID. I know, your son probably chewed you out for it, and I know, you don’t want to pay the money. But the fact is, you DID agree to getting a new dishwasher.

I did a bunch of research, I knew you didn’t want to outlay a lot of cash, so I got the best dishwasher I could (it’s a Whirlpool!) for the money. I saved you $100 by not using the store’s installation service. I paid for all of this out of pocket, on good faith. WHAT THE HELL.

AAAAARRRRGHHHHh!!!

I’m told that my only recourse is small claims court. The problem being, if we sue the landlord after only having lived here 2-3 months, this does not bode well for our being able to continue to live here after the lease expires next June. We had hoped to live here at least 5-6 years.

I know, y’all are (mostly) not lawyers, the ones who are are not my lawyers, and you are not offering legal advice.

However, any thoughts on how I should handle this would be incredibly welcome. Or just tell me that I’m fucked, which is pretty much where I think I am right now. Or share your stories about why you should ALWAYS ALWAYS get everything in writing, which I am learning the hard way right now.

2

Do you pay your own utilities, especially water and gas/electric? As much as it sucks to have possibly bought a nice new dishwasher for your landlord, it may pay off relatively quickly if you’re on the hook for your utilities. I guarantee a $329 Whirlpool these days will use less water and less energy while cleaning better than an old Harvest Gold dishwasher. If you really want to live there for five years, think of it as an extra $100 a year in rent for a better appliance. It still sucks, but it might hurt less.

3

I sympathize. I’ve had a similar problem - trusting someone because they seem nice and then they turn around and screw you over. But live and learn. I know it sucks, but at least you have a new dishwasher.

Maybe you could make it clear to the landlord that if he doesn’t pay for it, when you move out you will take it with you (or sell it on craigslist). Then he’d have to get another one to install anyway. (Although if his son has a bunch in storage this may prove futile. Worth a shot I suppose. Either that or try to come to a compromise where you split the cost 50/50.)

4

I was thinking along the lines of HazelNutCoffee, especially if you’re saving up to buy a place or something. It’s yours. Just take it with you when you move out. And that was a really valid point on how much less energy and water this one will use compared to the old clunker.

5

You now have a nice dishwasher. When you leave, take it with you. (Hanging onto the receipt is probably a good idea.) My guess is, you have a much more functional dishwasher than the ones in storage, plus it’s brand-new without any other people’s crud in it. Enjoy!

6

I’d say the same thing - you bought yourself a nice dishwasher. Enjoy it, and make sure your landlords understand (in writing) that it comes with you when you leave.

7

When the dishwasher was installed it became part of the building. If you take it with you and leave nothing in its place your landloard may take you to small claims court.

You need to descide if you want to take a chance of getting on the landlords bad side or not. If not then consider this a lesson. Next time write down all conditions before putting out the money.

As a landlord I would never let a tennant go out and buy an appliance without first giving me brand name and complete cost. In this market if your landlord does not renew the lease will they be able to get a new tenant.

8

What did the OP do with the old dishwasher? Could they just put that one back when they move out? If it’s still around, that’s evidence that the plug was the problem, and not a hose.

If it does come down to some sort of legal proceeding or arbitration, would the landlord be in any trouble for renting an apartment without telling the new tenants that the dishwasher was broken?

9

Some universities have free legal help regarding tenant law, so that might be a good resource for you.

10

Well Snnipe has a good point. Does your lease have an Improvements To Property clause?

11

What dishwasher?

12

As others have said, I’d enjoy the new dishwasher and the savings it will give, and then possibly take it with me when I leave.

From the landlord’s point of view though, maybe he did think you were talking about replacing parts on the dishwasher rather than the complete machine? Also, if someone told me they’d get something for $200-300 and then presented me a bill for over $480 I’d be quite annoyed.

13

Similar thing happened to a work colleague - they rented a house in Oxford which had a dodgy shower unit.

They mentioned this to the landlord and he agreed to replace it - cost was about £400 - and asked my colleague to arrange it and send him the bill.

After researching some options, colleague discovered for an extra £150 they could upgrade to a power-shower which they’d much prefer.

So they mentioned this to the landlord and he agreed to split the cost of the upgrade (i.e. £75 each).

Predictably, once my colleague has spent the money getting the new power shower installed, the landlord claimed to have only authorised the basic unit and wouldn’t pay for the upgrade.

This was bad enough, but landlord then went further and demanded colleague pay 50% of the whole cost of the new shower (i.e. £275), rather than just the upgrade option.

As like the OP there was nothing in writing, just one person’s word against another. Colleague then said “fine, we’ll take 50% of the shower with us when we leave”. This did not go down well!

Colleague ended up in small claims court after being sued by the plumber who installed the shower (as neither side would pay the poor bloke!). Colleague named the landlord in the claim so he was dragged into court too.

In the end the court ruled that it was a silly dispute and that the cost of the shower should be paid by the landlord with the upgrade cost equally split - by this time both sides had spent way more than £275 and had torpedoed any chance of a decent business relationship; colleague moved out shortly after (without the shower).

I guess the moral is (as noted upthread) always get something in writing, but I know in the past we’ve not always done that with landlords.

14

Your best option is to ask the son to bring you one of the dishwashers from storage and stick it in a closet for the next 5-6 years. When you move take your dishwasher with you and put the one the son gave you in the empty space. Your landlord is a little bit in the right because the cost of the dishwasher came in so much higher than he anticipated based on the conversation he had with you so I understand why he is angry but you didn’t really do anything wrong either so just getting the machine from them to have installed when you leave might be your best option.

If that doesn’t work and you can’t afford to be out $480 right now get the replacement dishwasher from the son and put it in the space. Give it a month of use to make sure everything is in decent shape and if it is sell your dishwasher on Craigslist for $300 or so. You will still be out some money but not the full $480 if you go this route.

15

This is an expensive lesson, but it IS a lesson. Get agreements like this in writing in the future.

Also, I was surprised that you went ahead and spent so much on the dishwasher without confirming with the landlord. If smoeone told me I could get a new dishwasher for 2 - 300 dollars, then presented me with a bill for nearly $500, I would feel taken advantage of. At some point, when you discovered the dishwasher itself was going to be over 300, I would have double-checked with the landlord. Paying someone else to install it was another mistake, as the landlord probably had someone capable of installing it himself (and actually, you probably could have done it yourself, it is VERY simple). If you had double-checked before installing the dishwasher, you may have been able to return it.

16

If you decide to renew next year, and the landlords like you as tenants, then you can easily make up most if not all of that expense. 5-10% shaved off the rent is not outrageous for a tenant who pays on time, doesn’t get called in on noise complaints, and keeps the interior and exterior neat and tidy. And a little misunderstanding over some repairs is something that could be forgotten about, if the landlords realize they have someone who pays the rent, is quiet, etc. When they give you a lease renewal say you hadn’t decided what to do for next year, but wondered if they are they flexible?

Admittedly this only works if you decide to renew. But yeah, I agree, it wasn’t a great idea to assume that they would pay for double the bill, or for your own repair man. Of course the landlord didn’t have to lie about it, he could have said that he only agreed to the cost of the appliance, but a surprise bill wasn’t a great start to the conversation.

17

Um. If the only (known) problem with the existing dishwasher was a corroded plug, why not simply replace the plug? They only cost a couple of bucks, right?

18

You don’t mention what happened to the old one. That one was Mr. Chin’s property. You can’t dispose of someone else’s property without their permission. If you tossed it, you’ve bought them a replacement for a lot of money out of your pocket.

Talk to young Chin, reasonably. Tell him, that you believed you understood his father and that he understood you, but maybe not. I know it sounds awful, but be contrite. Tell him it was a genuine miscommunication, but you can’t afford the full price of a new dishwasher. Tell him you’ll have to sell it to make the rent.

He probably knows he can’t legally make you eat the whole amount. Since you can’t prove the old one was unrepairable and worth nothing, you’ll have to eat some of it, but maybe not all.

19

I think the lesson here is not to agree to any deal where you have to front the money and then get it later from the landlord. A written agreement isn’t any good unless you are willing to go to court to enforce it, and who needs that expense and aggravation?

Repairs and installation of appliances is pretty standard landlord stuff. Not having to deal with that is one of the benefits of renting.

20

Yeah, sorry, Ocelot. You made a lot of crucial mistakes:

  • taking on the landlord’s responsibilities regarding appliances
  • not getting it in writing
  • not confirming it with the landlord before making the actual purchase, esp. when the cost is almost double your estimage
  • paying up front out of your own pocket
  • disposing of the old one (not clear from the OP if you did or not, but if you did …)

Good suggestions upthread about possible solutions. Whatever you decide: get the agreement in writing this time.