[USER]

I’m a prospective tenant looking for advice from the landlords about what is considered reasonable repairs and also maintenance.

I will be renting a townhouse my brother has been renting. He’s lived there for two years.

When my brother moved in the landlord told him the ice maker in the fridge didn’t work, and that the oven didn’t work properly.

The oven takes a very long time to get up to temperature and it doesn’t hold the temperature properly so it takes longer to cook food and even then it isn’t always cooked as well as it should be.

The landlord put a thermometer in the oven to be able to know what the actual temperature in the oven is because it’s not accurate to what is displayed.

The landlord volunteered this information.

So, basically in so many words he said, Yeah this stuff doesn’t work right and I’m not going to fix it.

The oven is electric. Tenant is responsible for paying the electric bill.

I think the oven problem definitely impacts the electricity bill.
Also, there is a water softener and my brother is the one buying the salt, so presumably he would expect us to buy it as well.

I live in Minnesota.
According to Minnesota law (From the Attorney General’s Landlords and Tenants Rights and Responsibilities Handbook), the landlord is responsible to make sure that the rental unit is:

“1. Fit to live in.

2. Kept in reasonable repair.

3. Kept in compliance with state and local health and safety laws.

4. Made reasonably energy efficient to the extent that energy savings will exceed the costs of upgrading the unit’s efficiency.”

2 questions:

1. Would fixing the ice maker and the stove be considered “reasonable repairs”?

2. Is it normal for a tenant in a townhouse to provide their own water softener salt without any reduction in rent or other compensation?

[Matt]

The oven could be an easy fix depending on the model etc. I have Samsung appliances in all my rentals and two of the ovens needed a new heating element after 5 years.

It took only 20 minutes to replace each one with a screw driver and the element was $80.

Just YouTube it.

[Nicole]

As a landlord, I echo the above. The ice maker is a “nice to have” (I don’t even provide fridge with those built in ice maker because they notoriously break or leak etc) but the stove I would definitely replace.

[Allison]

Check with your local housing authority for what your local laws are. Varies city to county to state

Don’t wanna deal with this landlord rules stuff?

Buy and be 100% responsible

[Steve]

If they’re known issues disclosed before renting, I wouldn’t expect them to be fixed. If you like ice, buy a countertop ice maker.

Some people never use an oven.

(I know people that bought an airfryer and haven’t used the oven since.) Salt, filters, lawn maintenance, etc., are things you should be taking care of.

Are you subletting or negotiating a new lease? One thing you can discuss in repairs and upgrades is if you can work out something with replacing the appliances are having them reimbursed off the rent.

If it’s important to you, I’d work it out before moving in.

[Stan]

Depends on what’s in the lease and your agreement at time of move-in. Refrigerator is not required, therefore ice maker not required.

If when your brother moved in he said refrigerator is included and fully working, then he needs to maintain it.

If change in tenant and he’s saying ice maker is not functional, then he is not responsible for it. Oven may be different. All depends if it is “functional”.

If the temp being off is so bad it’s not usable then it’s inhabitable. If it’s a convenience issue then no.

For salt pellets, he’s informing you it’s not included and cost of tenant. Same as other utilities (gas/water/power/sewer/etc).

You can choose to take the lease on these conditions or not. Keep in mind, you are a prospective tenant.

He can set the rent higher to provide these as included in the rent, no guarantee you get grandfathered the same rent as your brother.

[Christina]

I would not fix the ice maker. Oven – depends on if they have already attempted to fix it and failed, in which case I’d provide a counter top oven. Reasonable is heat/cooling/plumbing/cooktop.

I am in CA, laundry/fridge is not even my responsibility depending on cities but I do provide/maintain them.

I also would not pay for the salt in the softener. You can always request all these and see what the landlord will say.

I have property managers because I am out of state, and they follow the minimum requirements even if I want to be nice to provide the extras.

[Rob]

I’m a landlord and a lot of this should be addressed in the lease. I generally don’t provide any appliances. If I do, the lease says:
“The premises are rented with appliances.

The appliance on the premises includes a stove, fridge, and dishwasher and are on the premises for the convenience of the Tenant.

If any such appliance fails to operate, the Resident/Tenant may either repair the appliance or contact Owner to arrange disposal of such appliance.”

I tell them that I’m not in the appliance business and would prefer them to have their own. In your case, I would just buy a stove and it’s yours.

If you fight the landlord on the stove, he might replace it raise your rent $50 and you’ll end up paying way more.

[Dave]

Landlord here (though I use a manager)
Ice maker and salt on the tenant if disclosed
Oven should be fixed/replaced.

That said – many tenants don’t use the oven, and it’s legal to rent a unit without an oven, so if you know about the issue and still move in, that’s kinda obnoxious.

I like good tenants, and cut them breaks; this would not good be tenant behavior.

[Jamie]

I think the oven issue is a health issue (undercooked food). Ice is not. Softener salt is like dishwasher detergent.

The appliance is there.

If you want it to work as intended, you have to buy the additive.

[Tracey]

No to ice maker. They are a major liability. Oven should be replaced. Lease should specify salt, but I think tenant responsibility.

[Mindi]

As a landlord I would not fix the ice maker if this was disclosed up front and also stated in the lease agreement.

Tenant can buy ice cube trays and make their own ice if they want it.

The oven absolutely needs to be repaired or replaced so it’s operational according to the manufacturer’s specifications, this is state law.

The water softener is a toss up. The lease should state if salt is responsibility of the tenant or landlord.

If tenant doesn’t want to pay for salt and soft water there’s a turn off switch or valve on the unit.

Water will flow through the pipes and into the house but it won’t be soft.

If landlord requires the water softener to be on and operating to prevent mineral buildup in the pipes and faucets this should be stated in the lease agreement. Otherwise I would assume the tenant could turn it off.

As a landlord (and all of the PMs I’ve worked with) I require my tenants to provide consumable products to keep the house functional such as AC filters and lightbulbs.

I would probably require salt to be supplied by the tenant.

I mean it’s like $5 a bag and for a single person I go through about 2 bags a year so the tenant shouldn’t really be balking at that for the luxury of having soft water.

[Christopher]

Sounds like a slum lord but do the laws In the state allow him to say if you knew about defects before you moved in its on you.

I’m not sure an oven is considered necessary under those laws. In which case it’s essentially like renting a place without an oven.

Just based upon the little laws you quoted it seems like he should need to fix oven, but I’m sure much more research into the local law is needed to know whether or not it’s legal.

You might as well dig into those laws.

In my jurisdiction the landlord would have to fix the oven.

If the water maker didn’t work when you moved in and he told you then he wouldn’t be responsible for that.

I imagine asking you to buy the salt is also legal. Just like requiring you to change bulbs, filters, and fuses.

[Author]

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