HVAC damaged because of dirty filter (apartment, lease, tenant)

[balancesheet]

Shoud I pay as landlord or the tenant should pay?

This is what's in the lease:

Repairs: Tenant must take good care of the Unit and all equipment and fixtures in it. Tenant must, at Tenant's cost make all repairs and replacement whenever the need results from Tenant's act or neglect. If Tenant fails to make a needed repai or replacement, Landlors may do it. Landlord's expense will be added rent.

Filter and overload replaced then unit worked and no leaks. $100 parts and labor.

[millerm277]

Filters are something that has to be changed on a regular basis. Assuming you had access to the HVAC unit, you should have been changing it. If it was in a place you didn't have access to (like a locked basement or something), then I'd say you have a case for not paying.

[balancesheet]

Originally Posted by millerm277

Filters are something that has to be changed on a regular basis. Assuming you had access to the HVAC unit, you should have been changing it. If it was in a place you didn't have access to (like a locked basement or something), then I'd say you have a case for not paying.

No I do not have access to the apartment. Also tenant asked the building handyman for repair without notifying me. I found out from the bill I received. It is an apartment in a building and I don't live there.

[NJGOAT]

Originally Posted by balancesheet

Shoud I pay as landlord or the tenant should pay?

This is what's in the lease:

Repairs: Tenant must take good care of the Unit and all equipment and fixtures in it. Tenant must, at Tenant's cost make all repairs and replacement whenever the need results from Tenant's act or neglect. If Tenant fails to make a needed repai or replacement, Landlors may do it. Landlord's expense will be added rent.

Filter and overload replaced then unit worked and no leaks. $100 parts and labor.

The lease is a little ambiguous as it is all predicated on what "...take good care of the Unit and all equipment..." means. The rest is basically saying that if a repair or replacement is necessitated do to the Tenant's actions or neglect (aka failure to 'take good care') then the Tenant is responsible for the repair/replacement. If the Tenant fails to make the needed repair/replacement then the Landlord may do so and bill the cost as added rent.

I think given the lease that the landlord could bill the tenant for the cost of repairs. However, assuming you are the landlord, you may really want to review this section of your lease to more legally bind the tenant for the cost of repairs and/or add specific items in this fashion...

Tenant must take good care of the Unit and all equipment and fixtures in it, including but not limited to: replacement of HVAC filters, replacement of light bulbs, etc.

[manderly6]

I think you should change your lease and be very specific. You should specifically mention who is responsible for the changing of air filters.

Some people have no clue about these type of things. At least if you list in on the lease there is no excuse.

[Retriever]

Originally Posted by manderly6

Some people have no clue about these type of things. At least if you list in on the lease there is no excuse.

Bingo!
One of my friends, who is intelligent but not at all mechanically minded, mentioned to me one day that her HVAC system did not seem to put out as much force as it used to. I asked her, "When was the last time that you replaced the filter?", and was greeted with a blank stare.

Rather than further confuse her, I went over to her town house, opened up the furnace, and found what surely must have been a Guinness Record-sized dust ball obscuring the filter. As it turned out, in the 7 or 8 years that she had lived there, she had NEVER changed the filter!

So, if that homeowner was unaware of the existence of a filter for her HVAC system, I don't think that the OP should be surprised if his/her tenant was also unaware of this maintenance item. Yes, I know that ignorance is not a legal excuse, but it would certainly simplify things in the future if the OP had specific references to HVAC filters and other tenant-maintenance items in the lease.

[rscalzo]

Filters are only good for 90 days. after that they starts to clog. Depending on the use and if pets are present, at least tow or three times a season for AC.

If it's a central unit, the tenant isn't going to have a clue.

[joe moving]

You should have told the tenant to change the filter. people who are not homeowners don't necessarily know these things.

[vfrex]

It didn't occur to me that I should check the filter in my current apartment when I moved in. Air flow was poor, but I figured it was a weak system. When I finally figured it out a few months later, I found a filter that must have been there for years. IMO, LL should provide the filters and demonstrate how and when to replace them when a tenant moves in.

[rscalzo]

I've never heard of a dirty filter damaging the system. Reduced efficiency is possible. some furnaces have cutoff's if the flow is reduced excessively.

Possible the tenant got taken by the repair tech but more likely the service call and a cheap filter was a hundred dollars. Probably not out of line.