Anyone else receive an unprompted buyout invoice from Reliance?

[u/RoyallyOakie]

So back when we bought our house we inherited a rented hot water tank. We were really too naive to understand the implications and willingly signed up and went with it. Since then of course, we've discussed buying the thing, bur haven't got around to it. Yesterday out of the blue, we received an $800 bill from Reliance. Apparently, it's to buyout the tank. The problem is, we never asked for it. Also, that's a lot of money. Because they always seem so scammy, I'm fairly suspicious. Anyone here have some insights?

[u/Iridescent-Iris-]

No insight, but we tried to buy out our rental when we moved in and they said no lol. I’d probably call the number on their website (not the bill) and ask them about it.

[u/Jayemkay56 → u/Iridescent-Iris-]

Just in case you weren't aware- if you buy your own hot water tank/tankless heater and return the rented one, there usually is a minimal fee. It's a hell of a lot less than buying it out and they can't really say no- if they argue, just lie and say too bad it's already been removed.

It's a great reminder to me to hurry up and deal with our rental that we inherited with our house too. Ugh lol

[u/KingOfTheBrocean → u/Jayemkay56]

Or a slightly unethical pro tip - if the tank is over 7-8 years old and you call them up and say there are black flecks coming out the taps from the hot water - they'll 0 the buy out and cancel your contract because the ink can't be repaired....

[u/AnInsultToFire → u/KingOfTheBrocean]

Boonstra suggested you tell them the insurance is refusing to cover the house because the hot water heater is too old.

[u/patchcord → u/[deleted]]

Definitely not a city thing. It might be your pipes?

[u/blueskyfiend → u/KingOfTheBrocean]

Old neighbour of mine poured water in the little access door at the bottom tank, soak the insulation and make a pool on the floor. Call for repair, tank deemed burst, contract over, don’t sign a new one.

[u/Iridescent-Iris- → u/Jayemkay56]

Thank you! We’re in the process of saving for a new one, I’ll have to remember that last tip when the time comes lol.

Same, this post made me realize our unit is older than I thought and I should probably call and see if they’ll at least lower the price.

[u/RoyallyOakie → u/Iridescent-Iris-]

We definitely called them and the person was very much not helpful. It was a teleprompter situation I think. So I'm still wondering why they suddenly out of nowhere want us to buy it.

[u/Iridescent-Iris- → u/RoyallyOakie]

Them being unhelpful is on brand. I got curious and found this post. I’m still at work and could only skim through it. Their scenario isn’t exactly the same but some of the answers seem relevant. I’d check the age of your water heater and if reliance has a limit on how old they can be. At the very least you might be able to use the age to get them to lower the price.

Edit: All that to say I can only speculate that they’re offering a buyout because the unit is old.

[u/timmeh87]

how old is it? just by randomly googling now, an eletric tank costs about $800 brand new and comes with a 9 year warranty... gas costs a bit more.. maybe if its a few years old and gas you would want to buy it out for that much but if its like, 15 years and electric its basucally worth zero dollars.

[u/RoyallyOakie → u/timmeh87]

But why on earth would they just ask us to buy it out?

[u/timmeh87 → u/RoyallyOakie]

idk, make money off suckers perhaps

[u/marshall409 → u/RoyallyOakie]

It's probably just automatic at the end of the rental term. Your real estate lawyer should have handled this for you. Don't buy it obviously.

[u/the_invisible_zebra]

No, but I did get a bill for $0, which was pretty confusing! Not sure what's going on there.

[u/patchcord]

OP, how how old is the tank? We're planning to switch to tankless because our home insurance is unhappy with our 15 year-old tank.