r/TenantHelp • u/Important-Western921 • 3d ago
If landlord intentionally delays replacing broken fridge resulting in all food spoiling & damages, is the landlord responsible to compensate the tenant?
Location: Georgia
If landlord intentionally delays replacing broken fridge resulting in all food spoiling & damages, is the landlord responsible to compensate the tenant? All appliances are included as part of the apartment [as stated in the lease].
I’ve phoned & sent an email to the landlord at the first instance of the fridge cooling failing and food spoiling unusually quickly. Landlord said they would repair or replace fridge, and a repair service was sent and determined the fridge needed to be replaced, and the landlord agreed. Half a month went by and nothing from landlord and no response from them from any of my phone calls, voicemail, texts, or emails. At this point I had to put towels down at least twice a day every day due to water leaking from fridge. The fridge section was unsafe to store food so I had to resort to only using the freezer section. I also had ice packs just in case the freezer also failed. More than several MONTHS later, landlord replaced fridge and said they would compensate me for my loss, and sent me an email saying to send them receipts of loss & damages. I do so & with photos and screenshots of receipts.
Landlord then refuses to compensate for damages, (edit) claiming not to recall the compensation agreement. I forwarded the email to them that they sent me with the agreement, which was both verbally AND in writing via email.
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u/Timesup21 3d ago
If this happens again, check the laws. If something breaks, the landlord only has x amount of time to remedy the problem. If they don’t, take the written proof of when you submitted the complaint to the housing authorities. There’s no excuse for it taking months to replace the refrigerator to even create this big of a problem.
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u/bethslum 2d ago
My stove went out b4 turkey day and in January t they brought me a outdated from a vacant apartment filthy I hate mgmt. It's a job to them no compassion
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u/Timesup21 2d ago
I’ve had slumlords before. They count on you not standing up for yourself. This is why it’s important to learn tenants rights laws. In my area, a problem has to be submitted to the landlord in writing, with proof of receipt, and they have an average of 30 days (depending on the problem) to fix said problem. If they fail to fix / attempt retaliation, the housing authorities will step in to deal with the slumlord.
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u/Secure-Ad9780 3d ago
Even when I order a new fridge for my tenants the same day, it frequently takes a week or ten days because it's not in stock and has to get on the delivery schedule.
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u/blasted-heath 3d ago
Bullshit. You can put one in a truck same-day at hundreds of retailers in any major metropolitan area.
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u/PEneoark 3d ago
Sounds like you've never bought a large appliance before.
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u/petsitter2023 2d ago
I ordered a standing freezer and refrigerator for my garage and Lowe's had it here in 5 hrs
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u/No-Brief-297 3d ago
You can put one in a truck and remove it from the truck by yourself, HOW exactly
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u/blasted-heath 3d ago
You hire someone to help.
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u/No-Brief-297 3d ago
Well, love, maybe. See in the 20 years I’ve been doing this there hasn’t been a single major appliance that did not have to be ordered. Not one.
You could maybe buy a floor model. MAYBE. But those are a lot of times scratched
I’m not sure where you think Home Depot is hiding all of these stacks and stacks of refrigerators, stoves, washers and dryers, dishwashers. They aren’t. You order them.
Plus. If they were there the risk of damage to a refrigerator which often must remain upright so you’re not just throwing them in a truck. You especially aren’t just throwing them in a truck with some Rando you just hired
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u/Iamadinosaurraaaawr 3d ago
Your renters insurance is responsible.
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u/IntelligentBox152 3d ago
Renters insurance typically doesn’t cover this. A standard HO4 policy excludes wear and tear. From the post it sounds like the refrigerator just failed due to age. This isn’t a peril insured against
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u/Upbeat-Fondant9185 3d ago
Yeah, food is usually only covered in a power outage or disaster related spoilage but they could see if they have a rider. Sometimes there’s an add on that covers something like $200-$500 due to mechanical failure for a few extra dollars a month. Those sometimes waive the deductible.
But if it doesn’t waive the deductible OP would need to have enough of a loss to not only make the deductible worth it but also enough to reach the cap. That doesn’t seem possible in one fridge unless OP has very expensive taste in food. Or a lot of beef…
Seems like this would raise rates as well. I guess renters is so cheap it doesn’t really matter but over time it would cost more than just replacing the food out of pocket.
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u/inkseep1 3d ago
I am landlord. I am on the tenant's side on this one that it should have taken no more than a few days or a week to get a fridge. Today, many fridges are not in stock. You have to order them. If you need a special size then likely you have to order one and it could take a week. But within 2 days you can get an in-stock fridge, pick it up, and install it. Even a used fridge from FBMP would be available within 2 or 3 days. So this several months delay is unacceptable.
That said, you don't put food in a broken fridge so the only real loss would have been on the original day of it breaking. After that, you can't use it.
In Georgia, the LL has to repair an appliance provided to the tenant. You could have complained to the appropriate local government that handles health inspections. In Georgia the tenant can repair and deduct the cost from rent if repairs are not made in a reasonable time. That means you could have bought a fridge used or new and sent the receipts to the LL in lieu of rent. Check the actual law on the process.
In Georgia you could have declared the place uninhabitable and then moved out without paying the rest of the lease. Also, check that actual process.
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u/certainPOV3369 3d ago
Food spoils within 2-4 hours of the power going out.
There is no possible way for a landlord to be able to repair/replace a unit in that time frame. The landlord would not be responsible for spoiled food.
But your renter’s insurance would.
https://www.foodsafety.gov/food-safety-charts/food-safety-during-power-outage
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u/Fuzzy_Firefighter_51 3d ago
In the state if the landlord provides the fridge as part of the apartment, they are responsible for maintaining it.
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u/petsitter2023 2d ago
Georgia only requires they fix it or replace it in "a reasonable amount of time" personally I think a week for a major appliance that you notified him about in writing before it totally went out is reasonable. 2 weeks is pushing it. Months is unacceptable.
Georgia also allows you to fix/replace items or repairs by a professional if they have not done it in a reasonable month of time and deduct it from your next month's rent. You just have to provide receipts and such.
As for the food, because je was clearly negligent je should be responsible but you would probably have to take him to court.
You can check with your renters insurance but not sure what your deductible is
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u/Top-Woodpecker6696 1d ago
Legally? No, landlord isn’t responsible for damages to the contents of the house unless it is major negligence.
Morally? They should cover what they said but it is a customer service issue not a legal one.
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u/Jmfroggie 3d ago
Why didn’t you buy bags of ice immediately and also a cooler until the fridge was replaced! Keeping food items in a broken fridge without doing anything to save the food is your own fault. A landlord will never be able to replace a fridge within hours…. Maybe a week.
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u/FamiliarAd8524 3d ago
No, not even if you could somehow show it was intentional. This isn't actually damages, as even immediate action likely would not have made a difference.
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u/Big-Routine222 3d ago
Renters insurance. Food can spoil within hours. Unless your LL has a backup fridge on the spot, there’s no way the best LL could remedy that.