Wwyd?

[2binak]

Friends of ours live a couple of states away but own a house in our neighborhood that they rent out. We keep an eye on the house and collect & deposit the rent checks. Included with this month's rent was a note from the renter saying that she had the driveway sealed. Someone was doing work in the neighborhood and offered her a discount, but it was only good for that day. She agreed and paid for the work. She then deducted the amount from her rent payment. She did not contact the homeowners before doing this and made no mention of it until we received the note with the check. At the end of her note, she wrote a little line offering to pay for the sealing, if they really wanted her to. So, would you ask the renter pay the bill?

If I was the owner, I would ask her to pay the bill. It really bugs me that she made a decision like that without talking to the owners. She has all of their numbers so I think that making a quick phone call before agreeing to hundreds of dollars of work would have been nice. And no, the driveway didn't need sealing and even if it had needed work, it wasn't her decision to make without talking to the owners. That's my opinion, what's yours?

 

[NHdisneylover]

I agree with you. Our tenants always email and ask before doing work beyond very cosmetic things (like painting)--and the things they have done (finished most of the basement) they have not billed us for. She is very much out of line. Then again, if she is a great tenant otherwise it may not be worth losing her over.

 

[dodukes]

I agree that it is out of line to automatically deduct when she pays rent if that wasnt previously agreed upon.

 

[*BTMRR*]

She was completely out of line, but if they are good renters otherwise, I'd pay (if the price didn't seem totally crazy) and make it very clear that this was the only time EVER and that anything else needs to be pre-approved.

 

[PatsMom]

I would not allow the deduction from rent for the sealing. A quick call to the landlord before commiting to the expense would have been the appropriate thing to do. But as mentioned, if they are otherwise a great tenant it might not be worth arguing over. I would tell them though that I expect to be consulted for anything other than emergency repairs in the future.

 

[postage stamp]

Yeah, if they didn't have some kind of agreement before hand that's out of line.

I remember our first house we rented we had an agreement without landlord that when something broke (water heater, dishwasher, etc.) to call and let them know, deduct the repair from the rent, and include the receipt. BUT that agreement was part of our LEASE. And if the estimate seemed too high we'd get another estimate. No reason for them to pay more than needed.

 

[*BTMRR*]

Just noticed that you said it was "hundreds of dollars of work"--that's pretty steep and I can't imagine what she was thinking! Does she have a receipt?
They'd have to be really, REALLY good renters (prior to this incident) for me to offer to cover that much money.

 

[pbrim]

There is also the question of whether anything useful was actually done. "Sealing your driveway" is a classic con. They come around with some story about why they can give you a great deal, but it has to be done right now. Then they spray used motor oil or some such over your driveway and tell you to keep off for X hours while it "cures". By the time you find you've been had, your check is cashed and they're long gone.

I would make her pay it. There's a good chance she got scammed and is looking for the landlord to cover her screwup.

 

[cc1013]

That was totally inappropriate. How is anyone to know whether or not she just paid a family member or friend to do it and then jack up the fee to give them some $. It's not her property to make those decisions.

I agree with others that if she is generally a good tenant, maybe let this one go. Maybe even splitting the cost with her would be appropriate. Still, I would make it clear that this type of behavior is not acceptable. If she does this again, it will be at her own cost and risk. After all, if someone had gotten injured during the 'job,' who would be liable?

 

[okeydokey]

I personally wouldn't do anything until you contact the owner, and let them decide.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

What if it is someone she "knows" and they really did not do the work? I don't know.

I guess it would depend on the tenant/owner relationship. However I would make it clear to the tenant that purchases must be cleared prior to work being done.

 

[bonoriffic]

I had a co-worker do a door to door, today only special price deal for $200. A typical 2 car asphalt driveway can be sealed for $38. He wasn't too happy to learn that. You can seal it yourself for $20, but for the hassle and one pair of shoes I always ruin, I just pay the $38.

Concrete driveways are another story, that actually can cost a decent amount of money to seal but isn't needed every 1 or 2 years like blacktop driveways.

 

[2binak]

Just noticed that you said it was "hundreds of dollars of work"--that's pretty steep and I can't imagine what she was thinking! Does she have a receipt?
They'd have to be really, REALLY good renters (prior to this incident) for me to offer to cover that much money.

She paid $250 and yes, there is a receipt.

She's a good tenant in that she's nice, keeps the house clean & pays rent on time. The lease is up next Spring and the owners have told her that they plan to put the house on the market (it was on the market before but wasn't selling so they rented it out). She told them that she will not be renewing her lease if the house goes on the market. Which makes it even stranger to me that she would agree to have work done to a house she won't be living in much longer.

I would make her pay it. There's a good chance she got scammed and is looking for the landlord to cover her screwup.

I saw the driveway this morning and it was in fact sealed.

I personally wouldn't do anything until you contact the owner, and let them decide.

We're not doing anything. We just collect & deposit the rent checks. It's up to the owners to decide what to do. I changed my original post to state "if I was the owner, I would ask her to pay the bill."

 

[tlbwriter]

If I were the owner, I would ask her to pay the bill. That's just ridiculous. Why on earth would she care if the driveway was sealed? The whole thing smells a little fishy to me - like someone else said, I wonder if a friend or relative did the sealing.

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

Anytime someone says the deal is good for that day only, I run the other direction. Nine times out of ten it is a scam and you can find a better deal by looking around.

Since she decided to do this on her own without the landlord's permission, she needs to eat the cost IMO.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

My parents own several rentals and their policy is that nothing ever gets deducted from the rent. The rent must be paid, in full, every month. If the tenant incurred any approved expenses related to the property, my parents will reimburse them separately. They've found that once you allow tenants to deduct even approved expenses from the rent, they'll start deducting anything and everything, approved or not. That said, I do not think the owners should have to pay for sealing the driveway if they did not approve the work. If they let this one slip by, the tentant is more likely to ask them to pay for more unauthorized work in the future.

 

[mjkacmom]

There is also the question of whether anything useful was actually done. "Sealing your driveway" is a classic con. They come around with some story about why they can give you a great deal, but it has to be done right now. Then they spray used motor oil or some such over your driveway and tell you to keep off for X hours while it "cures". By the time you find you've been had, your check is cashed and they're long gone.

I would make her pay it. There's a good chance she got scammed and is looking for the landlord to cover her screwup.

I agree - why should the landlords have to pay if their renter is scammed.

 

[johnsontrio]

We have a pretty large driveway for homes in this area, we can comfortably park 8 cars in it. I pay $150 every other year for the company to come out and seal it. Is this driveway exceptionally large, do you live in a very high cost of living area or did she get ripped off? Just wondering....

 

[2binak]

We have a pretty large driveway for homes in this area, we can comfortably park 8 cars in it. I pay $150 every other year for the company to come out and seal it. Is this driveway exceptionally large, do you live in a very high cost of living area or did she get ripped off? Just wondering....

The driveway is not large at all. They can park 4 cars on it. I just asked DH what he thought about the cost and he said that last year when he looked into having our driveway sealed, $250 was the going rate for our driveway, which can hold 6 cars. I think that's pricey, but he did call around and everyone quoted him at or near that price. Sadly, that means the renter actually paid more than the going rate for her driveway's size - so much for that discount she was promised

 

[scrapquitler]

There is also the question of whether anything useful was actually done. "Sealing your driveway" is a classic con. They come around with some story about why they can give you a great deal, but it has to be done right now. Then they spray used motor oil or some such over your driveway and tell you to keep off for X hours while it "cures". By the time you find you've been had, your check is cashed and they're long gone.

I would make her pay it. There's a good chance she got scammed and is looking for the landlord to cover her screwup.

Yep, the driveway sealing thing is a con. The renter should NOT have authorized any work on the property without the consent of the landlord, and she should not be reimbursed.