Wwyd?

[EMom]

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.

All I'm hearing is "Irish Gypsies." Did anyone come by and offer to fix the roof too?

 

[Acklander]

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.

I've heard of this con before as well. The owners shouldn't have to pay for the tenants mistakes, and for her it was a very expensive lesson.
While she may be a good tenant, if the owners cough up the money for it this time, there's the possibility that it could happen again. If they say no, it's not authorized hopefully the tenant will check with the owners next time a "good deal" comes up.

 

[MickeySP]

If it was an upgade not a neccessary repair I would want to know why she did it before I agreed to let her deduct it. A good deal is not a good enough reason. Also it depends on the agreement she had, you don't know if she talked to the owners from what I gather.

Now on emergency repairs, with an absentee landlord, as long as I made a reasonable effort to contact then heck yeah. I would expect the expense to be deducted. Say no heat in January in NE, a tenant does not have to wait for days for a landlord to arrange something. Well unless the LL wamnts to pay hotel charges on top of repairs.

As a LL I always leave a list of approved emergency workers, and 2 options for each type. But I would not expect my tenants to be without heat, water etc... if through no fault of theirs they can't get me. I do go on vacaction once in awhile.

 

[pyrxtc]

I would talk to the owners myself and send her back a not telling her that her rent was short and all repairs to the house need to be run by the owners first.

 

[MIGrandma]

She should pay for it herself since she didn't ask the owners if it was all right. Things like that should be okayed first, rather than later.

 

[pilotwife_02]

I agree she should have received permission from the landlord first. My friend rents her house and she wants her driveway sealed and they are actually going to pay for it themselves. But I guess they figure it's not that much and it helps make their home look better

Interesting to me the amounts people pay over the country. We have a 3 car driveway and we paid $95 for it last year. A reputable company came around one day an placed fliers on every one's door saying they were coming to the neighborhood on such and such day and if anyone wanted a 15% discount they could call and make an appointment to have it done. I saw perhaps 20 houses with their signs across their driveway so I know a lot of people took them up on their offer. AND we didn't have to pay until after it was done (We were billed since we weren't home when it got done).