Should a landlord pay

amother

Sun, Jul 07 2013, 11:48 pm

For Cleaning a dryer vent that was never cleaned since we moved in? Whose responsibility is it?

chocolate chips

Mon, Jul 08 2013, 12:19 am

How much are we talking and who wants it more?
I would prob just pay myself since its my issue not theirs.

amother

Mon, Jul 08 2013, 12:22 am

How long have you lived there? Whose dryer is it? What does your lease say? Did you ask your landlord?

And why not just clean it yourself?

bookie

Mon, Jul 08 2013, 6:30 am

When we moved in the washer dryer came with apt but were bought by a previous tenant. So wen I had to clean the vent my landlady split in half because the vent was in wall which is part of her house.

jerseygirl

Mon, Jul 08 2013, 9:58 am

If you rented the unit with the appliance there then the landlord is responsible for repairing as well as replacing it if it breaks.

The laws may differ depending where you live, but I would assume this would still be the same.

The landlord should be responsible for the entire bill.

farm

Mon, Jul 08 2013, 10:43 am

I would think it depends on whether or not the washer/dryer is included in the lease. If the lease agreement includes a washer/dryer for tenant to use, landlord should maintain it. If the lease agreement allows tenant to purchase (from previous renters or their own) and hook up a washer/dryer if they so desire, tenant should maintain it.
To me, this seems like the logical way to determine who is responsible, but I am not a lawyer nor a halachic posek.

Fabulous

Mon, Jul 08 2013, 1:16 pm

what farm and jerseygirl said.

If it's your machines just they gave you permission to use it, they are not responsible.

If it's theirs, I would say at least 50/50 if not, totally their responsibility. Also, you don't really have to pay mucho money.

http://www.target.com/p/as-see.....WcAzw

I read a couple of best consumer items on this like good housekeeping etc... It's supposed to be really effective.

amother

Mon, Jul 08 2013, 2:10 pm

Op here. It is not my washer dryer, but even if it would be, I'm not the first person to live here and why should I be responsible for the buildup, especially that the vent goes all the way to the roof. And I really would love to just do things on my own but I seriously can't afford close to $200 right now.

jerseygirl

Mon, Jul 08 2013, 2:13 pm

If it was there at the time you rented it, unless otherwise stated in your lease agreement, it is the responsibility of the landlord.

busydev

Mon, Jul 08 2013, 2:13 pm

Fabulous wrote:

consumer reports also gave the lint lizard very good ratings and said it did a great job.

But if the machine is your landlords I would bring it up to them. If they do it, great. if not then I would say to get the lint lizard.

scrltfr

Mon, Jul 08 2013, 2:38 pm

I paid 75 to have mine cleaned. Why not just ask your landlord and dont bring up that its unfair to clean up aftet other tenants for safety reasons the vent should be cleaned every year.

groisamomma

Mon, Jul 08 2013, 4:18 pm

Why should a landlord come in and clean something the tenants should have cleaned yearly? Does he come in and do the central air vents and filters every few months?

amother

Mon, Jul 08 2013, 4:40 pm

groisamomma wrote:

Why should a landlord come in and clean something the tenants should have cleaned yearly? Does he come in and do the central air vents and filters every few months?

Op here. I live here 5 years, but now I realize why the dryer never worked properly. I used to think its normal for a load of towels to take 2 hours until the vent fell out and the loads took half hour because it was venting into my apt. Seems like it wasn't done in years.

greenfire

Mon, Jul 08 2013, 8:43 pm

unless the landlord pays to refill your toilet paper roll too ~ the lint is yours ... clean it yourself

amother

Mon, Jul 08 2013, 9:21 pm

greenfire wrote:

unless the landlord pays to refill your toilet paper roll too ~ the lint is yours ... clean it yourself

Op here. No need to get rude.
The lint isn't all mine. If so, what's the question? I'm a reasonable person and I never ask them for a thing. But I thought that this might be something landlords do because I've heard from some that they do.

greenfire

Mon, Jul 08 2013, 11:34 pm

don't mean to be rude ~ I just say it like it is ...

how many people use the dryer ? whose lint is it ?

so ask the landlord to clean it ... maybe he will or not - but you'll never know if you don't ask

if not ... get a special brush with an extension & do it yourself ... that outta cost a significant amount less than $200

groisamomma

Mon, Jul 08 2013, 11:49 pm

If it wasn't done in years, don't try to do it yourself. The buildup can actually cause a fire, besides for the inconvenience of waiting two hours for a load of towels to dry. Wink

The money it costs to run the dryer for that long will be saved over time even if you have to pay for this yourself.

shanie5

Mon, Jul 08 2013, 11:54 pm

If you've been using the dryer for 5 years, how do you know the build up is from then? Maybe they cleaned it a few months before they moved?

By the way, you are not the first to figure out why it takes towels so long to dry. This happened to my brother and sil about 26 years ago! He finally found the overflowing lint filter-located in the back of the dryer I think.

greenfire

Mon, Jul 08 2013, 11:55 pm

the build-up will only be fire hazardous if you continue to use the dryer which runs on heating elements when there is no air flow ...

cleaning it out will not in any way create sparks to start a fire ... on the contrary

notshanarishona

Tue, Jul 09 2013, 12:42 am

I would think it is the landlord responsibility to clean between tenants (if it's included in the lease agreement to have a working dryer) but your responsibility while you are living there .
It never hurts to ask but I would be very surprised if a landlord would pay for it.