If you are renting a home that came with a fridge and the fridge goes out and spoils 200 dollars worth of food who is responsible for replacing the food?

Answer 1

The landlord if he/she were informed of the problem and did not repair or replace the refrigerator in a timely manner. Unless there is a clause in your rental agreement/lease that states otherwise. Realistically, the situation is the same as it would be in a home you live in. You would either get ice to put into the refrigerator to keep it cold or put it into a cooler. Then, you call and wait for the repairman, which may be a day or two.

Unfortunately, you are. That is where your rental insurance would come in handy! Some landlords may be nice enough to deduct the amount off of your next months rent, provided that you have receipts.

I dis-agree with the above answer..........The owner has provided the appliances in the rental home and therefore is responsible for replacing the defective ones and the food that was spoiled due to the break down. What about a stove that won't work, is the tenant supposed to go with out hot food? Or do you think they should go out and BUY a new stove?

The owner of the rental unit has a legal responsibility to maintain and replace defective or dangerous equipment in the home. That is HIS expense not the tenants.

I am a landlord and I had this very thing happen. I live downstairs in a house that I rent out the main floor. I have a pager mainly for any problems that might come up like this one. I was working swing shift and I found a note about it when I got home which did not give me a chance to help save the food. I acted in good faith by working on repairing the fridge myself that night. It started working again and they filled it up again. I kept checking it as the kitchen is common area between us and until I figured out that the fan relay was not working and it would overheat and stop working, it had gone out again. I took all their food down to my fridge that night when I got home and I worked on repairing it again through the night. Over the course of many hours of trying to make sure they had food that did not spoil, when it went out for the last time, they still did not bother to page me nor did they get off their butts to try to put the more expensive things on ice. After they vacated, they took me to court because I charged them for cleaning and repairs out of their deposit which were far from unfair. The fridge thing came up in court and as long as the landlord is not negligent, they are not liable for the spoiling of the food... it is a renter's insurance thing. Instead of getting the $1250 they took me to court for, they ended up getting $53.00 plus they had to pay all the court fees to get me there. The things we cannot forecast is what insurance is for. Negligence is something that we can forecast and only then should there be a guilty party to be found liable.

Probably not, most leases will say that they do not cover damages to your personal items, and food would be included in this. The landlord is definitely responsible for fixing the fridge, but he would probably not be responsible for replacing its contents.