Who pays for rotten food when rentals fridge breaks?
Question: I am an apartment manager and my tenant called me on a Sunday night to tell me that she just arrived back from a four-day trip and found the refrigerator had broken down and all the food was spoiled. The next day, I ordered the tenant a new refrigerator, which was delivered on Tuesday. Now she wants me to pay for her spoiled food. I would like to know if I am responsible for her spoiled food? As the refrigerator is under her care and use, should she be responsible? Landlords’ attorney McKinley replies: From your question, it appears that the tenant is renting the refrigerator from you, either as part of the apartment rental, or by a separate agreement. In either event, this would make the maintenance of the refrigerator your responsibility. However, it is the tenant’s duty to notify the landlord of any necessary maintenance requests, including fixing the refrigerator. As it is likely that all the food was spoiled by the time she notified you of the broken refrigerator, you wo
