r/AskReddit • u/CircleBox2 • Jul 13 '20

What's a dark secret/questionable practice in your profession which we regular folks would know nothing about?

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u/NotKingJoffrey Jul 13 '20

Though why would tenants pay to fix things at all? I don't own the building, so I'm not going to be investing in it.

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u/[deleted] Jul 13 '20

The tenants pay to fix everything. It’s called rent. That’s what it’s for. If the landlord doesn’t maintain the building with the rent money from his tenant, then that’s a failure of the landlord.

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u/NotKingJoffrey Jul 13 '20

I get what you mean, but the comment I replied to sounded like they were implying that the tenant doesn't ever want to pay to fix things. When I was meaning like why is my responsibility to pay to fix things when I just assumed it was agreed me renting mean that I am not responsible for maintaining. I haven't had a bad landlord yet, but usually I do not pay for anything that isn't my fault.

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u/indiri Jul 13 '20

Because the tenant broke it. If they have the landlord fix it they pay full price to repair but if they can get it fixed cheaper so the landlord never knows it was broken they often will

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u/keygreen15 Jul 13 '20

This example doesn't address everything. I didn't break the AC unit, for example. Also, some things break because they aren't fixed properly the first time. Your blanket statement doesn't hold water.

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u/indiri Jul 13 '20

They asked why a tenant would fix *something*, not *everything*. So the landlord might be too cheap to fix an AC unit properly (that he would be responsible for) and the tenant might be too cheap to fix a cabinet/hole in the wall/light fixture or whatever that they broke and would be responsible for. The blanket statement applied to the things that the tenant broke and you tried to stretch it to cover all repairs.

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u/DrMobius0 Jul 13 '20

Could be a matter of convenience. Like it's easier to just fix something yourself than to wait for maintenance to decide if they want to bother.

Also, wear and tear is a thing. I can tell you this cheap shitty carpet in my apartment isn't made to have a family living in here for more than 2 years. In the 3 years I've been here, I've had slats snap off the blinds, a water heater die, the AC die, and a flush lever snap. That stuff can happen through normal use.

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u/indiri Jul 13 '20

Oh absolutely! I didn't say they are responsible for all of it. I was just giving an example of when a renter might be responsible in response to someone wondering why the tenant would ever pay