‘So that means they are charging you for their problem?’: Tenant has to blow-dry inside freezer every few months so landlord doesn’t charge them for ‘too much ice’
A user on TikTok has sparked discussion after sharing a peculiar request he allegedly received from his landlord.
In a video with over 1.2 million views as of Saturday, TikTok user Josh (@joshlunchbox) shows an open freezer with a chair set in front of it. As the video continues, he can be seen using a blow dryer to melt some of the ice in the freezer.
“Our landlord charges us if there's too much ice in the freezer so every few months I have to spend the evening like this,” he writes in the text overlaying the video.
“Does it violate some Renters rights? Probably. Am I at peace? A bit,” he adds in the caption.
Many commenters were quick to point out that Josh’s landlord may, in fact, be violating his rights or his rental contract by making this request.
“Too much ice like that means there's something wrong with the freezer the landlord provided,” wrote a user. “So that means they are charging you for their problem?”
“That means there’s a leak and it needs to be fixed/replaced,” offered another.
“Likely the seal on the freezer is busted,” echoed a third. “If it’s building ice so quickly you ought to get the landlord to replace it.”
That said, Josh would not be the first to go viral after sharing a ridiculous, potentially illegal act from a landlord. One user claimed that their landlord was ignoring serious issues in their building to drive tenants out of their rentals. Another alleged that their landlord rented their apartment on Airbnb while they were on vacation. A further user claimed that their landlord frequently entered their apartment and “pretended” to fix things.
On Josh’s comments section, users offered potential solutions to this issue.
“Next time he charges u just ask what happened to the money u gave him last time and why it hasn’t been fixed yet,” stated a commenter.
“Call the tenant board! also ontop of that, make sure everything he tells you, ask for it all to be sent In a email so you have records of convos,” added a second.
In an email to the Daily Dot, Josh said that he’s been defrosting the freezer “every 3-4 months for the last year.”
“We aren’t charged specifically for having ‘too much ice,’ but the way our tenancy agreement works is that we have a house inspection every few months. One of the things we are checked on is ice build-up in the freezer. If we fail any part of the inspection we then have to do a 2nd inspection to see if we’ve fixed the issue and if at that point it still is not fixed, we are then charged about £60 for any repeat inspections,” he explained.
While this is an annoyance, Josh says that any bigger solution would likely be more trouble than it’s worth.
“We would ask for a replacement freezer as I do believe something is wrong. But as with all landlords they’ll likely fight like hell to not have to replace it or even end up blaming us for it,” he stated.
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