landlord question

[euphoricism]

I rent a room in a house with three other roomates. One of them is the landlords daughter, and one of them is her (the daughter's) boyfriend.

Today the boyfriend bought airfilters for our air conditioner and wants the three of us to help pay for them. His girlfriend said yes, but I said no, They claim that they are a "household expense" like paper towels or lightbulbs because we all benefit from them.

I disagree because I think air filters are expected maintenance of the air conditioner -- which the landlord is responsible for, not the tenants. I should be no more responsible for them than I am the gasoline the landlord uses to mow the lawn. Those are just things the landlord should be responsible for, not the tenant.

Further, these filters last a year, and I only have a six-month lease, so at the least I should only be responsible for half of the cost. (do not include this in the voting because I think thats LDOBV and he can't raelly argue against it)

Who is right?

[freechus9]

How expensive are they?

[euphoricism]

I don't know. They're probably cheap, i mean they're just air filters. But I don't want to set a precedent.

edit: that said, they DID have to be custom made because they have a weird ass airconditioning unit with an odd size.

[will641]

dude ac filters are so cheap. i voted yes because i think technically you may be right, but i mean come on.

[Muzzard]

[x] don't be a douche

Would you rather have aircon or not. The landlord does not have to have working aircon in the property. Just pay the man his monies.

[euphoricism]

[x] don't be a douche

Would you rather have aircon or not. The landlord does not have to have working aircon in the property. Just pay the man his monies.

Actually Florida law requires a working air conditioner in any property up for household renting.

[Muzzard]

[x] don't be a douche

Would you rather have aircon or not. The landlord does not have to have working aircon in the property. Just pay the man his monies.

Actually Florida law requires a working air conditioner in any property up for household renting.

I stand corrected. But just pay up.

[wufwugy]

you are absolutely right, however you are also a nit. add to your nittery the cause and effect of the universe (where making a small problem here can influence a larger problem later) as well as the fact that the precedent set wont affect you much if any and just paying for the shit becomes the correct decision

[euphoricism]

yeah i think you're right that I'm right but its a -EV shania decision

[a500lbgorilla]

it's hardly setting a precedent. You are not a government, you can treat every situation with hands on care because they're your damn hands and the problems will always be on a small enough scale.

Chip in and benefit from the lifeEV of being an easy-going guy.

[a500lbgorilla]

btw i don't even blink twice and toss in the required loot.

[euphoricism]

BUT AM I RITE???

[thizzSantaCruz]

i agree with what everyone said. when you are living with people i always think its a good idea to chip in on a few things. it'll strengthen your relationship. technically you are right but if its as cheap as it sounds I think you should just ante up. making a big deal about something small like this to the people you live with is just a bad decision.

[ProZachNation]

same as everyone else, if it were a lot of money yeah but I would just pay so you dont have to deal with your roomates giving you dirty glances and plotting your death for 6 months.

*************
The passive aggressive solution (always my favorite) is to pay them then deduct that amount from the rent you owe your landlord and write on the check that is why it is short.
*************

[aka_red]

lol op is a life nit. and a douche.

[tom]

BUT AM I RITE???

the 2 apartments I've lived in required you to change the air filters yourself and would get angry when they weren't changed out when they randomly came in (for maintenance stuff or moving out stuff). Check your lease.

[bigspenda73]

complexes/landlords should provide air filters but it should be specified in a leasing agreement, if it's not, looks like you owe $3.56 to the cause yo.

[euphoricism]

they refused to take half and began citing all sorts of things that normal roomates would do for each other but that apparently have a price here. Such as "letting me use his xbox"

Yeah, im ready to move. They can have the couple bucks, but they've definitely cost themselves a shot at getting me to resign a lease

[bigspenda73]

just wondering, when you sign, is it for 20% even though there are 3 tenants?

[Warpe]

I'd want a new roommate, if I were them.

Don't sweat the small stuff, and this is extremely small stuff.

Stop being an asshole.

[wufwugy]

yeesh dude wth

the MOST correct thing you could have done here is offer to pay for it all because youre a sick poker balla and you wipe your ass with a cool million and even if thats not true you make it true by doing what it takes.

[Lukie]

really?

really?

really????????????????????????

[Jack Sawyer]

i refuse to believe this

it just can't be an issue. its impossible.

[donkbee]

lol lukie

[Lukie]

lol courtney

[euphoricism]

just wondering, when you sign, is it for 20% even though there are 3 tenants?

four tenants, only two pay rent (myself and my girlfriend), because the other 1's the landlords daughter and the other other 1's fucking her. Hence they seem to think they're "losing money on the house" (they wouldn't if the boyfriend would pay rent) and try and nickel and dime me to death.

Lukie these are drastically more expensive because they had to be custom made or w/e... AKA they were too cheap to buy a real air conditioner and instead got this bargain basement piece of crap that has to be specially made and shit.

First I don't understand how these are any different than just routine maintenance shit like gasoline for a lawnmower and also why when I've made it CLEAR i'm staying for 6 months that I should pay for their years supply of overpriced filters.

Anyway, I'm just going to pay them whatever the fuck they want. And they'll keep asking for more. Its pretty stupid.

For instance when I bought my HD projector for the living room and I wanted to mount the projector on the wall I needed some mounting brackets. Roomate says "oh hey I have some" and finds some in the garage hands 'em over and installs them. The next day he asks $15 for the brackets. I should have just uninstalled them right there.

Just getting sick of being nickel and dimed to death. Its so petty. I'd never ever ask someone for shit like this. I know when the bulb on the projector goes out and its something like $300 to replace they'll refuse to help pay for it and I'm going to go apeshit. I'll be glad to never have roomates again starting january.

[JKDS]

you and your roomies are all douchebags. If your ac dont work, not your job to fix it...thats one of the biggest pluses of renting. Therefore, if it needs to be done then tell your landlord to get off his ass.

Yet, this isnt exactly the spot your looking for to out douche the douches. Wall mounts that you mentioned would be much better, because obviously payment wasnt part of the verbal contract you made with him when he just gave them to you. But cmon, air filters?

Honestly though, if they want to play ball with this dumb shit then you have to start playing by their rules. I dont mean give into them, i mean saying shit like "i estimate the covered spot to be worth 40 a month, you have it, so pay me 40" and then make measurements of the rooms, "o, your room is 5 sq ft bigger, so i actually should be paying less". All of this is douchebaggery of course, but so is the shit they are pulling. "i let you use my xbox" FU, "i let you use my couch" kinda thing.

[DrivingDog]

First, don't move in with the landlord's daughter and bf unless they're already good friends of yours because of the social dynamic it creates. 'nuff said.

Second, you're only there for six months so make the best of it. Don't try to out-asshole them and don't get upset at all if you can help it - just learn what your legal rights are and stick up for them. If you can cite some part of the state landlord-tenants act in your favor that will pretty much end any argument. Alternatively, ask yourself whether saving the $50 or whatever for wall brackets and air conditioner filters and replacement sink washers or whatever is really worth fighting for.

If it's not a lot of money I'd personally rather just pay it and sleep better knowing I'm a nice guy who occasionally gets slightly taken advantage of.

[spoonitnow]

really?

really?

really????????????????????????

Purchase 24 or more at $1.40

imo

[givememyleg]

lolllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

[pankfish]

If the landlord doesn't want to take care of maintenance on the ac then good luck finding someone to rent a house in FL with no AC. amirite?

[Lukie]

just wondering, when you sign, is it for 20% even though there are 3 tenants?

four tenants, only two pay rent (myself and my girlfriend), because the other 1's the landlords daughter and the other other 1's fucking her. Hence they seem to think they're "losing money on the house" (they wouldn't if the boyfriend would pay rent) and try and nickel and dime me to death.

Lukie these are drastically more expensive because they had to be custom made or w/e... AKA they were too cheap to buy a real air conditioner and instead got this bargain basement piece of crap that has to be specially made and shit.

First I don't understand how these are any different than just routine maintenance shit like gasoline for a lawnmower and also why when I've made it CLEAR i'm staying for 6 months that I should pay for their years supply of overpriced filters.

Anyway, I'm just going to pay them whatever the fuck they want. And they'll keep asking for more. Its pretty stupid.

For instance when I bought my HD projector for the living room and I wanted to mount the projector on the wall I needed some mounting brackets. Roomate says "oh hey I have some" and finds some in the garage hands 'em over and installs them. The next day he asks $15 for the brackets. I should have just uninstalled them right there.

Just getting sick of being nickel and dimed to death. Its so petty. I'd never ever ask someone for shit like this. I know when the bulb on the projector goes out and its something like $300 to replace they'll refuse to help pay for it and I'm going to go apeshit. I'll be glad to never have roomates again starting january.

Honestly, while I still feel you shouldn't make a big deal out of this and just pay for the filters, this post makes you look a lot more reasonable than the OP.

Just out of curiosity, how much does this new filter cost? (and I assume that it will be split two ways).

[euphoricism]

they're $40 a piece, he bought 4 of them (years supply even though ill only be here 6months). So he wants $40 from me and my gf.

edit: spoon points out this sounds redic (IDK ive always rented) and that its possible I'm a) being taken for a ride or at the least b) paying more than my fair share

w/e I'm gonna give him the money and be jewtastic. No more "dont worry about its" when I run up to mcdonalds and he asks for a fucking blizzard :P

[ProZachNation]

Euph just do what I said, its win win

[bigred]

lol op is a life nit. and a douche.

doesn't really help much

[thizzSantaCruz]

yea after your second post about the brackets it seems like they are also huge douches. tough situation. technically i think your right.

[wufwugy]

i have had one roommate, he was my best friend and by faaaaaaar the best person for me to live with. hes gone now and i will never live with somebody else again. except for maybe a bangmaid

moral: live alone

[salsa4ever]

it's rare, but I think eupho is rite.

poor form for them to even ask to be reimbursed for the air filters.

but I mean come on I let my housemate use the milk and he lets me use his salt. So I mean you can't divide everything up to the last cent anyway.

If it's under $5, just pay