Can a landlord change the deal after the work is already done?
After arranging professional cleaning for property viewings and repeatedly saying she would cover the cost, one landlord later demanded that her student tenants reimburse her hundreds of dollars. When they refused, she allegedly became hostile, insulted them, and backed out of previous agreements, leaving the tenants wondering whether they have any obligation to pay for expenses they never agreed to in the first place.
This story is a complex one for some reasons that I’ll detail below. Firstly, the tenants we’re talking about are students. And this is not a minor factor, because sometimes kids tend to be a little bit messy, and I’m sure the landlady knew this and wanted to intervene to protect the safety of her property. Now, if this is the case, then why would she have decided to rent the property to them if she was skeptical? She could have found others who were willing to move, and decided for some easier-going tenants, and that’s it.
Secondly, when apparently it was time to put the house up for showing and to find some new tenants, she decided to hire some professional cleaners and leave the house spotless for future renters to come and check it out. Now, she promised she was the one covering this expense, and somehow she decided to make all of these kids pay for it. And she did this on purpose because I’m sure she wants them out as soon as possible and to start over with new renters.
And now this whole situation is super chaotic, and kids need to find a new home as soon as possible, while they also figure out where to leave all of their stuff during this process, since another of her broke promoses was to allow them to leave everything at the house until they find a new place.
Besides the particularities of this story, promises are never bound to be broken. Especially in more careful and delicate relationships, like a landlord-tenant one. We’re talking about large amounts of money and somebody’s home: two sensible topics. So, being mindful about what we promised and how to handle the situation is fundamental.
