I Need Your Advice - Landlord Problems

Help! I could use some advice from all you smart folks out there. I have a bit of a dilemma and would love some feedback. Okay, here's the scoop:

My tenant complained yesterday that her apartment is too hot. You see, we've been having some mighty hot and humid temperatures here in Michigan lately and her apartment is on the second floor and as we all know, heat rises. Actually pretty much everyone I've talked to is having the same problem, whether they have air conditioning or not. It is just the nature of 90+ degree days.

However... my ex is the one who rented her the apartment. She moved in April 2008, when he was still living in the house, before I had taken possession. When he rented it to her, he told her that the air was controlled by the owner's unit, but that the apartment temperature would always be comfortable. Sigh.... I could just kick him for telling her that. After all, comfort is a very relative term.

So here's the problem, my a/c unit is just not powerful enough to completely cool the upstairs. We knew that when we bought the house - the housing inspector told us. So, why my ex told her that is beyond my comprehension. It's an old, old house (100+ years) and big as a barn, so no matter how I set the air, in this weather the exterior temperature is going to warm up the interior air faster than the a/c can cool it. Even if I were to run the a/c at 50 degrees 24/7, it wouldn't cut it, at least not in this weather. So, what is a good landlord to do???

Here's the way I see it....

I don't think my tenant has lived in my neighborhood before. My neighborhood is made up of old Victorian homes like mine, that are mostly fun, hip, artsy rental units. Hers, for example, has hardwood floors, French doors, vintage cabinets, and a huge walk in cedar lined closet. However, the downside of living in these old beauties is that they frequently have some quirks - no air conditioning and funky heat are two of them. It is not the same as living in an apartment complex at all. Most apartments in these old houses don't have any a/c at all, so past tenants have just been grateful for whatever they got and knew they would need a window unit and some fans... it is just the way it goes, but no, my ex promised this one that it would be comfortable.

My house is 3/4ths mine and 1/4th her apartment. I have the whole downstairs and half of the upstairs. So, I have gone through and closed several of the downstairs vents, in an attempt to push the air upstairs. Then I closed all my upstairs vents, to then push it into her unit. See, I am used to living without a/c - I don't really need it, so I don't care if it goes to her.

Then I wrote her an email explaining the problem with the a/c. What some people don't realize is that it doesn't matter what temperature you set the air conditioning to, the air coming out of the unit is the same temperature. In other words, whether I set the air conditioner to 70 degrees Fahrenheit, 7 degrees, or 7 below zero, the air coming out of the grate is still the same. The unit will pour out that cold air until the ambient temperature in the house hits the setting on the thermostat, and then it shuts off. However, if the weather is hot enough, the space big and drafty enough and the a/c unit not powerful enough, then it will just keep running continually, but never be able to lower the temperature all the way. That's what's happening. Now, what do I do about my sweating tenant? I have already gently explained the problem and closed the vents on my side of the house - I could just leave it there, and maybe I should. However, she has been a good tenant and I would like to keep her around. She's quiet, pays her rent on time and keeps the apartment in nice condition. Do I:

1.) Hope that what I have done is enough and be grateful that the temperatures should be getting cooler next week? (Although July and August are going to be hot, I am sure.)

2.) Buy her a fan for the apartment? I did that with a supplemental heater this winter. Fans are cheap and it would show that I care.

3.) Investigate a separate a/c unit for her apartment. Although remember, I have limited funds. I would be interested to know if there was some kind of stand alone or wall mounted electric heat/air conditioning unit though. That would solve a lot of problems.

4.) Investigate a better house-wide a/c system? Again, limited funds here.

5.) Something else????

What would you do if you were the landlord? What would you want done if you were the tenant?



Photo by: molamoni