CHRISTMAS PROBLEM

Once upon a time, on a quiet December afternoon, just as the long holiday break was beginning, a broker received a call from a tenant.

Foreign Tenant: “[Broker], the aircon in the second bedroom stopped working. The ones in the living room too. Three out of the four units are down. Please make sure this gets fixed as soon as possible. My son is arriving before Christmas.”

Broker: (Already sensing the problem) “Yes sir. I’ll arrange it.”

The broker immediately called their trusted aircon technician.

Service Provider: “Sir, Christmas party namin mamaya. Earliest slot na namin is December 27.”

The broker spent the next few hours calling other suppliers, technicians, and maintenance teams. No availability. Everybody had either closed shop or already left for the holidays. The broker even tried offering a sizeable “bonus” just to convince someone to check the air conditioning units. Still unsuccessful.

The broker updated the tenant. That was when the mood changed. The tenant, who had always been polite and easygoing before, started getting upset.

Foreign Tenant: “So what are we supposed to do?! Stay here without air conditioning? My son is arriving for Christmas!!”

He then said they would transfer to a hotel temporarily and charge the owner for the expense.

Fast forward. The tenant did stay in a hotel. The air conditioning units were only checked after Christmas and it turned out to be a major issue with the units.

End of story.

So who was right? Did the tenant have the right to charge the owner for the hotel stay?

Lessons to be posted tomorrow.

*****

Circling back to yesterday’s Horror Story Tuesdays post...

1. How did 3 out of 4 AC units fail almost at the same time?

FYI, the AC units were relatively new inverter air conditioners. According to the technician who checked the units, the issue may have been with the installation.

When non-inverter systems are replaced with inverter units, the proper process is to replace the copper piping too. This is because newer inverter systems use different refrigerants, oils, and operating pressures. But to save money, some installers reuse the old piping and simply flush chemicals through the lines to adapt them for the new units. Old pipes can still contain contaminants, old oil residue, or microscopic debris. Over time, these can circulate through the system and damage sensitive inverter components. Ultimately, these can cause compressor damage, clogging, and refrigerant flow issues.

(To be fair, reused pipes do not automatically mean failure. Final diagnosis still depends on proper inspection.)

2. Did the tenant have the right to charge the owner for the hotel stay?

That depends heavily on the lease contract.

Some leases used by diplomats and expats allow pre-termination if the property becomes uninhabitable or substantially less usable. However, these clauses usually discuss lease termination, not automatic reimbursement for hotel expenses.

So in reality, it often becomes a business decision.

a. Pay for the hotel stay = possibly preserve the tenant relationship.

b. Refuse = risk pre-termination, vacancy, and lost rental income.

3. Could the broker have prevented this?

Honestly, probably not. This is one of the difficult realities of property leasing. Problems rarely happen on convenient dates. And this is also why many brokers avoid handling leases or state that property management isn't part of their job. But that's a topic for another post.