Tenancy Issues - who is reposible for external and internal air conditioners



ORIGINAL POST
Posted by seannoosa 12 yrs ago
We recently rented a flat in Wan Chai through an agent.


We had a few irritating problems such as a) the agent overcharging on the stamp duty ( notwithstanding the fact that the agreement clearly states that this is split 50/50 between the landlord and the tenant) by misrepresenting the amount paid and b) the landlord refusing to remedy latent defects that we had identified and provided in writing within 48 hours of commencement (such as leaking external doors and windows) and c) would not supply keys and wanted us to pay the locksmith to replace cylinders and locks (not insignificant as its a ground floor unit with multi doors and gates the agent's locksmith quoted HK1800 for this).


Between GovHK, EAA, CLIC and various resources on solicitor's websites we are reasonably clear on most of our rights (and obligations) and will battle on, wearing the agent down without the need to go to small claims or some other venue.


What is unclear (apart from the latent defect clause) is who is responsible for


1. the cleaning , maintenance and repair of individual external air conditioning units


2.the cleaning , maintenance and repair of individual internal air conditioning units


Does anyone have any experience or advice on those ?


Much appreciated

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COMMENTS
Loyd Grossman is Miss Venezuela 12 yrs ago
You're new in town, right?
 
My sincere advice would be to forget it. Legally, everything depends on the contract but enforcing a contract is troublesome - even if you win in Hong Kong Small Claims Court.
 
If you want to go down the legal route it will cost you a lot of time, money and effort. And for what? Air conditioning cleaning cost and lock changing? Put your effort into making money in your job, save up and eventually get a place of your own.
 
I am a former landlord and I used to pay for reasonable replacement costs - such as fridge and aircons that broke - plus cleaning every couple of years or so. However, I was trying to keep my tenants on side.
 
Many HK landlords don't care and -- in their defence -- if you give into to too many requests, many tenants start treating you like hotel staff. It basically boils down to a reasonable balance which is why I wouldn't be over confrontational.
 

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