Should I call the landlord?

[ltlmrs]

The apartment we are renting has an old electric stove. Before we moved in, I got the landlord to buy a new refrigerator and dishwasher, but he wouldn't get a new stove since the old one worked fine. We've been here for two years and since then our next door neighbors' stove died and he got them a new one.

Several weeks ago we started noticing that the largest burner would turn off in the middle of cooking and would need to be repositioned in order to turn back on. We didn't call the landlord because I didn't think there was something wrong (dumb, but there you go).

Then about two weeks ago I was making a hard boiled egg (on a different) and some water splashed out and caused an electric short and a chain of events that caused the burner to actually break in two.

My husband finally took a look at it and discovered that the large burner was only connected with a single wire and the other wire had burnt through. The other burner had no insulation on the wire for a quarter of an inch. Hence the water splashing on it and causing a short.

I should have called the landlord when the first burner was malfunctioning, there was no way that could be seen as our fault. But, with the second burner it looks like it may be. I've been using only one burner on the stove the last couple of weeks, but I'm so afraid of something else happening. The oven, thankfully, works fine.

I'm worried that the landlord will make us pay for a stove and we have no money right now. If there is any chance that we'd have to pay for it I'll continue living with one burner and the oven.

What do you think?

[MeepyCat]

Read your lease to see what it says about kitchen appliances, then call and report the problem. But do both of these things soon - tomorrow would be good.

Before deciding just to cope with using only one burner all the time, you want to make sure that there aren't additional wiring issues. I'd be really worried about fire hazards. If there aren't additional wiring problems, and the terms of the lease and so on mean that the landlord wants you to pay for replacement/repair, you should be able to tell him that you just can't afford it right now and you'll cope (assuming he's a sensible person, which I hope he is).

If you don't report this now and it's discovered when you move out, you'll get hit for the cost then and it will be much harder to explain why you didn't report it earlier.

[velochic]

You could just tell him that you had a burner short out and upon further inspection, it looks like there are other problems with the stove. Ask him to come look at it. You don't have to tell him that you didn't tell him for 2 weeks. Just tell him about the problem. If he asks you when you discovered it, then you can tell him the truth, but I doubt it would change anything. The important thing is that you don't use a faulty stove. That is just a huge disaster waiting to happen. Good luck!

[yeahwhat]

Call him. He should replace it. It certainly sounds like the stove has lived a good, long life. Water splashes happen while cooking and shouldn't short out anything if the stove is in good condition.

[gillibean]

I would call him. Really, the chance water spilling on burners is something that's quite high. A stove that can't handle spilled water is a stove that's unsafe to use.

[ltlmrs]

I told his secretary when I dropped off the rent yesterday. She didn't seem to think it was a big deal and even asked if the stove was old. When I said yes, she replied, "Well, maybe you just need a new stove." Maybe this will turn out alright after all.