This Couple Asked Their Tenant to Shoulder Their Kid’s Medical Bills After a Dryer Accident
In having a shared house, harmony must exist between housemates. Everyone should agree on a list of rules and regulations, and following those rules must be the responsibility of all house residents. Moreover, the landlady or landlord should be honest with their potential tenants. They need to ensure security, and the rent and rules must be justifiable to what the house offers. No tenant should be held responsible for an incident out of their control.
Two matters that tenants must not be blamed for are the already faulty appliances and the house owner’s kids — unless the tenant is directly involved. A person has asked the people of Reddit about a particular issue in their house. Apparently, LeatherSeveral7614 was asked to pay for the medical expenses of the house owners’ child. The conflict started in the laundry room. OP, who rents part of the home, wasn’t aware that the couple’s kid opened the dryer and went inside it. An accident happened, as the machine was faulty, and an ambulance was called to help.
“One day a week, the family will unlock the door in the laundry room that leads to my suite, and thus I have access to the room for the day. I put my clothes in the machine and shut the door to the suite so that I don’t hear all that ruckus. There are stairs in the laundry room that lead up to the rest of the house, so I assume that is how they access the laundry room,” OP explained.
The Reddit post also included why it wasn’t OP’s fault. The first reason was that the dryer’s door was busted — that’s why the kid could easily climb in. The second one was the cause of the accident. Since the door being open won’t shut the machine off, the kid tumbled out of the dryer and got hurt. Although an ambulance was called, the kid wasn’t severely injured and turned out fine after a week. However, the couple was still asking for medical expenses from OP.
“But now the landlord and landlady want me to reimburse their son’s ambulance bill and medical bill (they have no insurance), totaling $8477.34. Because it was my laundry that the kid climbed into. (Really??)” LeatherSeveral7614 shared. Many people in the comment section called it a foul way of extorting money from a tenant.
Craptain commented, “NTA. You need legal advice now. Because you aren’t responsible, but they are trying to fleece you. And they should contact their homeowner’s insurance.” With agreeable advice, the comment garnered 34.1k upvotes and its own thread of replies. Others also called out the parents for not keeping an eye on their kid. It wasn’t OP’s duty to babysit their kid, and they were not together in the laundry room.
The comment section was filled with lengthy answers, and Reddit replies were either about getting legal advice or sharing a similar experience with a landlord/landlady. They all validated OP’s thoughts and even gave reasons not to let the couple have their way. If you are someone who went through the same issue, you might want to share some advice in the comment section. Furthermore, there might be details not yet given attention, and it might help in the situation. As the post earned 16.7k upvotes and 1.7k comments, many people must be in need of tips on how to handle such rent issues.
