own landlord clause. Tenant is responsible for arranging tank cleaning and costs as well.
We are tenants in a single-family house. The tank has probably never been cleaned or it has been decades since it was last cleaned. The house is now 40 years old. We have been tenants for only 5 years.
The heating system constantly failed due to burner malfunction. The reason: dirty oil from a dirty tank. The burner had to be replaced, and the tank cleaning was urgently required according to the company. We were sure that the landlord must arrange for the tank cleaning (it is not primarily about the potentially recoverable costs, which are often disputed, but primarily about the question of who is responsible for the ARRANGEMENT). We have no documents about the tank or the heating system, we also do not know when or if it has ever been cleaned by previous tenants, probably never, as suspected by the heating company that replaced the burner. We asked the landlord about 2 years ago when the tank was cleaned, because the oil is always dirty and the heating company advised us to ask the landlord about it, as the arrangement would also be the landlord's responsibility. The landlord has now covered the costs of replacing the burner, according to her, out of goodwill, after we argued about the matter. She says that if we had cleaned the tank as she demanded in the rental agreement, then the burner would not have broken down.
After the tank was clogged with sludge for decades, the system naturally eventually breaks down, now breaking down precisely with us, and we are supposed to be the fools who have to pay a huge cleaning fee because nothing was done before us and the tank is excessively clogged. The landlord says we have to arrange and pay for the tank cleaning because she has written it into the rental agreement. We pay for the annual maintenance and minor repairs and parts (also according to the rental agreement) of the heating system, which is fine.
Is the tank cleaning clause that the landlord has included in the rental agreement, where the tenant must arrange and pay for it, lawful? Is it lawful that previous tenants have never done it and now we have to pay for their decades-old mess? The landlord does not take care of her property at all, wants to shift all obligations onto the tenant, and has probably never requested any proof of this from any previous tenant, and therefore cannot tell us when or if it was ever cleaned. All previous tenants did nothing and "got lucky," and now we have to pay for everything? According to her, we are responsible and she asked a heating company who said that if the oil is dirty, it needs to be cleaned - a shallow way of thinking for us, as everyone knows that to maintain the value of a heating system, cleaning should be done every 5-7 years.
As the owner, is she not also obligated to ask the previous tenant about such matters that she demands in her own rental agreement clause and then provide the new tenant with documents of the tank as well as the protocol of the last cleaning, or at least inform them about the date of the last cleaning? Is the clause "Tank cleaning by tenant" (ARRANGEMENT and payment) lawful without us having any documents? According to the law, it is usually the landlord's responsibility to ARRANGE for the cleaning. Can we also argue about the costs, as we also do not see why after 30 or 40 years it should be cleaned only once and we should have to pay for the negligence of previous tenants and the landlord.
Thank you.
