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Aug 18, 2023

Panicked tenant finds major safety concern in their new apartment, landlord’s response sparks outrage: ‘Report [it] to the city’

One new tenant in an apartment told Reddit about their landlord’s lackluster response to a major problem with their unit’s stove. Despite its name, the r/LandlordLove subreddit is dedicated to the

One new tenant in an apartment told Reddit about their landlord’s lackluster response to a major problem with their unit’s stove.

Despite its name, the r/LandlordLove subreddit is dedicated to the problems caused by landlords, including widespread housing issues and individual frustrations. In this case, the tenant claimed their landlord was dismissive about a serious health concern.

“Just moved in and found out that my gas stove’s hood doesn’t actually have an exhaust pipe and blows back the air,” the Redditor said.

They also attached screenshots of the email exchange between them and their landlord. “I did have one question regarding the stove,” they wrote. “I noticed there is no exhaust pipe for the hood. … How can I resolve this?”

The landlord’s reply was incredibly unhelpful. “We’ve never had a single complaint about our ovens’ exhaust,” they claimed in the screenshotted email. They then went on to say that the building was old and to complain about how much money they’d spent to maintain the apartment in its current condition.

“You may ask a specialist what it entails to form an exhaust and what the cost would be,” they concluded.

A few commenters pointed out that not every stove hood has an exhaust pipe. “Check the design first,” said one user. “Some cooker hoods are designed to filter in place and recirculate the air rather than venting to outside.”

However, according to the original poster, their current hood is designed for an exhaust pipe; the opening is simply taped off. That means that any smoke from the food, as well as exhaust from the stove itself, pours back into the room, where the original poster could inhale these toxic substances.

That’s a big problem if it’s a gas-burning stove, which produces toxic fumes. Homeowners can improve their air quality by switching to an induction range. Those who don’t have that option can improve air quality by opening a window while they cook, turning on a fan to circulate air, or buying an air purifier.

For the original poster, though, the best move is to bring their apartment up to code. “If a hood is designed to be vented, but isn’t properly vented, that’s against code in many places,” another commenter pointed out.

“Report it to the city and put your rent into escrow until it’s fixed,” a third commenter recommended.

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