Victims of First Time Landlords

Stoves and fridges in a rental are a gratuity not a necessity. I'd do what I could to find the parts you actually need for it, or just deal with it the way it is. If its a box that freezes and cools, having shelves and glass is just extra, seriously.

Perhaps take a deep breath and give it time. Maybe the magical fridge fairy will bring shelves on Monday?

Another option is to call and ask if you can pay for the shelves (rather than a whole fridge) and knock the price off your rent for the next month. It's a win-win situation. You get shelves as soon as you can get them. He has a fully equipped fridge with no out of pocket expense.

I'd say buy your own fridge and take it with you if you leave this rental! Just make SURE it is noted in any paperwork that you OWN it!

Tell him to pick up his no shelf fridge and buy your own. Then deduct it from your rent. That's a disaster waiting to happen so maybe you should start to look for somewhere else to live.

If you make any purchases of your own you CAN NOT just deduct it from your rent. You would be in violation of your lease and could be evicted. You have to work that out with the landlord BEFORE you make any purchases or you have to just assume that you're going to suck up the cost. If you make a purchase for shelves or even a new fridge and then inform your landlord of the purchase, he's under no obligation to reimburse you the money nor is he obligated to let you take it out of the rent. So hold off until you've had the conversation with him and he's had a chance to rectify the situation. He's trying to fix the situation in a timely manner. He may just need a bit to get the hang of it.

Sorry but it seems like this may be a long road renting from this man especially with the language issue. The fact that he bought a used fridge with out all the pieces seems he is trying to barely make it right. Good luck!

Oh, I'd be so irritated! Honestly, I'd buy my own used fridge and put theirs in the garage. That's what we were going to do, but our ice maker didn't work and theirs did, so we sold ours.
If you can, let them know nicely that you need glass for the shelves, but if they don't deliver, just buy one.

If you are serial renters, you will eventually need to provide your own fridge, anyway. We bought one refurbished for cheap.

Technically, the fridge they gave you is functioning, so I'm not sure what can really be done. Probably best to contact fair housing & see what they say.

I would be frustrated too. Perhaps giving him 24 - 48 hours to get the shelves back to you would be nice of you, hopefully he'll be a good landlord and you'll have a wonderful relationship.... The store might not have packed them with the fridge and they are sitting in the stock room of the store and can't be found. It may not be the landlords fault is my point. It may be that they are sitting in his living room floor too. Who knows for sure. Since it has only been since yesterday I would wait until this afternoon and then call him back. You can put staples like milk and leftovers on the bottom of the fridge if you need to. You can even use the bottom of the freezer too.

I understand your frustration. Take a deep breath and realize that there is nothing wrong with you for expecting there to be shelves in the fridge!! That said, you really don't want to start off the rental agreement with a lot if drama so I would suggest trying to work it out with your landlord. Write him a letter and take pics of the empty fridge. Request that he fixes it within a two week period and clearly state that you will happily supply the parts if the amount is deducted from your rent. Even with verbal language barriers, written communications like these are important. Also people often have a friend or family member who can read it for them. If your landlord doesn't respond within two weeks, check the laws in your city regarding rental agreements, more than likely you will be able to replace the fridge or the parts and deduct it from the rent. Just keep the docs showing your good faith effort to allow the landlord to fix the problem. If your lease states that the landlord provides the appliances- then he needs to provide truly *working* appliances. We don't live in an era where a fridge is just a cold box.

I don't know where you would like to live, but my employer has a single family home up for rent right now. It's in Hampshire, IL. She is a realtor and might be able to help! Here is her contact information.
Janice Weiner Re/Max Suburban ###-###-####.
Good luck!

You might also find a friend who speaks Spanish to help translate or write things down and use Google Translate. It will be a start to communication.

There are other places to get fridge parts. I went online and found the door handle to our fridge for not a lot of money. If you ask, maybe he will be OK with taking it off the rent or maybe he'll get them himself. He may also have been told this fridge has everything and brought it right over...and found out things were not with it/missing.

In the meantime, I'd just breathe. You have something cold to put food in, yes? And it keeps things cold, yes? So stack the best you can and see what can be done about the shelves. If the worst thing you have to worry about is shelving, you're doing ok.

We are landlords. We just have one place and rent it to family. When the dishwasher died, DH had to take off work to deal with it and it was not fun. I realize you're busy, but so is your landlord and he probably thought it was still an OK fridge. Our fridge got slightly warmer then slightly warmer and it would "run" but not cool off. Weird things happen quite suddenly with appliances.

So, anyway, you said it took a long time to find the place and you just moved in and it sounds like a private rental. Give him a little bit of a break for the shelves.

Maybe join your local Freecycle.org website & ask if anyone has extra fridge shelf-glass you could have (for free.) Streamwood or Elgin might have large Freecycle communities.

Or check Craigslist?? Maybe you can even get a whole fridge for free?? Good luck!

You can go to a place that sells plexiglass and have them cut you some shelves. We had to do that. It is cheaper. You need to select one that is not to thin and thick enough to hold some weight. Good luck

is it in your contract to have all appliances? in our renting experience, what appliances were furnished were stated in the contract...we always provided our own fridge (except when in an apartment)...

I wouldn't just go out & buy one & deduct from your rent, unless its in the contract it needs to be worked out (which unfortunately might take longer with the language barrier)

do you know any other friends who do speak the language? if so maybe they would help you out...if not I would still try to be patient (understandably you are already frustrated) I would just call and try explain how they are responsible for supplying working & functional appliances, maybe give him the ordering info you found for the shelves...I would call everyday (i would do this with any landlord) to check the status...

unfortunately renting can be difficult even without a language barrier, some landlords you just have to stay on top of for every need

I would buy my own(HHGregg has one on sale for 397.00) and ask the land lord to remove his broken fridge. The only thing is you will now own a fridge to take with you when you change places and it is a heavy item. If your rental includes the price of the fridge ask for a deduction since they were not able to reasonably accommodate you with a good condition appliance according to he lease agreement. Find out what a place that rents fridges by the month like a rent to own and ask that this amount be reduced from your rent. If you don't wish to go this route keep nagging him about the appliance as the ability to take care of this will be an indicator that when the heat fails in winter that you won't be frozen for 3 days. Also find a friend of yours, not a misc person to interpret for you. I am sure you have at least one friend or relative who is capable of getting through a basic conversation.. Also if anything is changed in monthly payments or responsibility get it in writing. If you are unsure if this place will work out for you document your contacts regarding what issue and if a timely resolve is not done then ask to be let out of your lease without obligation or harm. I know there are other places out there that do a good job with rentals, unless you got his place for a cheap price and can't afford anything else then it will be put up with it. Also from another person, put a request on freecycle for either a fridge or the shelves.

Sounds like he wants to do everything half-assed for as cheap as possible. Hopefully you won't have too many more problems like this!