A heating and cooling company installed a heating unit in my home without my permission, what do I do now?

Question

I called a company to come out and check my furnace in a home that I am renting to a young man. Once there, they told the renter that it may possibly be leaking carbon monoxide so they told the renter that they would be willing to finance a new furnace because the old one had to go. He said yes and explained that he was not the homeowner but they went ahead and financed him with the gas company and went ahead and put in a new furnace. The next day, they told him the gas company could not approve it because he was not the owner of the home and that the owner would have to finance the furnace, but I am not willing to do that when they should have gotten my permission in the first place. They are wanting him to now pay cash(or credit cards) for the unit but he does not have that kind of money and is willing to pay installments of $50/month which he was apprvd for. Maybe they should come get theirs and bring the old back, but I know it is damaged. What can i/he do?

Answer 1

First of all, no reputable heating company would install new equipment without giving an estimate at the very least to the owner never mind getting a OK from the owner to do the installation job. Excuse me, but just because this company said you had a cracked heat exchanger doesn't necessarily mean you had a crack. There are alot of companies that would rather sell you a new furnace instead of repairing the one you have. I'm sure if you would have been shown the damage (crack in heat exchanger you would have been more than willing to fix it for your renters safety. Also most heat exchangers come with at least a 5, 10, 20 or lifetime warranty. Did the heating company check the manufactures date on the heat exchanger. It could still have been under warranty and therefore you would only have to pay the labor charge for installing the heat exchanger. In any case you should not be held resposible for the cost of the new furnace. I"m sorry, but it sounds like you just got took. If in doubt of any heating companies diagnosis you can always get a second opinion from another company. I wish you good luck.

Answer 2

You own the house. If the old furnace was leaking carbon monoxide and your family were living there in the dead of winter would you have had the furnace replaced or risk CO poisoning?

Yes they should not have replaced the furnace without first getting your permission. But if the furnace was leaking CO its either replace the furnace or heat exchanger or turn off the heat.

I notice that almost all of the respondents suggest suing, going to small claims court, trying to get a free furnace etc. etc. etc.

Maybe you would prefer that your tenants relatives sue you for wrongful death. You are the owner of the home and the faulty furnace. You are in the business of renting. I hope you have liability insurance!

Talk to the furnace installer. Maybe you can get some favourable terms for payment.

Answer 3

In court, without a contract such as is your case, You will have to be made whole again. So to do that, here is the solution.

What you will get in court is the Value of the old furnace in $$ and some reasonable installation fee for an equivalent.
And the installer will be given the right to remove the furnace from your premises.

Given that the old furnace $$ value is like near Zero, I would contact the installer and settle this in some reasonable way. Perhaps he will leave the furnace for you at an outstanding bargain. So do call him and see just what his proposal is on this matter.

Answer 4

Call the company that you had do the work. Speak only to the manager or owner. Tell that person that since his sevice people made a big mistake, he can either replace the furnace that was there, in its original condition, since he did not have permission to replace it, or he can leave the furnace he installed there, at no charge, and send you a copy of an invoice that is marked "paid in full". Those are his only two choices, or you should call whatever lawyer you would like to use. He'll choose to leave the new furnace in place.

Answer 5

First off, contact the owner/manager of the company that did this work and advise them of what their employees did. A renter is not legally allowed to obligate the property owner for any kind of repair or work. Therefore, that company performed an illegal maintanence project. They can either return and re-install the previous unit back to its original condition, or leave the installed unit and write it off. Since the old unit can not be re-installed back to its original condition, they are liable for damages and you can sue them for it.

Answer 6

in my state you are required by law to either install a new furnace, repair it or shut the thing off until it is fixed.

the repair men here are also required to shut off the leaking furnace before leaving the property

i would ask them for proof of the leak!

if you truly had a leak, it had to be replaced, so pay them for it.

however, i would tell them in no uncertain terms that what they did was highly unethical, if not illegal, as they did not inform you, the owner of any problem.

ask them for a discount of the final bill.

Answer 7

Well look. It had to be done for safety purposes anyway. Now it's in...so pay for it and everyone can get on with their lives. It's a rental...you get to write if off with "depreciation."
I really don't see your problem. As an owner I would have been glad I never had to bother with it. If you want to make an issue of ownership who gave no authority go ahead. You won't make any points.

Answer 8

sue, the installer has removed your property without your concent

Answer 9

small claims court.that's it,no other way around it.