Stove Replaced by a Cheaper Model

Q.  I rented a nonstabilized apartment in a condominium in Brooklyn. One of the selling points was the kitchen with stainless steel appliances. After about a week, though, the oven stopped working. The management company decided to replace it with a cheaper model that looks ugly. Can we demand that it be replaced with something of comparable quality?
A.  “Standard lease clauses for rental units only require landlords to provide services and repairs, not specific levels of luxury appliances, fixtures, or materials within the apartment,”, said David Kaminsky, a Manhattan landlord-tenant lawyer. So, without a specific clause dealing with replacement appliances, any similarly functioning appliance would suffice. If the letter writer took the issue to court, he said, a housing court judge would be unlikely to find that the replacement unit warranted any reduction in rent.

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