Waterbeds

[billyg48]

I have been renting the 2nd floor of a house in Syracuse, NY since August 2005. I setup my CA King-size waterbed, which the owner of the house at that time was fully aware of. We signed a lease, which had absolutely nothing about waterbeds included in it.

Everything went perfectly fine, but those owners put the house on the market in the fall of 2006. Several potential buyers viewed the house & our 2nd floor apartment thoroughly, including the current owners. The previous owners basically sold the house while we continued to live in it, with our tenancy transferred with the sale of the house. The new owners had the decision to either keep us as tenants, ask us to leave & not rent the apartment to others (such as other family members), or ask us to leave & rent to whomever they chose. On the day of closing, the current owners did the routine walkthrough inspection again, entering the bedroom with the waterbed, and saying nothing about it. A few days later, we signed a copy of the identical 1 year lease (+ $50/mo increase) that the previous owner & I signed. After the purchase, the owner/landlord came up & inspected his new home again; looking for crawl space entries over our ceiling to examine for access to insulate should he feel it was necessary. Again, he examined a closet, less than 18" from the waterbed. Still, nothing was said.

On other occasions, he came up to fix a faucet leak in the bathroom, approximately 20' from the bedroom with the waterbed. Nothing said.
This week, mid-April, 2007, he entered the apartment again while no one was here, to fix the leaking faucet in the bathroom for the 2nd time. Later that day, he rang the doorbell & I went to meet him. At this time, he says, "We've got a problem. You have a waterbed & it's got to go!" My question is, "Does he have any right to make me remove my $1500 waterbed, since there is absolutely nothing said about water furniture in the lease?" How should this be handled if he persists or attempts to evict my son & me?

[TenantNet]

All I know is that I bought a waterbed (too many years ago) for $30. Even with inflation, that price doesn't sound right.

Assuming he knew it was a waterbed during the prior inspections, you could say he waived his right to object.

I do remember there were concerns over waterbeds. One being what kind of damage could occur if there was a leak. Might be that the LL's insurance company is making a fuss. Assuming you have a liner, that helps, but it would help for you to have answers to the LL's objections.

Other thing I could see the LL objecting to is the weight. Again, it pays to do some research. Find out what the local residential code calls for in weight bearing floors. I seem to remember residential construction usually calls for around 40 lb./sq. ft. dead weight. (it's been a while since I looked that up, so do the research). Then it would pay -- and the manufacturer should know if they hit you with $1500 cost -- to find out what king of load your waterbed places on the structure.

The LL might just be reacting in ignorance. So get the facts.