The A/C went out in my apartment. After 2 weeks, my landlord sent a repairman to look at it. They claimed that the wires in the thermostat had been moved.and that caused the voltage regulator to go out. My landlord wants me to pay for the repairs. Approx $500. After about 2 weeks of going without air, I did remove the thermostat cover to see if any wires had fallen off, and to replace the battery, but I didn't move any wires. Is it legal for him to make me pay for the entire cost of repairing the air conditioner?

Yeah... because if he's got a repairman that says you did something to cause the failure... that's the justification...

And you are going to find it very hard to prove that wasn't the cause of the failure. Your legal fees would far exceed that to fight it..

Not saying you did or didn't do it... just saying people do mess around with stuff and break it all the time... and in those cases... its not normal maintenance... which would be covered by rent... but considered intentional damage which is on the tenant.

As smoothy suggests, in the event this is litigated, it will come down to the word of the expert(s). The judge is not an A/C expert, so he or she will defer to the opinion of such an expert. Your landlord will bring her/his expert: the repairman, and if you don't have one you will probably loose. You could, of course get your own expert A/C person to give you a second opinion, but it the thing has been fixed by now, that would probably be hard to do.

What kind of A/C requres a battery needing replacement, anyway?

What kind of A/C requres a battery needing replacement, anyway?

The thermostat. They did mention it in the post. The wiring from that goes to the control board on the main unit... and crossing wires (shorting them in any way) very much CAN damage that depending on which wires are involved..