2 Degrees: A Fight Over Hamptons Rental Temperature

Another item in the news I did not make up…

Two couples renting a home in the Hamptons for two weeks in August have filed a lawsuit against the owner of the property. They claim the owner would not permit them to adjust the temperature of the cooling system of the home by more than two degrees during their stay. As a result, they are seeking damages.

That’s all we know at the moment. But big questions remain. Here are some of them.

Did the renters know of this restriction before they signed the lease?

If so, did they agree to do it? And if they did, why are they filing a lawsuit?

If they did not agree, but learned about it later, why did they abide by it? Landlords can’t put restrictions in later. Can they?

Or to put it another way, if they learned about it later, why didn’t they just change the temperature up or down, ignoring what they were told to do?

And if they did that, how did the landlord find out how they had done it?

Was there a physical altercation somewhere on the property about this?

Was it adjacent to the thermostat?

Was there shouting?

Did anyone involved in this require hospitalization, or refuse hospitalization?

Were there items in the house, such as valuable works of art or expensive wines, that would require that a temperature of 2 degrees adjusted up or down not take place?

Were any of the tenants individuals who were allergic to not having a temperature changed more than 2 degrees?

Were children involved?

Dogs or cats?

What government agency provided the information about what the temperature outside was during these two weeks?

Is that information provided for every hour of all 24 hours of each day?

Did the tenants feel a need to abandon the property because they were unable to raise or lower the temperature 2 degrees and then did so?

Or did the landlord forcibly evict the tenants for raising or lowering the temperature more than the previously noted 2 degrees?

Were heated electric blankets involved in this case?

If so, did these heated blankets malfunction when settings were changed to more than 2 degrees up or down?

What was the name of the manufacturer of the heated blankets?

Is the tenant, in the lawsuit, asking for the $10,000 back?

Or is there a countersuit because the tenant failed to pay the $10,000?

Are either the tenants or the landlord immigrants from a foreign country?

Legal immigrants or undocumented?

Which country or countries?