Car washing and minor maintenance

[Arthur Banks]

Do any of you landlords allow car washing (tenants responsible for all utilities) and minor car maintenance on your properties? I'm under contract for a 2 flat in which I am having the plumbing redone (stolen copper pipes) and planning to make sure the front and back spigot are plumbed one for each unit. Which lead me to thinking of summer and car washing. Which led to car maintenance. Do you allow car washing? Minor car maintenance? I don't think I want to allow maintenance, especially fluid changes. Car washing I don't think I see a problem with. But wanted some insight into what others are doing.

[Bill Gulley]

A SFD car washing is pretty much accepted and is a usual home activity that would fall under rights to use the property. You can require that vehicles stay off the grass. Maintenance to some degree is allowable as well, be reasonable, a tenant can't be expected to tow a car to have the battery charged!

Your lease should already address the use of chemicals and toxic materials, inside or out. Disposal of fluids can be done properly, it's when they aren't you can have an issue.

Noise is another issue to be covered generally, so revving up an engine constantly (as if they think they know what they are doing as old hot roders did) can be a noise issue.

My lease prevented the tenant from keeping any inoperable machinery on premises or parts thereof, which meant all vehicles, lawn mowers or any gadget had to be operable, vehicles had to be titled, licensed and insured.

The outside had to be free of clutter, trash, salvage or personal property not designed specifically as lawn furniture or for outdoor cooking and such was to be stored from view from the street when not in use.

Those types of covenants will take care of a vehicle on blocks or an engine sitting in the yard.

I wouldn't say anything about some minor repair being made to a vehicle, where do you draw the line, changing a windshield wiper or adding fluids or pulling the transmission. so long as it's done in the day and operable, doesn't cause toxics to spill, doesn't produce unwanted annoying noises, isn't a safety issue, is kept clean and neat, what's the issue? :)