Having tenants pay for small maintenance issues?

[George Leeman]

I was thinking of having tenants cover expenses under 100 or 200 such as calling a plumber for a toilet etc. does anyone else work anything similar into contracts to avoid over spending on small fees that are somewhat tenant related? Does anyone charge late fees or a yearly gutter cleaning fee or anything like that? I’m trying to structure my contracts to make and save the most money.

[Jon Holdman]

This is a very good way to have a minor issue get ignored and turn into a much bigger issue.  The tenants don't call you about a leaky faucet becuase they don't want to pay $50.  So, it drips and rots out the bottom of the cabinet and maybe the floor below that.  You don't find out about it until the leave and then their security deposit doesn't come close to the cost of a repair.  So, a $50-100 repair that could have easily been fixed had it been reported ends up costing you hundreds or thousands of dollars.