The $100 repair deductible paid by tenant - good or bad?

[Account Closed]

I have been noticing a growing trend in my local market in Virginia. Tenants are required by their lease to pay a $100 deductible per repair to the property. My gut tells me this is a bad idea and would lead to property neglect by the tenants. But it's tempting to offset costs and reduce maintenance requests, especially for nit-picky items. It's also possible that the deductible would encourage tenants to take proactive care of the home. However, I generally have noticed that the majority of my repairs over time have been due to general aging and use - not to neglect and misuse.

So I'm curious to hear from other landlords...any good or bad input on maintenance deductibles? Yay or nay? Any good or bad experiences with them?

[John Underwood]

I agree that this is a bad idea and I would not do it. No tenant is going to tell you when you have a leak under the sink when they have to pay $100. Then that leak is going to do damage that could have been avoided. If they tell you now or you find out a year later after a  $1000 repair it costs the tenant the same.

I want to know when there is a problem so I can fix it immediately.