Tenant and Repairs. Should I?

[Ryan Young]

I recently closed on my first property and the tenants are already wanting to do a few repairs at the house. The husband is a “handy-man” and would like to do the repairs himself and for me to reimburse him for the materials. It sounds like not too bad of an idea but would I be opening up a scenario that may turn sour later? I told him to run everything by me first and he needs my verbal permission to continue. The first repair he wants to do is to fix the 3 ceiling fans throughout the house. 2 of them don’t have power going to them and 1 is broken. Should I allow him to repair/replace these fans or no? I believe this is a smart plan for things that would help improve the property. Any insight on this would be great! Thanks

[Alison P.]

I only have insured contractors work on my rentals.  Mainly for the liability standpoint. But a situation happened just recently to cement this.

I'm dealing with a headache of an inherited tenant who I'm probably going to evict. He pays late until I threaten eviction, and is basically an all around pain in the butt. He told me the hot water heater had gone out but that he could fix it, "because he could fix anything".  I had a feeling it was a scam to get the rent reduced for that month.  I politely told him I only use insured contractors because of liability.  He grumbled and said he was not happy about the 1 day wait before the plumber could get to him "especially as he could fix it himself."  I politely explained my policy again.  When the plumber went in, the only thing wrong was that the thermostat on the heater had to be reset by pushing a button.  Hmm, so if he could fix "anything" he couldn't see that all he had to do was push a button...?

Also, if they are dealing with electrical and got shocked, or got hurt doing anything on your property, they could sue the pants off you.  I would not allow a tenant to work on my rentals, it's far too risky.