What kind of agreement you have with your tenants? They do repairs or help with repairs?

Question

I'm wondering what kind of agreements people have with their tenants?

They do all repairs

They pay half of the repairs

You pay for all repairs

I'm wondering because if you pay for everything they might misuse it. Can we put in the lease that they should take care of all repairs?

Thanks

Rob K. · Answer

One of my friends charges the tenant the first $50 of any repair. We have argued over the years as to whether this is a good idea. I think it's a bad idea because I want stuff fixed right and fixed early.

He recently had a tenant move. Upon move out, it was discovered that the toilet upstairs had a small leak. It did a whole bunch of drywall damage to the floor beneath. The tenant didn't call him because they didn't want to pay $50.

I've found that some of these people are so lazy they have three lightbulbs in the whole house and the smoke detectors are chirping. I don't want them to be in charge of repairs.

Ned Carey · Answer

As Chris Calabrese mentioned it is the landlords responsibility to provide safe housing. In many states it is the law that the landlord has to do repairs to meet whatever standard the state has set. The fact your lease says they must do it does not mean they are bound by the lease if it is contrary to the law.

Raquel Baranow · Answer

In my lease: "Do not paint or repair anything without my permission." I'm even kind of reluctant to let the tenant fix the cooler and close it for winter. (Did he drain the water?)

Since I sometimes had to pay for the water, I told them to immediately report leaks/drips, I fined them $50 once for not telling me the toilet valve was not shutting off. College kids . . . how stupid they were, "didn't you know that sound was water gushing"?

Chris Calabrese · Answer

One of your responsibilities as a landlord is to provide a safe and functional living environment for your tenants.  Part of this involves making repairs when necessary.  I agree that tenants are unlikely to make quality repairs, and I don't think most would agree to this type of clause.  If they cause damage intentionally or due to negligence, you can deduct the cost from their security deposit at move-out.

Joe Bertolino · Answer

I prefer to pay professionals to do the job correctly.  Tenants cut corners.

Jon K. · Answer

I strictly forbid them from any self-repairs or permanent modifications to the property too in my lease. No wall paint, no satellite receivers, no installation of appliances, no storage sheds, no building of structure (some seriously want to build their own pergola), no swimming pools, no hot tubs, no electrical modifications, carpet, etc. They are instructed to tell me promptly of repairs.

Jon K. · Answer

Never let tenants do any repairs themselves. Ever. 99.9999% percent of the time they'll screw up the repair.

If you have tenants pay for repairs under $100, they either will:
1) try to fix it themselves (and cost you more later with a bad repair)

2) not tell you about the repair, thus costing you more later
    (a tiny $20 toilet repair could turn into a pricey repair for you)

3) they'll only tell you about the repair after it's been broken a while and now is an urgent need. Example: the hot water heater has been leaking a little for months, but they didn't tell you since they didn't want to pay... now it's GUSHING water... your hard wood floor/carpet is ruined... and the water heater has to be replaced altogether. Or, there was a small ceiling leak from a shower or toilet. Tenant didn't want to pay before so they didn't tell you. Now there is a huge leak, and you have more than a patch job to do... plus, potentially, mold in the drywall.

Even if you don't make tenants pay for repairs, they still might not call you. A repair means they are inconvenienced with maintenance people (and you) in their home. And, they don't like that. So, they might just live with the dripping sinks, leaky toilet, leaky ceiling, and more.

Tenants are lazy. My roommates are lazy, and I live here. It's a pain to get them to even replace a light bulb. You think they would pay for a repair? Never.

Kyle J. · Answer

I handle all the repairs because I want to make sure it's done right.  If it's something that just wore out or wasn't the tenant's fault, then I'll pay for it.  If it's something the tenant broke due to their own negligence, they're going to be billed for it.

I've heard of landlords who make the tenant responsible for all repairs under a certain amount ($100-$250), but I've never understood this.  I would think it would just result in deferred maintenance and/or repairs not even being done due to the tenant not wanting to pay for them.

Imagine a small water leak from a shutoff underneath the sink.  Certainly, this would be well under a hundred dollar repair.  Now imagine the tenant not fixing it due to lack of knowledge and/or money.  That small/inexpensive leak could turn into a huge problem with water damage.  Why risk it?

Plus I wouldn't want the tenant doing the repairs anyway because I don't know if they know what they're doing, and they'll likely try and do it as cheaply as possible and not worry so much about the quality of the work.

George P. · Answer

my tenants do not touch ANYTHING. that's what i told them.

the set screw on the deadbolt came off, i change it. they need a pull chain for the attic light? i install one. they have a broken cover on the  outlet, i put a new one. they have a toilet bolt leaking, I installed a new toilet (tried to fix that toilet 3 times).

get the idea? they are not in the business of fixing things. they are in the business of paying me. that's what i want. leave the fixing to me.

Eric Jozwik · Answer

I only had one guy that did what he said he could do. He was a flooring guy. He replaced the flooring in his unit perfectly. So I started to use him for other units of mine and have pasted his name along to other investors I know.

What kind of agreement you have with your tenants? They do repairs or help with repairs?

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