House Maintenance Question

[Jack Quin]

Hi,

I have a question about the house maintenance. The tenant kept bothering me about a lot of repairing issue. I had replaced the refrigerator and washer since she moved in one year ago. When we signed the lease, I told her I would repair anything in her first month living in the house. After the 1st month, there will be $75 for each service call. Now she complained the issue of toilet fill valve which caused unreasonable high water bill and claimed it belongs to wear and tear and a plumbing issue. I want to know who's responsible for this repair based on my lease. If it is me, it is ok but I want to know a better verbiage to fix my lease term so that there is no mis-understanding. 

Thanks everybody.

Here is what my lease say:

MAINTENANCE. Landlord will make necessary repairs with commercially reasonable promptness after receipt of written notice from Tenant. Landlord shall maintain, and/or repair/replace the plumbing, heating, cooling, electrical systems, and the exterior walls and roof of the Property. Tenant shall be obligated for the costs of such repairs, replacements, and related services if the need for such repairs, replacements, and related services results from the negligence or misuse by Tenant, other residents of the Property, or Tenant’s Landlords, servants, employees, invitees, or family members. Tenant agrees to promptly notify Landlord of any condition which is the obligation of Landlord to repair or replace.

Except as provided above, Tenant shall be responsible for all other repairs and replacements to the Property. Any damage to the wallpaper, paint, walls, floors, carpeting, doors, windows, window treatments, light fixtures, appliances, or other improvements to the Property (to include burst water pipes due to freezing caused by neglect or carelessness of the Tenant, his family, or any of his guests), in excess of ordinary wear and tear, shall be promptly repaired or replaced by tenant, at Tenant’s sole expense, so as to restore the Property to the same condition as existed prior to the commencement of the Term. If Tenant shall fail to make any such repair or replacement, Landlord, in Landlord’s sole discretion, may make such repair or replacement, in which event, the cost of such repair or replacement shall be added to and deemed a part of the rent and shall be payable by Tenant to Landlord on demand. Landlord shall have the same remedies for the collection of such costs as Landlord has for the non-payment of rent under this Lease. Any damage to window glass or entry doors is the sole responsibility of the Tenant. Ripped screens that were intact at move-in will be repaired by Tenant. Tenant maintenance includes changing the HVAC system filters, batteries, trash cans, electric light bulbs, fuses, resetting circuit breakers, cleaning of appliances, as well as window air conditioning units, humidifiers, and de-humidifiers, or any other services not specifically listed as supplied in this Lease Agreement at Tenant’s expense.

As of the date of this Agreement, Landlord warrants that the Property sewage drains are in good working order and that they will accept the normal household waste for which they were designed. They will not accept items such as paper diapers, toys, sanitary napkins, tampon applicators, balls of hair, grease, table scraps (if no garbage disposal), clothing, rags, sand, dirt, newspapers, or similar items. Tenant agrees to pay all expenses associated with clearing all drains of any and all stoppages except those that the plumber, who is called to clear the stoppage, will attest to in writing were caused by defective plumbing, tree roots, or act of God. Upon the failure of the Tenant to make any such repair, Landlord, in Landlord’s discretion, may make such repair and the cost of such repair shall be added to and deemed a part of the rental sum, and shall be payable, on demand, by Tenant to Landlord. The Landlord shall have the same remedies for the collection of such costs as Landlord has for non-payment of rent. Any such repairs made by Landlord will be billed at market rates plus the cost of any materials. When a maintenance request is made, the request will serve as notice to the Tenant that a maintenance technician will be entering the property in reasonable time.

The Tenant is responsible for general control and elimination of household pests that occur after 30 days of moving in, including, but not limited to, fleas, ticks, roaches, silverfish, ants, crickets, and rodents. The Tenant must keep the lawn maintained; must remove leaves and debris and keep window wells and drainage areas free of leaves and debris. Snow and ice must be promptly removed from all walks, steps, and drives. Tenant must keep the premises heated and turn off water to exterior spigots in cold weather to avoid freezing pipes.

If the Tenant and the Landlord make arrangements for the Tenant to meet a vendor to make repairs or perform maintenance, and the Tenant fails to meet the vendor as scheduled, the Tenant shall be responsible for any charges incurred for the Tenant’s failure to meet the vendor as scheduled.

(Initial here)________The Tenant must be responsible for the first $75.00 repair cost for each repair call