Maintenance is an important question in any rental agreement. What should tenants call you about? What are you legally required to handle, and what should you take care of for practicality’s sake?
These questions are essential for landlords and property managers. There are legal requirements when it comes to maintaining your rental units and fulfilling repair requests from tenants. While the exact laws change from state to state, a few best practices can have you on the right side of the law, protecting your properties and taking good care of your tenants.
Let’s take a closer look at how to plan for small maintenance requests as a landlord or property manager.
Landlord Maintenance Required by Law
As a rule of thumb, legally required maintenance relates to the safety and livability of a unit.
Livability means that your tenants have access to hot and cold water, heating in the winter, cooling in the summer, working locks on the doors and windows, and no major structural damage.
Safety means responding to repair issues that could put your tenants at risk. Flooding, backed-up sewage, exposed rusty nails, unstable stairs and railings, a rotting deck, or sparking outlets and fixtures are all examples of issues that could cause your tenants harm and must be repaired immediately.
Livability and safety repairs may include:
- Plumbing repairs
- Water heater issues
- HVAC repairs
- Locks and latches
- Structural repairs
- Electrical repairs
- Storm damage repairs
Required Maintenance Varies by State
Each state, and sometimes a county or city, will set specific maintenance laws for rental properties. These tend to align with regional risks or housing trends. For example, Southern states are more likely to require immediate AC repairs, while northern states may require heating repairs, but AC is not considered critical.
Be sure to look up the state laws on landlord responsibilities based on the location of each property.
Best Practice: Make it policy to take care of all maintenance concerns related to safety and livability, which may go beyond the legal minimum.
Long-Term Rental Maintenance Responsibilities
In addition to urgent repairs required by law, landlords and property managers are also responsible for long-term maintenance and repairs. It is never the tenant’s responsibility to plan for things like replacing the roof or recaulking the bathroom. In fact, most leases prohibit tenants from addressing issues beyond daily use activities and minor fixes to working systems.
Long-term maintenance tasks relate to property upkeep. A landlord or property manager should always budget for long-term maintenance and repairs the same way a typical homeowner would. Tenants are not responsible for wear-and-tear that naturally occurs over time.
Long-term maintenance tasks can include:
- Roof shingle repairs
- Roof replacement
- Structural maintenance
- Foundation repairs
- Appliance replacements
- HVAC replacement
Best Practice: Save back 1% of the property value each year to invest in long-term maintenance tasks. Schedule maintenance cycles between tenants or ever 3-5 years.
Small Issues Often Handled by the Landlord
There are also a number of smaller maintenance issues that landlords often handled, even when it is not required. It is typically considered practical to take care of these issues on behalf of your tenants – both to ensure property safety and provide a high-quality tenant experience.
Pros and Cons
What are the pros and cons of taking responsibility for non-required maintenance requests?
- Pros
- Greater control over property care
- Hiring trusted contractors
- Improved tenant relationships
- Tenants more likely to alert you of maintenance issues before major property damage occurs
- Cons
- Covering more costs than necessary
- Tenants more likely to ask for small repairs
Types of Non-Necessary Repairs
- Plumbing issues like clogs and back-ups
- Loose and cracked tiles
- Minor appliance issues
- Small leaks
- Drafty doors and windows
- Non-urgent HVAC repairs
Maintenance Requests to Avoid (Tenant Responsibility)
While it is good policy to take care of most tenant maintenance requests – required or not – there are a few requests that you should not fulfill. These repairs relate to either issues too small to require a request and tenant-caused damage. These repairs are often explicitly defined as the tenant’s responsibility to take care of in the natural course of living in a home.
Tiny Requests
Don’t let your tenants call you for tiny issues that they can easily solve for themselves. These issues are small and have to do with daily life, not safety, livability, or the integrity of the home. Examples of these everyday requests to avoid include:
- Changing a light bulb
- Minor and temporary drain / toilet clogs
- Minor scratches and scuffs
- Loose hardware that needs a few screwdriver turns
Best Practice: If it can be fixed DIY in less than 10 minutes with no skill, it falls into this category.
Tenant Damage
Landlords should also avoid repairing tenant damage unless the tenant is paying for the work. Tenants are responsible for direct damage caused during their residence. They may be required to take care of repairs themselves or pay for repairs provided by the landlord.
Tenant damage might include:
- Major holes or chips in the walls
- Cracked tiles
- Carpet stains
- Badly scratched wood
- Fixtures broken by rough activity
It is important to separate tenant damage from wear and tear. For example, if the handle comes off an old faucet, the tenant is not at fault. If the tenant tears the handle off a new and well-maintained faucet, the tenant is at fault.
Best Practice: Remember to walk tenants through their move-in checklist so you can be certain what damage occurred during their stay.
How to Establish Rental Maintenance Policies With Your Tenants
It’s important for tenants to clearly understand the line in maintenance responsibility: What they are responsible for, and when they should call for repairs. A few steps with new tenants can ensure that everyone is clear on the shared responsibility for keeping your rental properties in good condition.
- Put it in the lease
- In the lease, clearly define a tenant’s maintenance responsibilities and your maintenance request policies.
- Talk it out
- Let new applicants know about the maintenance policies when they ask to tour the home. Include these policies in a list of house rules and discuss the most important points in person to ensure they are aware of the rules.
- Provide a tenant guide
- Give your tenant a one-page guide with tips and rules that can be pinned to the fridge. Include your maintenance contact platform or number.
Build Your Rental Property Maintenance Plan
Knowing the division of maintenance responsibility between tenant and landlord is only the beginning. The next step is to build your maintenance plan into a set of policies and a schedule to ensure that your properties and tenants always receive the best quality care. Contact us today for more landlord insights and tools to empower your property management.
