I was wondering what people on here do?
You are responsible for repairs in a standard lease with exception of commercial property where the landlord is typically responsible for the large repairs like the roof and the tenant for the small stuff.
If you are doing a lease purchase some landlords make the tenant responsible for the minor repairs, some make them responsible for all repairs. Your problem is the judge may say they have equitable interest and they get their money back if they don’t buy due to the fact that you treated it like a purchase rather than treating it like a rental with an option to purchase.
The reason I ask is because I’m reading “Landlord’s Legal Rights and Duties in Florida” (written by a lawyer). In the book he recommends making the tenant responsible in the lease for maintenance and repairs in a SFH (it doesn’t work in apartment building) to limit your liability. He said not to start doing repairs if you put that clause in the lease.
I hadn’t heard this before. It sort of makes sense, but it concerns me that the tenant might do a repair wrong and make something worse, or else let something slide that needs to be repaired immediately, because they don’t want to do it themselves.
I agree with your assumption that they will both do it wrong or not do it at all. I would hate to see them do some wiring work on your house and burn it down, then later hear from the insurance company that they aren’t paying because a licensed electrician didn’t do it. Or for them to put on a roof and it leaks all over the place. Then they break their lease and move out.
Good property managers will convince tenants to do some small stuff or upgrades if they have the proven capabilities… “Just send me the receipt but I’m not paying for labor for you to put on a modern kitchen faucet because the old one works just fine.”
I’m sure you could have them do repairs as commercial leases do BUT, there must be a good reason not to do so like mentioned previously. I have never tried that. I would be willing to bet that commercial property tenants would most often call in a professional to do the repairs as they are likely busy with their daily work if the business is worth S**t. My low income tenants would love for the opportunity to do repairs instead of me doing a semi annual check on the property and banging their deposit for the damage they caused requiring them to replenish it. Kids break the blinds, $25 Mom buys a new washer and drags it across the kitchen floor ripping a hole in the vinyl, $500, Kids get in some paint and smear it all over the foundation, $300. It adds up.
Thanks Hooch. I hadn’t even thought of the insurance angle. The risk of having them do it themselves seems to be greater than the risk of liability of me doing a repair incorrectly.
“Some” landlords also turn a dime on the maintenance. I have “heard” that some of them will have their independent subcontractor jackleg that does work cheap fix the damage they caused and write them a fair bill where they have actually prenegotiated highly discounted rates that they will profit from on the back side.
Also, people can work for you hourly and you charge a fair rate per hour and pay them just like any other employee making money there. Repairs that tenants cause are not a negative to you. Wear and tear is and you would be hard pressed to find a tenant who would be willing to pay for general wear and tear that happens over the life of the property.
The key to not paying for repairs is to have a tenant fill out a checklist on the property when they move in. Also for you to walk around and video tape the property the day they get the keys. Put every square inch of the property in the cameras view. It doesn’t take but a few minutes. They are with you when you video tape. They sign a form saying that they were present and agree to the condition of the apartment as shown on the tape on this or that date.
Now, you don’t get those “it was already there” BS complaints. And if you have to go to court your evidence is undeniable even with a pro tenant judge. They get burned. In most cases here they will confess to what they have done. I do this on all of my places and my tenants will often tell me when I collect rent that they accidentally damaged something. They already know that they are fully responsible for damage they cause.
And when they break a window or kick in their door while in a drunk stupor or argument with the X and try to blame it on a vandal, it is also THEIR bill UNLESS they have a police report from the day it supposedly happened. Most aren’t that smart to pull a scam over on you as after a while landlording, you have already heard them all.
Also, it’s not good for your tenants to think you’ve got money. When you drive up in your BMW they easily justify in their head that you are some rich landlord and you don’t need the money anyways. There is no reason to go around town like the little Donald Trump. The second they think you have money is the same second you will start having difficulty in collecting rent. I tell them at some point in time that I wish that I was like one of those landlords who was handed a bunch of cash and was able to buy their houses outright. Unfortunately for me, my mortgages keep me broke. And the banks WON’T cut me a break. When a tenant doesn’t pay rent I have to pay it myself. If 2 tenants don’t pay rent I am screwed. That is why I will evict someone for being one single day late. I have mortgages to pay. In reality, these houses are owned by the bank. Not me. So they know right off the bat that I am not playing with the mortgage payment and to not even ask me to “work with them”… And what ever they break they just bought so treat it like it was your own house.
I will follow this up with small talk to break the uncomfortable situation I just created and make them feel like I like them as a person for some reason or another. To smooth things back out and make them feel like I’m not going to be up their a** 24/7.
Now, that doesn’t stop everyone but it greatly reduces my headaches and fattens the wallet.
In my lease agreement, I make my tenants responsible for maintenance stuff (changing light bulbs, changing air filters, painting, etc), but not contractor/repairs stuff.
My general rule of thumb is that if it’s something anyone can do, the tenants handle it, but if it’s something that requires a contractor, the landlord handles it.
Basically, I don’t want to be called about changing a light bulb, but I also want them messing something big up either. Just a balancing act.
Best of luck,
I agree with the above comments about liability, etc. In addition, you should know your state’s landlord-tenant law. In many/most states the law REQUIRES the owner to be responsible for maintaining the property to a certain standard. In those cases, requiring the tenant to do the maintenance is the kiss of death in court.
Mike
In my state (WI), the law requires a tenant to take “reasonable care” of the property by maintaining the property in decent, working order. Court cases have established a precedent to mean that if the repair is less than 5% of the monthly rent, its reasonable to put the burden of the repair on the tenant, so I kind of go by this as general rule of thumb. again, as has already been stated, I use common sense with which repairs get farmed out…
I make my tenants responsible for the first 50 bucks of any repair. That way they wont call you for a 5 dollar lightbulb and they will also think twice about putting food down the sink and having to cough up 50 towards the plumer. Has worked great for me for 10 years. Just write it in the lease.