I got a lease from a lawyer, which seems to be pretty solid. But it has this clause in it. Does anyone see a problem with having them do these minor repairs, or should I perhaps remove this clause? Thanks.
I would remove it and leave it to your discretion. If they don’t want to fix it or if you want to do it yourself and charge them market rates and get a few extra bucks in your pocket; you will want to leave the option up to them.
Agreed,
You don’t want them taking apart your sink faucet to repair a $1.00 washer. Or a bad wax ring leaking water all over your floor and rotting the wood. And many won’t know how to do it anyway so it will stay damaged without your knowledge until the day they move out.
To your discretion as kkiefer said, based on whether or not they can do the repair is the best idea.
Remember that you can make money on repairs if it wasn’t wear and tear, even if you don’t personally do the repair.
Thanks guys. My gut instinct was to remove that clause because it could lead to a bunch of deferred maintenance.
Worse is that they let an issue fester until it becomes unbearable. Now a small drip becomes a major fix.
Never let tenants fix anything. You fix it or have it done and charge them for it.
Good point. I feel more comfortable just doing and charging them for it if was something that was their fault, like putting things down the toilet that don’t belong there.
My general rule is that the tenant pays for damage caused by his abuse or neglect. The LL pays for everything else.