[unlvfan0912]

Hi,
We've lived in Summerlin for two years, and upon renewal of our contract the landlord is requesting we agree to pay a $60 service charge each time something needs to be repaired, e.g. the oven breaks, the air conditioner quits, the water heater starts leaking. They have an insurance policy through Old Home Republic, under which for the last two years the landlord has paid the $60 "deductible" if you will for each service request. Now, two years later, they say it is our responsibility now that the residence is "established." They claim this is normal in Vegas - is he right? Does anyone renting in Vegas have responsibility for the cost of maintenance?

[airics]

What is in your contract? My tenants pay for any repair under $250.

[unlvfan0912]

It wasn't included in a previous contract, so this subject came up under the context of developing our new contract.

[airics]

if you think the rent is fair and you like the home, negotiate it out.... If you have any fear of him not giving you a new lease and finding new tenants than pay it..... Everyone says rents are going down but i don't see it. Zillow says the rent for the home i rent out should be $1125. I'm at $1178.. never had any issues...

[unlvfan0912]

Great - thanks for the input. First I had heard of this practice...

[Koozie]

My tenants pay for nothing maintenance wise. That seems odd to me, never heard of a landlord charging for maintenance issues, but $60 as a deductible is not that bad especially if you like the place.

[logline]

I would think landlords are shooting themselves in the foot by requiring tenants to pay for the smaller repairs (or deductibles)... all that does is simply give incentive for a tenant to not report a problem which almost always grows into a larger, more expensive problem.

[Drover]

There's no way in hell I'd be paying a "deductible" to my landlord to maintain his own damn property. That's what rent is for.

[unlvfan0912]

Drover, that was our first reaction, too! Because we love the place we've agreed to cover up to a max of $500/year, which is still insane, but we just have to mentally factor it into the cost of rent. Landlord still insists this is a totally normal practice in Vegas (we are actually landlords in Oregon, and would never in a million years consider asking our tenants to cover any maintenance costs). At least in my own mind I can call BS on him thanks to this thread

[lvoc]

Standard lease has a clause where the amount any tenant has to pay for repairs is listed. I use $100 - Airics uses $250. My LLs generally have a home warranty but cover the deductible themselves. It is not standard for the tenant to pay the deductible but it does happen. It is certainly negotiable.

If I liked the place I would simply agree.