What are the Landlords "maintenance responsibilities" (lease, tenant, wavers)
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I just posted another thread, but forgot to include one other question I had.
Does anyone know what the general maintenance responsibilities are required from the landlord in a rental house. It is not "clearly" stated in my lease. Just says we are responsible to change the light bulbs, furnace filter etc.
Is there some sort of yearly or (even every 2 years) type of inspection landlords are required to check/maintain? furnace, water softener, hot water tank, plumbing, electric, roof, chimney (for cracks or leaks)
Or is it one of those things that the landlord is only to check these things if we were to complain about something not working correctly?
Upon getting ready to move out, we have found a lot of water damage due to a leaky pipe (I am guessing).
We also have a problem with the bathtub..it is very old and is porcelain. We have well water and a very old water softener, therefor our toilet and tub always have rust on them. (We did complain about the water, but nothing was ever done). From constantly cleaning and scrubbing the tub, in some spots the porcelain has worn away and black is showing.
Are these things something he can charge me for when we move out?
Also, I was wondering who would be responsible for cleaning the heating vents/ducts? Again, it is not stated in the lease (it is a VERY general lease, like the one you get at the Office Depot)
Thank you again in advance for your help and any information you can provide us.
In Texas, you are responsible to maintain/operate systems in a safe proper manner. Repairs or replacement of systems(heat/AC/plumbing/electric) is the LL responsibility. You are responsible for damage casued by improper operation or neglect of a system. That is, if there is a problem with the heat/ac and you do nothing and it burns up...your fault. The LL will still have to fix it, but technicaly it would be your fault.
That said, if there is a leaky pipe and it casued water damage, it would be your responsiblity to notify the LL of the leak. It would be the LL's responsibility to repair the leak before any major damage. Failure to notify the LL of the leak would mean, you are responsible for the damage casued by the leak. You did not say where the water damage is located, if you knew it was happening, or happened, or did you notify the LL of the potential or real damage. makes a differance.
The wear and tear on the tub is called normal wear and tear.
I hope that helps.
I'm not an expert but a lot of what you say has to do with "normal" wear and tear. We are currently involved in a lawsuit with our former LLs due to a similar leak issue on move out. On the day we moved all our belongings out of the house, we noticed water damage on a wall in the garage, opened the closet the water heater was housed in and saw a leaking pipe. We notified the LL same day. We did not receive our security deposit or our pet deposit back because they believe we intentionally damaged the house. I just shake my head--I would never intentionally do anything to anyone like that. We had numerous issues with the plumbing while we lived there. It is what it is but we are not going to lay down and get taken advantage of. They have $7800 of ours and we want it back. My only advice is to protect yourself, take pictures of everything and keep records.
It's easy to tell the difference between damage and wear and tear. Damage is usually obvious, such as broken windows or holes in the walls. A leak in a water heater is obvious for wear and tear, leaking at the joints or the pressure valve leaking. I'm sorry your LL thinks you did damage. At least you notified the LL of the leak. That should say you didn't do it.
I had a tenant who did not notify me of a small water leak until the ceiling fell down. He thought it would stop and it was just a little drip. Trouble was, the drip was more and after a few days of the sheetrock holding water, it let go. I charged him for the damage. He was not happy. That's called negligence.
If it's a fresh leak or any problem for that matter, then you are not negligent if you notify the LL right away. It is then up to the LL to take action.
I have a question. I rented my house to a friend of a friend, I know, first mistake. for the first 6 months everything was fine....then we found out her husband had been release from prison, they signed another 6 month lease. since that time he has called every month with stupid little complaints. First it was the sink was clogged, well they poured grease down the drain causing it to clog. Next it was the storage building in the back yard needed to be cleaned out, we finally hired someone to do it and he didn't want them too, now it's the AC, my husband is an AC tech so he went to check it out....they had not one time changed the filter and have a long haired dog in the house....this caused the ac to not work properly and eventually clogged the the drain. Now the system has to be pulled out and cleaned, freon will have to be drained and new put in. We informed them they would have to buy the freon and my husband would do the rest at no charge to them. Freon is $236. We go back and fourth with this guy everymonth and I do not think I can handle him for another 3 months. he has cussed me, called me a crack head and been plain disrespectful. he is a complete Jerk. How can I get him out of my house? Please help, I fear he will tear my house up. This favor/good deed has turned into a complete nightmare!
I have a question. I rented my house to a friend of a friend, I know, first mistake. for the first 6 months everything was fine....then we found out her husband had been release from prison, they signed another 6 month lease. since that time he has called every month with stupid little complaints. First it was the sink was clogged, well they poured grease down the drain causing it to clog. Next it was the storage building in the back yard needed to be cleaned out, we finally hired someone to do it and he didn't want them too, now it's the AC, my husband is an AC tech so he went to check it out....they had not one time changed the filter and have a long haired dog in the house....this caused the ac to not work properly and eventually clogged the the drain. Now the system has to be pulled out and cleaned, freon will have to be drained and new put in. We informed them they would have to buy the freon and my husband would do the rest at no charge to them. Freon is $236. We go back and fourth with this guy everymonth and I do not think I can handle him for another 3 months. he has cussed me, called me a crack head and been plain disrespectful. he is a complete Jerk. How can I get him out of my house? Please help, I fear he will tear my house up. This favor/good deed has turned into a complete nightmare!
A good rental agreement should address many of your concerns...
My rental agreements state the tenant is responsible for drain blockages they or their guests cause. Part of my turn-over procedure in getting a house ready to rent is to use a rooter clean and check all drains and I explain this.
What does your rental agreement state in regards the filters? At larger buildings, we take care of it seasonally.
Same with the storage shed... if it is included in the tenants rent... they should be able to use it.
Remember, you are operating a business. You may want to give proper notice stating your intentions not to renew the lease... areas with rent control make this much harder... for the rest of the country, it should be very simple.
In the interim, just deal with them as professional as possible.
I moved into this house only three weeks ago. I knew from many years ago that the LL and her son did most of the maintenance themselves. The most recent tenant was an aquaintance of mine about 15 years ago, as well. In the first week, I was asked to make a list of any concerns or needed repairs. There were a few obvious issues that the son was already aware of and in the process of working on. We had only three small space heaters to use while he waited for a replacement part to repair and reconnect the central he unit. He had that part for than a week before coming to install it and then, did not come prepared with the tools needed. Three days later, he calls an "electrician friend" to come help. They ran some new cables and still, we have no heat other than the space heaters.
He brought tile for the laundry room, kitchen and bathroom, as well as, shower board to recover (but, not repair the wall behind it), the shower itself. I offered to install the tile after he repairs the bathroom floor.
In the second week living here; the breakers flipped while I was trying to cook dinner in the oven. He came out two days later and added the 2nd of two necessary 110 breakers (to make a 220) and that seemed to resolve that. Unfortunately, I plugged in a hair dryer yesterday and now, we have spent the night cold, without tv or internet, most lights and nervous as all get it. My washer may be fried, my fridge loses and regains power about every 3-5 minutes and it has taken me over 20 minutes to type this post because the modem is doing the same.
I feel that these major electrical issues are a fire hazard, are endangering my family and should be immediately resolved...by a LICENSED ELECTRICIAN. Not, by the son or his friends. I can smell burning wires right now.
What can I do to speed this process up without taking court action. I barely finished moving in, can't physically handle it again so soon and have no money to file action with the courts against these people.
Call the landlord IMMEDIATELY and tell her you have an emergency electrical problem, that you smell burning, etc. and that she needs to send a licensed electrician out IMMEDIATELY or else you'll do so yourself. This is not something to be waffling over nor taking time to write on a forum about. If she wavers or says her son will be out, tell her this isn't acceptable and this is something a licensed electrician needs to take care of. I suggest that you shut off all your breakers before further damage is done as you're in danger of having a major fire. Been there done that.
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