As a landlord, one of your main responsibilities is ensuring your rental home is in great shape for your tenant. As such, it’s crucial to be proactive in your maintenance to prevent major property issues and provide your renters with a high quality of life. When you keep a well-maintained rental space and effectively respond to tenant complaints, your tenants are more likely to stay long-term and renew their lease!
Another upside to actively maintaining your rental is that you’ll experience less property damage and ensure wear and tear happen slowly. If your rental is an older character home or historic property, we recommend conducting routine property inspections to keep your investment in top shape for years to come!
Below you can find a list of property maintenance responsibilities for both landlords and tenants!
Landlord Responsibilities
Provide Trash Receptacles
Providing proper garbage bins for your tenants keeps your unit hygienic, promoting a healthy environment for the residents. Work out the quantity and size of trash containers depending on how many renters are staying on your property. In addition, be sure to check the frequency of garbage collection in your area to ensure you allocate the right number of trash bins. If garbage is collected often, you may only need a few trash cans.
Provide Running Water
Having a reliable supply of running water is a basic need. Renters need running water to stay healthy and keep the rental clean. It’s also important to keep your water heater in good repair so your tenants can easily access hot water.
Comply With Building Codes
As a landlord, ensuring your tenants are safe while living on your property is crucial. You can accomplish this by installing smoke and carbon dioxide detectors around your rental and conducting renovations in accordance with building safety regulations.
Per federal and state law, you’re also expected to prevent and remove mold, disclose any use of lead paint on the property, and exterminate any pests. We recommend coordinating with qualified and reliable contractors and specialists if any of these issues arise.
Furthermore, there are strict occupancy limits you must adhere to for various safety reasons. You need to follow these mandates so that no one’s safety is compromised if an emergency, such as a fire, happens. Another thing you also need to handle is making sure that your major home systems, such as plumbing and electrical, are fully functional.
Maintain Common Areas
If you own a unit in a larger building or have a multi-family property, there are common areas you’ll need to maintain. To ensure the safety of your tenants, be sure to properly maintain your rental’s common areas.
As a landlord, keeping your renters happy by offering them clean and safe spaces to gather can help your bottom line! Satisfied renters are more likely to renew leases and take care of your property. We recommend assessing whether the lighting is sufficient in common areas. Also, be sure to routinely inspect floors, stairs, and banisters to prevent potential accidents.
Make Repairs Promptly
No tenant wants to stay in a rental where issues aren’t repaired in a timely manner. Landlords who coordinate repairs quickly generally have happier tenants!
Keep Home Operations Systems Functional
A functional rental home requires the plumbing, heating, electrical, and gas line systems to perform in top-notch condition. Should service interruptions happen, be sure to remedy the issue quickly for the benefit of your property and tenants.
Tenant Responsibilities
While it’s common knowledge that landlords are responsible for the bulk of rental property maintenance, tenants also need to help keep their unit well-maintained. Below is a list of ways tenants can keep a rental in great shape!
Keep the Rental Clean
While landlords provide trash receptacles, it’s still up to tenants to properly dispose of their garbage. Tenants should be familiar with and adhere to municipal bylaws related to garbage disposal, recycling, and composting.
Prioritize Safety
Renters are responsible for keeping emergency exits clear of obstacles such as furniture or storage boxes. Also, tenants should always refrain from tampering with or removing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors or security systems.
Abide by Housing Codes
Building codes are created to ensure every occupant’s safety. Policies in leasing agreements are clear regarding the number of residents living in a rental unit. As such, the number of tenants on a property should never exceed the legal occupancy limit.
Prevent Mold Growth
Mold can quickly spread when there’s a lot of excess moisture inside a rental unit. Turning on a fan or opening windows can help prevent mold from growing in the rental. Renters must inform the landlord at the first sign of mold so proper mold remediation can be done.
Important Notes
It’s crucial to remember that landlords cannot include clauses in their lease agreements that place all maintenance responsibilities on tenants. However, if a renter causes property damage from neglect or abuse, they must pay for the repair costs.
Bottom Line
Taking care of your rental home means spending time on maintenance and repairs. If you want to reduce your stress and save time, consider hiring a professional and trusted property management company! The experts at Nest Finders Property Management are ready to help you maintain your rental and keep your tenants happy. Contact us today to learn how we can help you maximize your ROI!
