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BlogArrowLandlording & Rental PropertiesArrowThings Tenants Ask of Landlords That Are Not a Landlord’s Job
Landlording & Rental Properties

Things Tenants Ask of Landlords That Are Not a Landlord’s Job

Matt Faircloth
Expertise: Real Estate Investing Basics, Real Estate Deal Analysis & Advice, Mortgages & Creative Financing, Landlording & Rental Properties, Business Management, Personal Development, Flipping Houses, Commercial Real Estate
162 Articles Written
best-investment

Hey there, BiggerPockets! So many of you are landlords. Most of you have rented in the past and some of you currently rent your own home, so you can relate to the tenant’s situation.

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Some tenants who have been around for a bit understand what their roles are and what they should expect their landlord to do for them. Others, especially those who are new to renting, don't have clarity on what their landlord should do verse what the tenant should be handling on their own. In today's video, I talk about what a landlord should not be doing for his or her tenants.

Related: 4 Types of Horrible Tenants (& How to Deal With Their Shenanigans)

Some tenants will expect the landlord to perform maintenance tasks that are typically on the tenant’s list of responsibilities. I remember a tenant who called me about the light in her kitchen, which had stopped working. I went to the property and found that the lightbulb had burned out. Tenants also expect landlords to change out the batteries in their smoke detectors, which is really a job the tenant should have. (Some of my tenants take the batteries out of the smoke detectors and put them in their remote controls for their TVs, but that’s another story).

Related: 5 Legitimate Reasons to Allow a Tenant to Break Their Lease

In this video, I talk about other roles that landlords should not step into with their tenants. Be sure to watch it and leave a comment here on the BiggerPockets blog.

How have you drawn a line in the sand with your tenants on what you will and won’t do?

Have you inadvertently crossed out of the landlord role in the past? I want to hear from you so please leave a reply below!

By Matt Faircloth
Matt Faircloth, co-founder and president of the DeRosa Group, is a seasoned real estate investor. The DeRosa Group, based in historic Trenton, New Jersey, i...
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Matt Faircloth, co-founder and president of the DeRosa Group, is a seasoned real estate investor. The DeRosa Group, based in historic Trenton, New Jersey, is a developer and owner of commercial and residential property with a mission to “transform lives through real estate." Matt, along with his wife Liz, started investing in real estate in 2004 with the purchase of a duplex outside of Philadelphia with a $30,000 private loan. They founded DeRosa Group in 2005 and have since grown the company to owning and managing over 370 units of residential and commercial assets throughout the east coast. DeRosa has completed over $30 million in real estate transactions involving private capital including fix and flips, single family home rentals, mixed use buildings, apartment buildings, office buildings, and tax lien investments. Matt Faircloth is the author of Raising Private Capital, has been featured on the BiggerPockets Podcast, and regularly contributes to BiggerPockets’s Facebook Live sessions and educational webinars.
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18 Replies
    John Murray from Portland, Oregon
    Replied over 2 years ago
    Most tenants are like teens, you have to have the upper hand. Some are actually squared away troops but these are far and few between. Their priorities should be water, food and shelter. Sometimes their priorities are water, food, entertainment then shelter. This is where the rub is.
    Matt Faircloth Rental Property Investor from Trenton, NJ
    Replied over 2 years ago
    Hey John – I agree, some people have Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs chart turned upside down LOL!

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    Michael Steven Harris
    Replied over 2 years ago
    I rent through social services and we can be kicked out if we don’t clean or take care of things ourselves. The point is to be squared away when we move into independent housing

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    Chris Connery Rental Property Investor from Cherry Hill, NJ
    Replied over 2 years ago
    Good stuff. Would you put clogged toilets/sinks in this category as well? I think a tenant should expect to own a plunger and deal with that themselves.
    David Harmon
    Replied over 2 years ago
    Gift them a plunger as a house-warming gift among other things… This isn’t my idea, it’s from Landlording on Autopilot.

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    Matt Faircloth Rental Property Investor from Trenton, NJ
    Replied over 2 years ago
    We put a clause in our lease about dealing with clogs. If they are caused by the tenant, we charge them for clearing them. You can determine the cause of the clog pretty easily which leads you to who pays. If the clog is due to a GI Joe that got flushed (we have had toys, perfume bottles, diapers, you name it) it’s on the tenant. If it’s because of roots from the tree in the yard growing into the sewer line, it’s on us.

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    Earl I Thompson Realtor from Ft Lauderdale, FL
    Replied over 2 years ago
    Hey Matt, As a landlord are you responsible for replacing outdated working kitchen appliances like: refrigerator, stove & dishwasher, if your tenants requests it?
    John Teachout Rental Property Investor from Concord, GA
    Replied over 2 years ago
    Short answer is no. If this is a really long term tenant, at contract renewal, it may be “nice” to reward them for their faithfulness. What do you mean by “outdated”? They’re not stainless? or something like a gas range that has to be lit with a match? In almost every case, I personally would not replace a working appliance.
    Matt Faircloth Rental Property Investor from Trenton, NJ
    Replied over 2 years ago
    Good question Earl, I agree with John, usually don’t replace appliances unless they stop working. I will replace them for 2 reasons – one, they are unsafe. Any stove you have to light with a match is unsafe LOL! I also replace any stove that still has a “gas pilot” light as they can be very unsafe. The second reason is that we are looking to raise rents for a new tenant and can get a rent bump for new matching (and yes sometimes stainless steel) appliances.
    Earl I Thompson Realtor from Ft Lauderdale, FL
    Replied over 2 years ago
    Thanks guys.

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    Matt Faircloth Rental Property Investor from Trenton, NJ
    Replied over 2 years ago
    Good question Earl, I agree with John, usually don’t replace appliances unless they stop working. I will replace them for 2 reasons – one, they are unsafe. Any stove you have to light with a match is unsafe LOL! I also replace any stove that still has a “gas pilot” light as they can be very unsafe. The second reason is that we are looking to raise rents for a new tenant and can get a rent bump for new matching (and yes sometimes stainless steel) appliances.

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    Daniel Sisto Rental Property Investor from Liverpool, NY
    Replied over 2 years ago
    How about bedbugs or any bug infestation. If the property was clear of this prior to the tenant moving in. We do have a stipulation in our leases that states this but have a hard time relaying that message to the tenants. Thoughts?
    Matt Faircloth Rental Property Investor from Trenton, NJ
    Replied over 2 years ago
    Any bug or pest issue is a difficult conversation to have with tenants. Our lease states that we gave them the space pest free and it’s their job to keep it that way. The problem is that some tenants get pets because of their neighbors (consider a tenant in a townhome where their neighbors are pigs and end up with mice or roaches from the neighbors). We’ve had this happen in our units. It’s hard to charge your tenant for these kinds of issues. Another issue is that some tenants just learn to live with bugs and don’t call you about them. Many animal owners we have don’t realize that their pet has fleas. We find out about it when they move out, and it’s too late. For that reason, we try and do regular walkthroughs to judge unit condition.

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    Brian R. from Bayport, Minnesota
    Replied over 2 years ago
    The smoke detector battery replacement for me is a tricky one. I have my tenants sign that they are responsible for replacing the batteries, (and I replace them before someone moves in) but their have been a couple cases of landlords being charged criminally, and loosing, because the tenant didn’t change the batteries, and a fire occurred in the property. I have chosen, even though I state in the lease, and a separate form, the tenant is responsible for the smoke detectors, I change them once a year. The city is coming for my yearly license inspection this week at one of my properties, and the first thing they will do in every room with a smoke detector is check and make sure it is working. If it isn’t, I will fail the inspection. I will be given, in the case of a smoke detector, one week to get it working, and they will come back out to reinspect, and charge me $100.00 to do so. I can charge the $100.00 to the tenant, but as history has shown around here, if the smoke detector does not go off if their is a fire, I will be looking at more than a $100.00 charge.

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    Rich E. Real Estate Agent from Lawrenceburg, Indiana
    Replied over 2 years ago
    Matt, one more to add…..the landlord in NOT a payday lender!

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    Lamont Booth Investor from Mount Holly, New Jersey
    Replied over 2 years ago
    I add to my leases that the tenant is responsible for up to $25 in repairs while living in the rental. This eliminates the calls for burned out light bulbs, light toilet repairs(flappers are one of the main causes of running toilets!) and other light repairs such as weather stripping for doors and windows.Batteries for CO and smoke detectors I provide to make sure they are operational due to liabilities and Twp.inspections. In addition I also provide HVAC (90 day filters) for preventive maintenance.Replacing an HVAC due to lack of care would be costly.

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    Jeremy Elcox from Newport News, VA
    Replied over 2 years ago
    Great ideas here…I include a fire extinguisher in the kitchen also. Might help stop a little fire from being a bigger deal hopefully. Best of luck keeping some money after everything is paid in this world. J

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