Managing rental properties - HVAC maintenance

[Kyle Scelza]

Curious on how you handle annual HVAC maintenance? Are you tenants responsible changing filters and annual service for your A/C and furnace? If so, how do you hold them accountable to keep these up to date? 

[John Underwood]

Quote from @Erik Checkur:

I'd be hard pressed to trust my renters to do things on their own with my property. Even if they seem confident, I'd prefer to pay a professional or do things myself instead of having my renters take things into their own hands. That maintenance is something the landlord takes care of and comes with the house, it's not typically an expense the renters pay. Typically those maintenance costs are included in the monthly rent

I agree with this. I will add my tenants are responsible for monthly filter changes. I explain that a dirty filter will run up their electric bill much more than the cost of a filter and that they will be liable for any damage caused to HVAC system due to not changing the filter. 

I also say that if the air handler coil starts getting dirty I will know they have been negligent and that they may be paying for a coil cleaning.