Rental Property Investor · AR · Member since 2022 · 2 posts · 0 votes
Out of state investor here. I have 3 rentals in Arkansas, but one house has a young couple that has not lived and maintained a house before. I am starting to notice that they are not giving proper maintenance to normal wear and tear items to the point where a bigger problem is created and it’s costing me more money. Can anyone tell me what repairs you do and don’t do as a landlord in Arkansas? Any advice is appreciated.
You would need to check local law, but typically it is the LL that must "maintain" any appliances, systems, and the exterior of the home itself. "Normal" wear and tear is generally not allowed to be charged against SD at move outs, either. Everything eventually wears out, you need to practice Preventative Maintenance to prolong the life of various elements, and replace them when they have reached their particular end of life.
Physical damage from misuse, or abuse, is a different subject. This includes plumbing stoppages caused by the Tenant, with any properly written Rental Agreement.
Tenants generally are clueless about how things work; what should be done; or who can properly do it. You do not WANT them making repairs to one of the most costly purchases of your life.
Hey Nora! As a landlord, you are generally responsible for mechanical repairs. This would include plumbing, HVAC, electrical, and appliances. Depending on your lease, your tenants may be responsible for landscaping and pest control. According to the Arkansas Real Estate Commission, you are required to provide:
Hot and cold water, electricity, potable drinking water, adequate sewer and plumbing, functioning roof and walls, and functioning heating and air (if installed prior to signing a lease).
Therefore, anything that prevents any of those items would be your responsibility. As always, consult with an attorney for specifics about your situation. Hope this helps!
Thanks for your reply. I definitely want to take care of my property and for that reason I do encourage the tenant to notify me when such items need to be serviced. However, just recently they sent me a message because the garbage disposal was jammed. When we went to inspect it, we saw lots of bones inside it. We did replace the garbage disposal for them. Yesterday I received another message about a toilet leak. After questioning them, it looks like the flapper/valve needs to be replaced. How do you handle these repairs?
If they are misusing items-like putting bones down a garbage disposal, they should be paying for those repairs. Things like a leaky flapper value happen and those are up to you to pay for repairs.
Do an inspection every 6 months to look for things. Also a great time to make sure smoke detectors and CO detectors have new batteries and furnace filters are replaced.
The flapper is a normal wear and tear thing that you would be responsible for. I probably would have handled the disposal thing the same way you did. Inform them in writing (via email/text) that bones and other harmful things should not be placed in the disposal. That way, when it happens again, you have proof that you warned them and would likely be able to make them pay for the repairs.
@Nora Zepeda I took a chance on a young couple whose parents would not let them live together at either one of their homes that were first time renters. They were 20 years old when they moved in.
I have had several occasions where issues have arisen either with other tenants in the building where these kids have annoyed them (it’s a 4 plex) or with things you just assume a tenant would know that I have had to have extensive phone calls, lengthy emails, and back and forth text messages with them about to teach them how to be good tenants. They just don’t know any better because they’ve never been tenants before.
It sounds like your tenants just don’t know better because either they weren’t raised to take care of things any differently or else they’ve just always been tenants in maybe not so nice housing so they’re used to just having management or maintenance come in and fix whatever they’ve broken because they don’t care or don’t know any better.
Follow up any conversations or issues you have with them with a letter going over what transpired or was discussed. And be sure to keep a copy for your records. That way if they repeat the same mistake like breaking the disposal you can bill them.
And add it on as additional rent if at all possible (check with an attorney before amending your lease to do this) according to your lease that way you’re definitely covered charging them under state law or at least we are in my state. We’ve stopped charging fees or charges because they were getting denied in court but additional rent gets covered in eviction proceedings and sent to collections.
@Nora Zepeda You have to start out with something like this is the plunger, these are the breakers, you see water call me discussion. The repairs are generally on you but even the best tenants will fail to notify you of things. If they are really young (or in some cases challenged) you may need to run through things with them. Have they changed the HVAC filter, do they know how, can they fix a tripped breaker. Do they know wipes don't go down the toilet or in your case bones don't go down the disposal. Seems obvious to you but you would be surprized what people don't just know.