Tenant Responsibilities

[Barrett Boone]

I have a property that is being managed by a property management company.  I have been getting a large amount of expenses on the property lately. Some seem legit but other do not.  I wanted to get the opinion from other landlords on what should be the responsibility of the tenant to pay for, and what the home owner should pay for.

Some of the expenses from the management company :

- Trash cleanup (beer cans in front yard)

- Mowing (who do you typically make responsible for yard maint.? you or the tenant?)

- Leaves

- Glass in garbage disposall

- repainting interior walls (not sure of the reason)

Also, the expense reports I get from the company are cut off the sheet because of the way the report is formatted/ printed, so I don't really know exactly is being charged and why, and they are telling me that they can't print the sheet horizontally to show more info... this sounds really sketchy to me.

Thanks in advance

~rookie landlord

[Fred Heller]

Hi Barrett,

I'm a property manager and there are several items in your post (well most of them) that stand out as red flags. The biggest one is that you're scratching your head wondering about certain expenses. It is the PM's job to keep you advised on everything that is going on. You should never, ever feel like you're in the dark when it concerns your property.

When it comes to maintenance/repairs, most PM companies require a reserve fund of, say, $300, from which the PM can draw to pay for minor repairs or maintenance. My practice is to notify the owner that a repair needs to be made. I'll try to reach them by phone and then follow up in writing so that I have documentation.

Financial reports should be issued promptly If you're not getting your reports by the 15th of the month at the latest, something's not right. My company uses an online owner's portal where the owner can access account activity in real time. They can also access the lease, work orders, invoices for expenses, monthly reconciliations, etc.

The responsibility for lawn care should have been addressed in the lease. Most single family renters are responsible for it, but some owners may decide to build the expense into the rent so they can sure it's being done.

I can't imagine too many reasons why there would be a paint job that didn't involve some kind of damage on the tenant's part. One of those reasons could be a leaky pipe that required cutting through the drywall. 

If it's normal wear and tear then you're obviously responsible, but if any repairs are the result of damage due to negligence, then the tenant should be charged. But that should also be spelled out in the lease.

Good luck!