What responsibilities does a landlord have?

Question

I am currently buying and replacing my tenants air filter. Is it my responsibility to purchase and replace the air filter for my tenants, or are they responsible for that?

Thank you!

Scott Mac · Answer

Filters are cheaper than replacing gunked up A/C coils sealed inside the furnace.

If the resident fails to put in any filter, the coils will gunk up.

If the resident just leaves the filter in forever, it gets super dirty and not much air passes, and the coils freeze up and the A/C doesn't work. This could possibly damage the A/C unit.

Zee Abbas · Answer

I have it in my lease for it to be the tenants responsibility. With that said, I do quarterly inspections and only once did my tenants actually replace the filter by themselves, despite me providing a box of filters. So, even if it’s the tenants responsibility, I recommend being cautious about it.

Joe Splitrock · Answer

This is one of those responsibilities that can go both ways. I require tenants to replace their own filters. The risk in doing that is that tenants will not do it. As @Scott Mac mentioned, that can damage the AC unit. When the filter gets plugged, it puts more resistance on air flow. That can damage the blower fan and can cause AC coils to freeze up, which could damage the compressor.

Some landlords like to replace the filter quarterly and combine the visit with an inspection. It is an opportunity to put eyes, ears and nose inside the property. You may find an unauthorized pet or notice damage. The sooner you detect these problems, the less damage that can be done.

Scott M. · Answer

Depends what your lease says.  Some make tenants responsible and some use it as an excuse to do a walkthrough....see how they are keeping up the home.  Lots of different ways to handle it, no set law.  Also whos to say if the tenant actually does replace it?

Aaron F. · Answer

You can make it their responsibility in the lease but it’s your multi-thousand-dollar equipment that needs repair if they don’t follow through. Like Zee, I do quarterly inspections and that is the perfect time to replace the furnace filter.

Isham Zabala · Answer

@Scott Mac Thank you!

Isham Zabala · Answer

@Scott M. Thank you!

Patrick Page · Answer

As others have mentioned the responsibility can go either way but the important thing to check is what has been written in the lease. If there is nothing then as @Scott Mac has mentioned, not replacing the air filters can lead to expensive damages to the HVAC system. To avoid these damages you might want to consider sending them air filters each month and asking them to replace the air filters in the unit monthly. If they are unwilling to do that then talk to your tenants about you replacing the filters monthly at the property. After these tenants move out, make sure to include a clause in the next lease for the property to avoid this in the future.

Our practice is to have the landlords pay for a filter service that delivers filters to the property that the tenant is then responsible to replace each month. If they do not do this, then any HVAC damages caused from not replacing the filter would be their responsibility to pay.

Isham Zabala · Answer

@Julie Hartman Thank you!

Julie Hartman · Answer

@Isham Zabala You can ask the tenants to do it but most of them won't. If you purchase them and change it yourself, you know it was done and it's a good excuse to get a peek inside the house. It's a small price to pay to keep your HVAC healthy and check up on the property. We do ours quarterly; it's a good way to engage with your tenants a little bit too.

What responsibilities does a landlord have?

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