Tenant vs Landlord Expense (California Residential Lease)

Investor · San Diego · Member since 2023 · 19 posts · 11 votes

Hi Friends, In a standard California Association of Realtors (C.A.R) Resential lease for a tenant (single family home), is the LANDLORD or TENANT responsible for changing a water filter?

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Nathan GesnerBusiness Member

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Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes

Quote from @Jon Ful:

Hi Friends, In a standard California Association of Realtors (C.A.R) Resential lease for a tenant (single family home), is the LANDLORD or TENANT responsible for changing a water filter?

Read the lease. I don't believe it specifically addresses filters of any type. If the Landlord wants the Tenant to be responsible, they should add that to the lease.

The CAR Lease is copyrighted and should only be used by members of the California Association of REALTORS.

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Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
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Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
3y
Quote from @Jon Ful:

Hi Friends, In a standard California Association of Realtors (C.A.R) Resential lease for a tenant (single family home), is the LANDLORD or TENANT responsible for changing a water filter?

Read the lease. I don't believe it specifically addresses filters of any type. If the Landlord wants the Tenant to be responsible, they should add that to the lease.
The CAR Lease is copyrighted and should only be used by members of the California Association of REALTORS.
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Jon Ful
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Investor · San Diego · Member since 2023 · 19 posts · 11 votes
3y
Quote from @Nathan Gesner:

Quote from @Jon Ful:

Hi Friends, In a standard California Association of Realtors (C.A.R) Resential lease for a tenant (single family home), is the LANDLORD or TENANT responsible for changing a water filter?

Read the lease. I don't believe it specifically addresses filters of any type. If the Landlord wants the Tenant to be responsible, they should add that to the lease.
The CAR Lease is copyrighted and should only be used by members of the California Association of REALTORS.

Thanks Nathan. So my question is what would you do?
Since the lease does not cover it explicitly (CAR lease), do you think it falls in the bucket of routine maintenance? Appreciate your suggestion as a more seasoned property manager. It is a question of interpretation.
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Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
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Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
3y
Quote from @Jon Ful:

My policy, and my recommendation to you, is to leave nothing open for interpretation. My lease agreement makes the tenant responsible for all consumables, including light bulbs, smoke detector batteries, air and water filters, etc.
if your lease does not specifically make the tenant responsible, then it is a landlord responsibility.
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Christian BallowBusiness Member
Realtor · National City, CA · Member since 2019 · 11 posts · 13 votes
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@Jon Ful we leave that to our tenants. We make sure a new filter is in at move-in and make sure they know that it’s on them to purchase new filters. We use CAR forms and typically add it into an addendum then remind them via our FAQ. In this situation, since it hasn’t been explicitly stated, I would probably just provide the filter as a sign of good faith.
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