Caring For A Rental Property

Caring For A Rental Property
06-20-08

It is often said that a tenant should treat the rental property like it was their own home. Well . . . yes and no. While the tenant should certainly take good care of the property, there are some things they might do with their own home that they would not be allowed to do with a rental property.

The rights and responsibilities of both tenant and property manager/landlord are usually clearly spelled out in the rental agreement. It is very important for the tenant to read these sections carefully so that they know what the boundaries and liabilities are.

Take Good Care of the Property
This is what people usually mean when they say, "Treat it like it was your own home." The assumption is that someone would not intentionally damage or otherwise neglect their own home. A tenant should treat a rental property the same way - respectfully. The tenant may be the one using the property temporarily, but it really doesn't belong to them.

Contact The Property Manager/Landlord When Warranted
Where the treat-it-like-your-own-home idea really breaks down is in the area of repairs, maintenance, and modifications. A good homeowner would just go ahead and take care of these types of things himself. If he lacked the personal skills to do the work, he would hire someone to get it done.

In a rental situation, however, this type of work is usually the responsibility of the property manager/landlord. Even if the tenant is capable of performing the work, they are only allowed to do things that are specifically stated in the rental agreement, except for minor tasks like changing lightbulbs, etc. (If the rental property is a house instead of an apartment, the tenant might also possibly be responsible for cutting the grass, shoveling snow, etc.) Bigger repair jobs such as unclogging drains and fixing appliances are usually prohibited. Tenants who attempt to do these larger jobs may be held liable for any damages which occur during the process.

The general rule is similar as far as modifications go. The tenant may be allowed to hang some pictures, but installing a light fixture may be prohibited. As with repairs, a tenant who installed a light fixture might be held liable for any damages that occurred during the process. If the tenant went ahead and installed the fixture, they might not be allowed to remove it or they might be responsible for any expenses incurred in repairing the property after the fixture was removed.

When something needs to be done that falls within the responsibility of the property manager/landlord, the tenant needs to call them as soon as possible and inform them of the situation. That way the property manager/landlord can take care of the problem before it gets worse and possibly causes any damage to the property.

Mark E. Moebius
Miljonair Homes
Custom home builder St. Louis
3451 St. Albans Rd.
St. Albans, MO 63073
636.300.9000