Question for those of you who have lived in rental homes?

[Nikki98]

How much of the house do you take care of? I mean are you responsible for the yard work, minor repairs, etc. and does or did your landlord take care of those things? How about changing air filters, water heater stuff, etc? Who is suppose to take care of this stuff? Just wondering, thanks.

[happymomma]

When we rented a house, about 8 years ago, we were responsible for everything that was considered normal maintenance. Changing air filters, outside lawn work, all normal household stuff was ours to do. If anything broke, it was the landlords responsibility.

My father owned an investment company that had several rental houses and it was always very clear in the contract that the tenants were to take care of basic maintenance. Outside care, air filters would be included in this. Not sure what you mean about water heaters though. Oh and if anything "minor" broke they would call to let us know and if it was really minor, like a door handle or something they would usually offer to fix it themselves but they always called to give a heads up in case we had a preference for who to fix it. They were not to make any major repairs at all...

Did that help?

[Village Mama]

We do yardwork, minor repairs etc. Our landlords can be a little usless though. We have had leaks in our roof for well over a year and they have been notified many times about the need to fix it.... as well as a multitude of other things.( its a really wonderful neighbourhood or we would have moved years ago!) We agreed to take care of the yard when we first rented. We wanted a garden, and I am happy to take care of the yard. I know many landlords who do the lawn care though. If you agree to take care of it, the landlord needs to supply the working tools to do so.
We also change our own air filter, but the kids have asthma so we buy the best hepa type that we can afford. All of the other appliances though are the landlords responsibility.
Are you having problems?

[~Nikki~]

When we rented a house we were responsible for mowing the lawn, and caring for the garden. We had free reign over planting different things, or pulling out the existing plants if we wanted to. We did basic things like changing the filter on the furnace, but the landlord would send people to do the yearly cleaning of the furnace and ducts, the fireplace, etc. They also sent people to fertilize the lawn (which I hated).

Any repairs at all that were due to normal wear and tear were their responsibility. If we had put a hole in the wall, we'd be responsible for fixing it, for example. But if the pipe under the sink was leaking, or the stove stopped working they'd send somebody to fix it at no cost to us.

[MomToKandE]

When we were renting we were responsible for all of the day-to-day upkeep. This included lawn mowing, furnace filters, gutter cleaning, etc. If something broke the landlord was responsible for fixing it but if it was something minor and easy to fix we'd usually just take care of it ourselves.

[Om Girl]

This should be outlined in your rental agreement. I would reference your agreement first as agreements are different by state, agency and owners. But, I agree with pp that normal "use and replacement" of items and home care is the renters responsibility. Permanent home fixtures requiring repair or replacement are usually taken care of by the landlord. Lawn care and snow removal are often cared for by landlords but again check your leasing agreement, and if you don't have a written agreement I urge you to have one drawn up and signed by both parties and notarized or signed by a witness. This just covers your butt in the future should something happen.

[Pinoikoi]

All utilities are my responsibility..all maintenance/repairs are landlord's responsilibity... my landlady just asks that I call and schedule the repairman that I prefer and they bill her (landlords can write all maintenance/repairs off on their taxes, so I am not sure why some don't do this for you!!).. so I make sure the water heater, furnace, gutters, etc are properly maintained.. she knows I have lots of kids, and doesn't want repairmen showing up at an inconvenient time for me..

She offered to get the outside of the building painted last year for me, I didn't ask... she did ask me to pick out the contractor and colors.


I do mow the lawn and garden on my own $$, but she would probably hire someone if I asked..

btw: I am related to my landlady- we have rented this house from her for 10 years..

[Denvergirlie]

I have a handshake with my landlord, so not rental agreement to go back to.

They fix things when they break, but it's got to be broken, broken, not just damaged or what have you. We do not do anything, no air filters, no nothing. We did tear out the weeds and put in a garden, the landlord is completely indifferent to both scenerios.

I wanted to get an air filter into the furnace, but the landlord came over and didn't even have a clue as to wear the filter might go... grrr... they don't care about the place, so neither do I. We rent because it's a great deal in a good neighborhood and we can garden to our hearts content. I don't want to say that my landlord is a slum lord, but he certainly ins't interested in any preventative mantance.