Landlord Question and Answer Forum

I declined the last offer my tenants put on my house and was going to put it on the market. Since then i have gotten a list of repairs that need to be fixed immediately, one being that the garage door opener stopped working. I told them about the release cord to manually shut the door and they have. Is that something that I can get in trouble by not getting it fixed? They said they were going to get it fixed and take it out of their rent which I told them was not acceptable. I live in Ga now and am feeling kind of stuck.

There is no regulation for this type of thing however if there is an injury because of this you may be held responsible. This is your property, you may want to make the repairs needed as this will only improve the value of the property.

Posted by Richard W, PA on Sunday, February 22, 2015

In TX the law is clear on what type of repairs the tenant can take on themselves and esentially bill the landloard. For example, Texas law requires that I, the landlord, rekey the property after every tenant. If I fail to do this, the new tenant can take it upon themselves and pass the cost on to me. However, things like the garage door not working is not one. As a landlord, you get to determine the urgency of repair and ultimately decide that something will not be repaired. Of course, this is within reason. If the needed repair is a saftey concern/hazard, then yes you have an expecitation to fix it within a reasonable amount of time. As for "taking it out of their rent" - I would read your lease. My lease specifically says that is not allowed, and if there are expences occured by the tenant that is the responsiblity of the landlord (i.e. the rekeying of locks) then that will be handled outside of rent payments. If I've learned anything being the landlord, the tenant holds a lot of power and if you are trying to sell the house, the last thing you want them to do is be stupid and go and damange something. I would ask for the list of requested repairs, asses each one, sit down with the tenants (face to face is always better when possible), and review each one and come to come kind of agreement. There are some to where you will either have to prioritize them or flat out say no; others you might take on. Whatever is decided, I would make it clear (in writing) that deducting expenses from their rent is a violation of the lease, and it will be considered as though rent is not paid in full and can result in eviction.

Posted by Charles R. N, TX on Wednesday, February 25, 2015