Knowing what tenants can expect from you legally makes your life as a landlord easier. It helps you anticipate needs. It reduces headaches, and it generally makes you a better landlord.
What are Your Responsibilities?
Sometimes, it’s hard to swallow how much a tenant can expect from you, but that’s the contract.
As the landlord, you enter into a contract with your tenants. They choose to pay you a certain amount of cash so that you provide a service.
You are responsible for what’s dictated in the rental agreement. The sooner you understand that, the easier it’ll be to do the following happily:
Utilities
All landlords don’t pay for their tenant’s utilities, but some do. Offering this option makes your property more desirable, which could get you tenants quickly.
If you choose to add this to the contract, then you’ll be responsible for the utilities you said you’ll take care of, be it gas or electricity, to name a few things.
Compliance
Each state has specific building codes, and it’s the landlord’s job to ensure these codes are met. It goes beyond that. You also have to worry about local building codes.
Sometimes, these codes ask the property owner to make major changes to their property. This isn’t something you want to leave to your tenants.
It would be best if you didn’t trust them to do it right or on time before you deal with fines. Worse is that not complying with building codes may lead to catastrophe.
That would be bad for you and hurt your rental property for a while. Recovering will take some time, so don’t take the chance, and make sure you’re always compliant.
Structural Repairs
It is up to you or your commercial property management team to deal with structural repairs. You know, as well as any Floridian, that structural repairs are inevitable.
It rains and storms so much here. It’s only a matter of time before you have to deal with foundation issues or roof problems. While these may not show up immediately, they will at some point.
Tenants may not care for the integrity of your property as much as you will. If something goes wrong, they can move on while you’re stuck with a structurally unsound property.
Energy Standards
Everyone uses electricity, which is why most tenants expect you to ensure your property can handle their energy needs.
This is why maintaining energy standards is something tenants expect.
They don’t want to be told they can’t plug up all their gadgets or whatever else they can think of because your electrical system hasn’t been updated.
It’s up to you to maintain it and update it when necessary. Failing to do so will force tenants to stay for a short period until they find a better option.
General Safety
Your tenants expect you to provide a safe property. This is why they expect you to take care of any structural issues and so forth, but it goes beyond that.
Some tenants expect you to provide them with devices that keep them safe, like fire alarms.
On top of that, you’re supposed to address unexpected dangers, like an asbestos issue. As much as it feels like you’re just protecting your tenants, you’re also protecting your property.
These cover some of the things tenants expect you to take care of, but there are other responsibilities you could have.
For example, you could be expected to pay for property insurance policies just in case something bad happens. You are getting paid for a service. It makes sense that so much is expected from you.
