Lease Language

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effenheimer_IHB

effenheimer_IHB

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What do you make of this? Someone pinged me with it and I couldn't answer.

Tenant shall, at Tenant's own expense and at all times, maintain the Leased Premises in good working order and repair, including all equipment, appliances, furniture, fixtures, and furnishings, and shall surrender the Leased Premises at termination of this Lease in as good condition as received, normal wear and tear excepted

Would this imply that a failed dishwasher would be the tenant's responsibility? The "normal wear and tear" part seems to refer only to the surrender of the premises.
 
OC...I would say yes. This sounds like it is a private rental and if anything such as the dishwasher, range, heater, a/c...etc goes out then they are liable for it.

If I was the person getting ready to sign this lease I would want to know what yrs all the small appliances and large appliances were installed. You can figure the warranty out from their.
 
I represent many landlords and there are 2 kinds: good and bad. I will not represent a landlord who I feel is a "bad" one.

The bad landlords will define anything broken as "damaged by tenant" rather than taken responsibility of a landlord for normal-wear-and-tear. The bad ones will try to keep all the deposit from the tenant. It is extremely critical that renters stay clear of the bad ones. If you work with an agent, try to get the agent to get a feel for you.
 
oc_fliptrack-

Sounds like the landlord is trying to instill "pride of ownership," AKA "Combining the worst aspects of being a tenant with the worst apsects of being a homeowner."

Your interpretation is generally correct, and this is a ridiculous burden that should be steered clear of. The normal wear and tear appears to include the appliances, however.

SCHB
 
with irvine co. apts, they pretty much fix anything and everything. they'd even replace light bulbs that went out, at no charge to the tenant.

i think the guideline is that if something breaks and it belongs to the 'house' then it would be the landlord's responsiblity. e.g. dishwasher, garage, etc. unless of course the tenant did something blatantly stupid to break it.. like get drunk and throw a chair through a window

oh, one time i wanted the land line installed.... the phone co. lady told me that since the installation was FOR the house, the landlord should actually pay the installation charges because it's not something I can take with me when I move out.
 
I've been a landlord for ~7 years, and have always used a property manager. The standard rental contrate states that the tenants are liable for any damages, however if appliances failed due to normal use (not from physical abuse) then the property manager will arrange for repair or replacement at my expense.

I've paid for everything from dishwasher repair to installation of new window blindes/shades. I don't penny-pinch my tenants because that would piss people off. It's probably quite stupid to piss off tenants over couple hundred dollars, when they're the ones who live in your property valued at several hundred thousand dollars.
 
I do the same as momopi with my tenants. That contract seems like a penny pincher and if I saw that I would walk or ask that part to be eliminated. Most likely I'd walk because I would have a bad feeling about the landlord.

I am lucky and have great long time tenants who all know each other right now. One tenant is an older lady who had some issues with her toilet. Since it was late she just talked to her neighbor and he came over figured out what was wrong and went to Lowes, got the part and fixed it. I found out when I stopped by for something else and she told me what he did. I asked her if she knew how much it cost and she still had the receipt and how long he was there, about a hour. So I sent him a check for a hour of contractor labor rate and the part. He called me and was shocked but very thankful. The point being happy tenants pay rent on time and he will probably never leave. Stobborn penny pinchers chase late rent payments and have high turnover which costs them more money but they probably don't even know it. Sorry for the rant but it is pent up frustration from the wanna be landlords on Lansner's blog
 
I wonder if someone didn't take language from a commercial lease and (unknowingly) pop it into a residential lease? Sounds like triple net language to me.
 
EvaLSeraphim - I saw this term came in from a Landlord, who specializes in commercial lease, for residential lease. I had to explain to him that it's not how residential lease works. Ignorant is "bliss".
 
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