Can I transfer minor repairs and maintenance duties to the tenant? The rental unit is a single family house in a subdivision.
You should research state landlord-tenant statutes and local code requirements to determine what maintenance and repair responsibilities may be legally assigned to the tenant and what responsibilities can be assigned to the tenant as a practical matter.
Many landlords delegate custodial maintenance to the tenants. Custodial maintenance is routine upkeep of the rental property. Maintenance duties that are allowed by state statutes may vary from state to state. A landlord may be allowed to transfer more duties for a single-family home than for a multi-family building. Transfer of maintenance responsibility to the tenant does not relieve you of a duty to monitor the tenant’s work performance and quality standards and, as necessary, take control to ensure compliance with habitability standards.
The issue of property maintenance and repair should always be clearly defined in your lease agreement. Failure to adequately address these issues within the lease agreement can lead to erroneous assumptions as to which party is responsible for specific maintenance and repair tasks. This can result in landlord-tenant conflicts and/or damages to the landlord’s property due to failure of the tenant to adequately perform certain maintenance tasks.
Caution is advised when assigning maintenance duties that the tenant does not become an employee of the landlord unless that is the landlord’s desire and all requirements for having employees are followed. If the tenant is not going to be treated as an employee, whether for payment or in lieu of rent, adequate precautions must be taken to establish independent contractor status. A landlord should be sure that his insurance covers him against injury to the tenant or others and against damage liabilities resulting from the uninsured tenant’s actions.
If the rental property is within a planned unit development and governed by an HOA, there may be specific requirements for property upkeep, particularly landscaping. Failure to comply with HOA requirements could result in warnings and/or fines. Your lease agreement will need to detail the tenant responsibilities under the HOA regulations. Be sure as the owner of the property you receive all notifications regarding the property rather than allow them to be sent to the address of the rental.