Offer a Clean and Repaired Vacant Apartment to Avoid Legal Action

Your rental applicant was a bachelor recently relocated into the area. He wanted a place to live in a good location. The applicant looked at several apartments, and even though your rent was a little high, he decided to lease it. You rented your apartment to him “as is”, without making any minor repairs or painting before you leased it out. Why should you spend the money, when vacant apartments in your city are hard to find?

Over a period of months or a year, the tenant ultimately gets the apartment where it looks beautiful. He made all the necessary repairs, and even installed mini-blinds to the windows. He installed carpet in the living room and bedroom, He did a wonderful job painting the apartment. You never volunteered to pay for the paint.

What is your goal in setting an “as is” policy? Why would you want to spend as little as possible on your own investment? Why open your self up to legal action?

Never believe a tenant is happy fixing up his own apartment. He may feel a little better if you give him a month’s free rent in exchange for the paint and repairs. In his gut, he will always feel you took advantage of him.

Two years later, you give the tenant a rent increase of $100 per month. You figure the apartment is in much better shape than it was a year ago, so it is worth more rent. What?! The tenant knows the reason why the apartment has increased in value is because he did all the work. He made the initial investment, and now you, the landlord, want to reap the benefits. He decides not to pay the rent increase.

You need to understand why the tenant may have a negative attitude about your raising the rent. Especially at $100 a month. You are trying to take the benefit of his investment in the property to increase your profit margin at his expense.

Without agreement, there comes a time when you have to evict the tenant for non-payment of rent. Your ‘as is’ policy could come into question. Don’t think the tenant won’t mention you made him fix up and paint the apartment. The tenant will present to the judge a picture of the apartment when he first moved in and one after he fixed it up.

This could be one of the tenant’s responses to your non-payment claim. The extra expenses to paint and repair the apartment always comes into question when a tenant is being evicted. The tenant will argue that you should have compensated him for the repairs and paint jobs. Instead, you gave him a rent increase.

Another scenario to consider: When the tenant moves out at the end of his lease, he takes his investments with him. He removes the carpet from the floor, the ceiling fans from the ceilings. He even takes down the mini-blinds In his eyes, he is not doing anything wrong. He is still giving your apartment back to you in better condition than when you leased it.

In addition, because he is angry about the situation, the tenant decides to stay in the apartment without paying the rent for the last month. He doesn’t care about getting the security deposit back. You can send the Notice to Quit, but he will be gone before you get to court. This is why landlords now lean to charging first and last month’s rent, plus a security deposit.

The point is, when you rent an apartment, you are legally obligated to maintain an “implied warranty of habitability” with your property. Things like making the tenant fix the kitchen sink, paint the place, or re-tile the floor is a landlord responsibility. Should you make the tenant fix up your apartment, the warranty of habitability obligation could come back to haunt you, either in court or in a move-out.

For these reasons I believe it is better to do the work before renting out the apartment. You can control the costs and have it done to your satisfaction. It is a legitimate income tax deduction. Include the cost in the rent calculated over the months of the lease. Or, allow the tenant to do the work with a month of free rent or reduced rent for a period of time. You must compensate the tenant in some way if you make him or her do painting and maintenance work on the apartment. It is the law in every state except Arkansas. And, at the end of the day, your tenant will be grateful for the consideration.

This is an updated excerpt from the hub author’s book, “Secrets to a Successful Eviction for Landlords and Rental Property Managers: The Complete Guide to Evicting Tenants Legally and Quickly.”