One of the advantages to living in a rental unit is the presence of a landlord. It's a nice treat not to have to worry about finding a reliable handyman to make the needed repairs. As a tenant, you hardly ever have to worry about being handed an unreasonably large bill for fixing a leak, etc. Your landlord is responsible for seeing that the repairs are made in your unit in a timely fashion. You are responsible for turning in a proper repair request in a timely fashion.

So what is a proper repair request? Firstly, it should ALWAYS be on paper... and it's much better if you can turn them in to your landlord typed instead of scrawled out in illegible chicken scratch. In order to avoid future complications i.e.. Your landlord saying “You never told me that needed to be fixed, and now the kitchen's burned up! You are going to have to pay for the damages to your unit!” you'll want to make a copy of the repair request for yourself.

The Cleveland Tenant's Organization provides several form letters for tenants to turn in to their landlords. These are great examples of what the letter to your landlord should look like. Click here for the repair request sample.

It's very important to make sure that the request has the time and date on it. You might consider sending the request through mail to guarantee that it ends up in the right hands. In any case, the letter should be sent to the same address and person that you send your rent checks to.

If the landlord contacts you and says the repairs will be made on a certain date, you should follow up this agreement with a letter of confirmation. That way, you'll have the written promise for your records. Document exactly what the landlord said would be done and when this will take place. Then both you and the landlord should sign the letter. Like the request, give one copy of this letter to your landlord, and keep one for yourself.

Be reasonable in allowing the landlord time to make the repairs. Keep in mind that you are not your landlord's only tenant. Although it would be good customer service for the landlord to respond quickly to each repair request, there is usually about a thirty day period before minor repairs have to be made (depending on the laws in your state). Major repairs which directly endanger you or the other tenants in the rental community should be taken care of immediately - usually within three days (again, this depends on the laws in your state.)

If a reasonable amount of time has passed, and the landlord still has made no effort to make repairs, follow up with a written reminder to the landlord. The reminder should include the dates the first repair request was sent along with the dates and summaries of any other agreements the two of you made. If the landlord still does not attempt to fix the problem, you will have grounds to take this problem to small claims court or possibly to hire a handyman yourself and deduct the costs for repairs (usually up to $500.00) from your next month's rent. If you are confronted with an uncooperative landlord, it is best to seek an attorney, or to contact your local neighborhood association for advice on what you should do next. Whatever you do, make sure you keep the copies of every letter you sent to your landlord close by.

Also See:

Published: March 2, 2000

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.