Renting a home -- apartment, condo, townhouse or single family -- is the first real estate transaction for many residents. About one third of residents in the U.S. are still tenants in a country dominated by homeownership at 67 percent.
The Deed of Lease lays out the responsibilities and rights of both the landlord and the tenant. Even though a landlord owns the property, some of his or her rights to the property are limited once the house is rented to another person. While he may have the right to enter the property as the owner, for instance, it's not at will. Most leases spell out how the landlord may gain access to the house.
In addition, the deed will list each party's responsibilities according to the agreement. Looking over the deed of lease in the Northern Virginia area is quite a task -- though an interesting one. Many of the paragraphs are similar to jurisdictions across the country. However, every state and locality's lease may differ, according to specific limits and requirements in the law.
The lease stipulates how the landlord and tenant are going to carry on their relationship. There are paragraphs for lease term, late payment and returned checks, failure to pay rent, appointment of resident agent by nonresident landlord - even a paragraph on truthfulness of the rental application (which is a separate document from the lease).
The tenant should pay close attention to two paragraphs in particular -- the Landlord Maintenance paragraph and the Tenant Obligations paragraph (though they may be named differently in your jurisdiction).
The Landlord Maintenance clause makes it clear that the landlord is to keep the property in good repair and "tenantable" condition. Pretty much that means keep the appliances working, plumbing flowing and electricity safe.
Equally important is the Tenant Obligations clause, which stipulates that while the landlord is there to keep the house tenantable, the tenant is supposed to take care of the daily routine stuff, such as: use appliances as directed; furnish and replace light bulbs; maintaining caulk around tubs and showers; and promptly reporting in writing any defects, damage or breakage.
If a tenant does the notification and the landlord doesn't fix it, there may be the opportunity for the tenant to institute the "repair and deduct" regulations in the state to repair the unit and deduct those repairs from the rent.
The way this usually plays out, according to www.FindLaw.com is thus: the law "permits the tenant to hire someone to make essential repairs and then to deduct the cost from the rent. In many places, state or local law covers only repairs that are required to keep the premises habitable, such as repair of a broken furnace or leaking roof.
"Local laws may place a maximum dollar amount that the tenant can spend on repairs. For example, a Chicago ordinance limits a tenant's repairs to $500. Some laws limit repair costs to one month's rent.
"However, in jurisdictions that have no explicit repair and deduct legislation and rely on the implied warranty of habitability, the right to use repair and deduct is limited only by the reasonableness of the repairs. A tenant may even be able to buy a new furnace and deduct the cost from the rent," according to the site's rent law section.
FindLaw.com and other tenant/landlord sites all point out that before the tenant goes out, paints the condo, and submits reduced rent payments to the landlord, he or she must first discuss the arrangement with the landlord and get written approval to do so.
I've approved reduction in rent before when a tenant would get something fixed that was necessary. It was usually in the under-$100 range. Nevertheless, the tenant would call first to see if it would be agreeable to authorize a repair and then the following months' rent would be less that amount.
If you're having issues with your landlord and the upkeep of the unit, always get things in writing. I have found it works best to first discuss the arrangement and then seal it with a letter of agreement between the tenant and the landlord. The written word provides you with evidence of the agreement and prevents misunderstandings.
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