A.D. Cantelmo Property Management
Our Business is Property Management in Orange County California
My Tenant wants to do some work on the home
Many Tenants are very handy and they want to make the home
they rent more comfortable for them to live in, or they don't mind doing small repairs so not to bother the Landlord. The dilemma for many Landlords
is not only, is the work necessary, but who pays and who does the work. There is
nothing better for a Landlord then a Tenant who never complains and never calls
for repairs. Many of those Tenants are
able to do minor repairs themselves, but as a Landlord should you be OK with
that.
Tenants should not work on the home
The quick answer to the question is no, a Landlord needs to
be very careful about a Tenant doing work on a rental property for many
reasons. First, they may not know what they are doing and that could create
more damage. The next problem is the Tenant may get injured while working on
the property and that can create liability for the Landlord. The third problem
is that it is just not good business to have a Tenant become a default employee
by working on your home.
Any work done on the property, should be done by workers
that the Landlord has hired and that the Landlord has vetted for work
experience and liability insurance. If a Landlord allows a Tenant to work on
the property, a relationship is being created between the Landlord and the
Tenant that may become messy.
My Tenant is a contractor
If a Tenant is a professional and does construction for a
living, then the same vetting needs to be done by the Landlord that they would
do if they were hiring an outside contractor. Also, if you do decide to hire your
Tenant to do work on the home, a contract for the work to be done needs to be
created just as you would if you are using someone else. It is very important
that everything that is being done to the property and the money issues need to
be spelled out in the contract.
Even if your Tenant is a contractor, it is still not such a great idea
to let them work on the property. As a contractor myself, I have found that relationships
between contractor and homeowner can go south very quickly and if your
contractor is your Tenant, it is much harder to fire them, since they live in
the home.
My Tenant wants to do work on the home at their expense
If a Tenant wants something done to the property and they
are willing to pay for it, you need to make sure that, again you have a
contract that spells out what is being done and that the Tenant understands that
they are doing the work for their benefit. The contract also needs to spell out, that when the Tenant leaves the property,
they either have to put the property back the way it was, or they will leave
the property with the improvements, understanding that there will be no
compensation and they have no problem for the Landlord to benefit from the
improvement. Also, as a Landlord you need to again vette any workers on the
home, even if the Tenant is paying the bill. Remember, it is your home and your
responsibility.
All things being equal, it is better to keep tour Tenants,
just that, Tenants and hire outside vendors to do your repairs. If you keep it
separate, you will avoid the possibility of complications and every Landlord
understands, keeping things simple is a good way to do business.
A.D. Cantelmo Property
Management Specializes in Property Management in Orange County
Ca.