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Last page edit 12/17/07
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Working
For Justice In Housing MAKING
REPAIRS OR IMPROVEMENTS TO A LANDLORD’S PROPERTY A
golden rule is that a tenant should not make improvements or repairs to a
landlord’s property without the permission of the landlord.
Such permission should be in writing.
A tenant should not dispose of a landlord’s property without
receiving written permission. There
are numerous instances where tenants may ask a landlord if they can get
rid of old wall-to-wall carpeting or of an old refrigerator, no longer
working properly, in order to replace it with a new refrigerator owned by
the tenant. Permission is
given orally only to be denied at the end of the tenancy. A
tenant may have had a furnace problem on a weekend, had it fixed and wants
to deduct it from the rent. The
landlord refuses to be responsible for the repair and takes the tenant to
Rent Court, where the tenant will have a hard time because there is no law
giving the tenant the right to make a repair and to deduct it from the
rent--even in an emergency (the tenant may have a case for Small Claims
Court, depending on the circumstances). Strange
as it seems, some tenants despairing of any action by the landlord,
actually make hundreds of dollars of repairs and improvements to a
landlord=s property without permission or written promise of being
recompensed for the repairs. Then
the tenant decides to leave or has a dispute with the landlord who refuses
to renew the lease. The
tenant now wants to be recompensed for labor and expenses but has not real
claim on the landlord (If one has a year's lease and the apartment needs
painting, it may well be worth the tenant’s expense and labor to paint
the apartment with the same color paint--preferably with the landlord’s
permission--but it is not wise to do more than will be used up in a year). Many
tenants want to know if they make certain improvements to the property can
they take the improvements with them when they leave. The
general principle is that if the improvement becomes an integral part of
the property, then the tenant must leave the improvement.
Thus, if a tenant replaces glass in a window, uses his nails to
repair loose steps, etc., the improvements should be left.
On the other hand, if the improvements, even if attached to the
premises, can be removed without serious damage to the premises, then the
improvements may be removed--such as the bookshelves, wall-to-wall
carpeting, shrubbery, etc. Such
removal should occur before the tenant surrenders the property.
Finally,
both tenants and landlords should be very careful about oral agreements
for tenants to make repairs in lieu of rent or for reduced rent.
There should be a careful written agreement as to how much is to be
done; by when it is to be done; how much effort is to be expended--for
example, one coat of paint or two coats; the quality of the supplies and
who is to pay for them, etc., and what are the terms of the tenancy when
the work has been done. Click here to see what Maryland law says about this issue Legally Reviewed - BNI. Last Update - March 2001 |
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