Who is responsible for rental property maintenance? Is it the landlord or the tenant, or both? This is an easy question with an easy answer. Both landlords and tenants are responsible. Landlords and tenants share responsibility for maintaining the rental property. But for what maintenance?

In Virginia, there are multiple laws that set forth maintenance requirements for residential rental properties. The primary law is the Virginia Residential Landlord Tenant Act. Being the “primary law” means there are others, so don’t just reference the VRLTA. Per law, landlords are required to maintain the property in a “fit and habitable” condition. This standard includes consideration of material condition, working order of systems (e.g., HVAC, water heater, utility components like wiring and pipes, etc), appliances, mold risk mitigation, building codes), and other items.

What about the tenants? What are the tenants’ requirements for maintaining the rental property? Tenants are required to do much the same as the landlord with specific legal requirements for keeping the property clean and safe, refraining from damaging or removing items, being responsible for the conduct of animals and people on the property, mold risk mitigation, refraining from defacing the property, adhering to HOA/Condo association rules, and more.

There are more requirements noted in the laws. Additional maintenance requirements can be addressed in the lease for the landlord and for the tenant, provided that doing so complies with Virginia law. Consult with your property manager, or agent, to understand details of who is responsible for rental property maintenance.

The landlord and the tenant typically pay for the maintenance services they provide, yet there can be exceptions and this may also be delineated in the lease.

The following video presentation provides more details about rental property maintenance. Take a look. There are multiple education posts on our Good Info To Know blog page, too, at https://veteranrealty.us/good-info-to-know/