Who does the lease say is responsible for plumbing problems/issues?

Tell the the door hasn't closed in X years. It was that way when they rented the house.

I would not go change their light bulbs. ;)

I think you are out of the dough. If it were me I would send the "Barbie's" a nice certified letter on expected responsibilities while renting and add what the landlord's responsibilities are. Note that the reason for the slow draining was theirs but you will let it slide this time. I would also add that in the future an in-depth inspection will be done to determine who is responsible for repair costs in the dwelling while they are renting.

I would nip this in the bud now.

Yeah, but this was a hairball on top of the drain :( :P

These sound like young girls in their first apartment. I don't remember all the facts, but did you decide on these tenants or did you "inherit" them when you bought the property?
At any rate, I think you need to have talk with them. You will pay this time, but not in the future if it is from their neglect. (i.e.common sense things like making sure the drain is cleaned out, as well cleaning the lint trap in the drier.)
Looks like you will be "babysitting" for the duration. Do they have a lease. (We don't for our residential properties, only for the commercial properties) Leases only protect the tenants.
It is not easy to get good tenants, and we have had a few that were kindly escorted out. But, for the most part, when interviewing tenants, we set the ground rules up front and if they don't agree, this is not the place or them.
That said, we had three college students, that surprisingly were excellent tenants. But we only rented to them under the condition that one of the parents was a liason and collected the rent so we got it each month.
Good luck!

ugh! It sounds like you have high maintenance tenants. You asked "shouldn't *they* have done this themselves?" No, that's why they're renting - the landlord takes care of it. It would have been nice if they did check the drain but don't expect it. They should be responsible to change the light bulbs in their apt though. (I got THAT request once but those tenants didn't call me about the "rat" that lived in their stove - in which they would dutifully feed him. It was actually a mouse but still..)

I now have only 4 rentals - a really nice place where both tenants whipped out their wet vacs to clean up the basement after the boiler let go. Then one of them fixed the boiler (it was only a dried out gasket and he had a replacement in his tool box.) The other tenant called to "just let me know what's happening" but they had everything under control.

My other rental has college students - great money but a lot of work. Today I had the plumber unclogged a toilet. He pulled out a wad of paper towels. He said he couldn't find ANY toilet paper in the place! Who would have thought that I would have to put on the lease - "no paper towels in the toilet!"

I have a provision in my lease that states "There will be a minimum charge of $50 if a maintenance person is called to unclog a sink, garbage disposal, or toilet, if it is presumed to be caused by tenant’s misuse." I normally will give them a free ride for the 1st time but enforce it the 2nd time. (I know, I'm too nice) IMO excessive hair is not miss-use.

Normally I or DH will investigate and try to fix the problem before we call a professional.

With the door - I would fix it but it may not be to their satisfaction. Worst case I would get the cheapest door ($10) and put it in. Good luck!

I think you will do better if you handle it in a more personal way. From what you have posted about them, they sound young and ignorant, so I would nicely explain why they need to periodically remove hair in the drains but that this time, you will pay the bill, but not next time.

If they think that they will be charged for something, the likelihood is that they will try and fix things in a way you might not like at all but you should be available to provide guidance if necessary. Develop a camaraderie with them.

I would come up with a list of very basic maintenance they need to do and show them how.

How to plunge a toilet (provide a plunger), how and when to change the lint trap in the dryer, uhmmm, there's probably more basic things that are escaping me but that's the drift.

We have had some smart college students ( chemical engineering majors) not know about the dryer lint trap.
Dh removed lint 6" thick...

They are nice, and responsible, but I think it may be the first time they have lived away from home or not on a campus. They are probably worried about being blamed for causing some damage or something.

Next time I will check out any issue before I jump right to calling in a professional.

Other things to show the tenants

1. how to start a garbage disposal - 1st with the reset button and 2nd with the key

2. How to use a plunger

3. What is an "off" circuit breaker and how to turn it on

4. Where the emergency gas or oil switch is located for the furnace and to always keep it "on". Check this 1st when there's no heat.

5. How to change the dryer lint trap

6. How to use the thermostat

7. How to verify the water boiler is on and if not, how to turn it on

8. Don't leave clothes in the washer for more than a day - otherwise it will start to smell

9. Show them how to operate the stove, dishwasher and any other appliance or electric machine. Send them the links to the manuals.

10. show them how to operate the windows.

11. Show them where the trash and recycles go, the list the town recycles and how and when they bring them to the curb and bring back to the house.

Oh, I'm probably forgetting a few more but these are my big ones.

Even things like a dishwasher, yikes, dh had never had one before we built our house here and he put liquid dish soap in the dispenser the first week. It was in our downstairs kitchen and I came down the steps and thought, "why is there a white blanket on the floor?" for a second before I realized the whole floor was covered in a foot of suds.
No damage though!

I ditto what Bumblebeez said. I like the idea of being more personable with them - they may be very receptive to learning how to do simple everyday preventive maintenance.

Also, remind them if their shower/tub drain starts running slow, to check for hair build-up. It's likely to happen with three gals.

In DD's college days, she shared an apartment with a friend who had extremely long, curly hair which clogged the tub drain frequently. They thought it was the GROSSEST job in the world to clean that drain and loved my visits so I would unclog it for them. Actually it is gross! A long pair of tweezers works great.

Also, be prepared for slow running bathroom sink drains and I say that from personal experience. Girls always comb, blow dry, and style their hair over the sink because that's where the mirror is - thus a lot of hair will go down that drain also (along with toothpaste and other gross stuff). DH has to help me with that one because the stopper thingy has to be disconnedted under the sink.

I have never experienced a washer drain being hair clogged in my 42 years of housekeeping. First time for everything.

Have fun with your Barbies "Uncle Pal".!

Tuesday

pal, are you a mushy guy? I am much more hard edged were money is concerned. I start out nice, give people a chance and explain why. That way if they take the "piss" and I have to drop the net I'm in good conscience because I gave warning. My husband is a mush, I'm very comforable being the bad guy.

I think you have to take it for what it is, two young girls who don't know anything about home maintenance and are going to come running to you for these things. Hopefully you live close enough so it's not going to be a huge deal to go over there but I just think you need to go over in future and see whether there is really a problem or something obvious like this, even if that means plunging a drain or toilet yourself.

If they are real girly girls they probably aren't going to plunge a toilet or unblock a drain etc and are going to expect you to do it, but at least it's only for a year :)

As written in the lease agreement, our tenants are always responsible for the first $50.00 of any service call. It places a bit of the responsibility on them to care for things.

yes, afraid it comes with the territory...sorry, pal. My DH once drove 30 miles on a Sunday to unclog a toilet, taking much verbal abuse from the tenant, when voila! Up comes the culprit: his toddlers toy.
FWIW, with rare exceptions, we rent none of our homes to young singles. Hang in for one year and then think of the fun you'll have! Can't wait to see.

There are lots of strainers on the market for sinks, tubs and garbage disposals. They are cheap and will work if the girls will remember to use them.

As for dryer lint, it should be changed with EVERY LOAD. If not, could be a great fire danger and will slow drying time - Cha-ching........

Do they have renter's insurance?

Here is a link that might be useful: Sink and Tub Strainers

We have a property management company which charges us 10% of the monthly rent ($900 rent; we get $810). They find and screen the tenants, and will evict them if necessary. We've gone over to do a few things (once a year approximately), but mostly cashing the checks is our biggest responsibility so far in 4 years of renting out a house we couldn't sell. Probably we're in landlord heaven and don't know what's waiting for us when these folks move next year.

BostonPam knows her stuff! Listen to her.

You might want to make up little 3x5 cards to post above W/D.

Or a typed list of that stuff posted inside the laundry room door in a frame.

We rented a condo once (PA) between houses from an elderly couple in FL. They weren't available to do anything. We managed. Oh, and they absolutely would not let me paint over all the white walls with little hearts stenciled along the top.

As others have said, this sounds typical. And Pal, I have to say it surprises me if you find this surprising. After these tenants demanded not only that the newly painted walls be repainted but that they be allowed to pick specific (non-neutral) colors, and after you did it for them...I think a reasonable person would have concluded they were going to be picky tenants. And I think they had good reason to conclude you would be an easily-handled landlord!

And, I'd advise being VERY careful about requesting or expecting renters to do maintenance or repairs. Frankly, a renter does not have any skin in the game, and if in trying to fix something they break it, or damage it worse, it's really only your problem not theirs. Agree with the advice from others in this topic that you're going to be dealing with this kind of issue for the length of their tenancy.

My neighbor has a rental that he usually has filled with college students. He told me *he* pays for house cleaning there every 2 weeks. Says it's the cheapest quality insurance he has ever had; it keeps the house in reasonably good condition (you could ask that the cleaner check drains if you like :) and it also lets him keep a set of eyes on the property on a regular basis.

It does come with the territory. That's why we hired someone to manage our basement apartment back when we were renting it out.Best 10%/month of the rent I ever spent. He got those calls, not us. He also screened renters and rented the apartment out. We rented that apartment for four years and we had nary a difficulty. We'd still be renting it if I had my way--but The Husband likes using it as his office. (I call it "The Lair".)

We only rented to grad/professional students--so we were dealing with people who'd been out of the dorms for awhile...and we ended up with two sets of young men over the course of the four years. Dental students the first year, a law student and a teacher the rest of the time.

Best of luck! And look into hiring a property manager if you can afford the 10%/month. It really IS worth it! Unless...perhaps the fees are higher in NYC?

Sounds like since this is your first time as a landlord, and their first time to rent, it's going to be a learning experience for both sides. I agree, showing them the basics will probably help in regards to normal maintenance issues and hopefully that will cut down the calls some.

That said though, these girls are probably just used to living in a home where everything was well maintained by Mom & Dad so their expectations are much higher than what is realistic for an older rental property. I think it's great that you want to be fair with them Pal, but in regards to the door, it would seem that they are taking advantage of your good graces. I'd fix the door but I'd also let them know that moving forward no other minor repairs like that will be made because it is after all rental and not Mom & Dads home. I suspect that if you don't nip it in the butt now, the calls will keep coming.

I agree with other posters, make it clear what is your responsibility and what is theirs. Get it in writing and have them sign it. My brothers had a true nightmare of a renter who ended up completely trashing a new house they built and they were out all the money to fix it. Laws are out there but to be enforced you have to pay a lot of money to a lawyer for uncertain results in court. Protect yourself as much as possible. I don't want to be a downer, but you can really be out a lot if you have nightmare tenant, they just sound like they don't know how to take care of things, not willfully destroying thing. I agree, pay the bill but nip it in the bud.

Pal, you might want to stock up on Zip-It drain cleaning sticks. It's a thin plastic with barbs sticking out. You slide it down the drain and then pull it up with hair caught on the barbs.

Here is a link that might be useful: Zip-It

Not a landlord, but I've rented most of my adult life.

Honestly, I don't think either request was out of line for a tenant. Here's my take on both.

The hair ball in the sink. How long have these women been in the house? Isn't it about a month? It's perfectly possible that the bulk of the hair was deposited by the previous occupants and not the current tenants. If this is a utility sink in the basement, I doubt the young women are washing their hair there. On the other hand, if it's the kitchen sink or the bathroom sink, then maybe they are. But given that the problem could have been caused by the previous occupants, I don't think it's fair to bill them.

Now, it might be the kind of thing they could have found out for themselves, if they knew anything about how washers drain into the household plumbing. But it's also the sort of thing that is perfectly fair for tenants to call a landlord about.

I agree with PPs that you can go over the cause of the blockage and tell them that this is easily preventable. And that if it happens again, they will pay the plumber's bill. That's fair--now that you both know the cause.

The door. I've never checked to see if doors close properly in an apartment I'm renting. Doors closing and latching is just something I think a tenant has a right to expect, just as the stove and fridge should work, electrical outlets should work, water should flow from all faucets. The exception would be if the tenant was informed ahead of time, before signing the lease, that the door did not function as expected.

This is a group of three young women living together. Privacy might be an issue. Light and sound control might be an issue. The fact that another room, occupied by a different person, doesn't have a door isn't the same thing--because it is on a floor by itself and the privacy and light and sound issues are not the same.

Now, if the door closes and latches, but doesn't lock--that's a separate matter. Pal could have a lock installed--because it's probably a good idea for Pal to have control over the installation instead of letting the young women do it. But the tenant can be informed ahead of time that she will be paying for the lock and the installation. Then she can choose what to do.

I rented a two-bedroom with a roommate once and neither bedroom door closed properly--there was some weird kind of latch I'd never seen before and the latches were broken on both doors. As a result, the doors didn't close all the way, but stayed open a few inches, unless you pushed something up against the door to hold it closed. We requested that the doors be made to close before signing the lease, and it was agreed to by the management company, and we kept bugging them until they jury-rigged a solution. One of the bedrooms was right off the living room and it was impossible for one person to be using the living room while the other tried to sleep, because of the light coming in.

Tenants have the right to ask for things like carpet to be changed, and landlords have the right to say no. Things like lightbulbs--yes, they can ask, and all Pal has to do is inform them that lightbulbs are the tenants' responsibility.

If you want your tenants to unclog toilets, you should provide them with a plunger and make sure they know how to use it. I wouldn't hesitate to call a landlord over that, in theory. However, in reality, it's much faster and easier to plunge the toilet myself, so I do. With blocked drains, I'll try the Zip-it tool, or boiling water and if those don't work, I call the landlord. I don't mind doing simple things to get something to work, but I'm paying rent partly so that I am not responsible for all the maintenance on the place.

I'm sorry if this comes across as critical of Pal. I don't mean to be. Based on what I read here, Pal is a responsible person and will be a responsible landlord. But landlords do have to deal with tenants who don't know how things work and who do want repairs made.

It's important to know the law for your area and what you are and aren't responsible for fixing and what the time limits are and what the penalties are. If something isn't covered by the law, then you have to determine what you are willing to do. You can always say, "That's your responsibility." Or, if something was clearly the tenant's fault, you can tell them they are responsible for the repair bill. Nearly every lease I've ever signed has a clause that tenants are responsible for the damage they cause, even if the landlord fixes it.

We have been landlords for many years.
I would not have changed the carpet. They rent as is. They don't like it, too bad.

I have fresh paint on the wall before the tenant shows up. I do not allow them to paint once they are in. They can only pay to have a professional paint so that trim and floors are protected. This is harsh but sorry!

We always investigate first before calling the plumber/electrician. We are in it to break even and make a little money. We can't afford to call the plumber everytime something happens. We nearly always fix everything ourselves (actually DH does).

Regarding the hairball: I think camlan is right.

He is also right about the landlords responsibilities. There are many and you need to know them. You have the responsibility to fix things "quickly" or make best effort.

I also don't pay for painting other than a neutral color. I also do not allow them to paint once they are in. They can only pay to have a professional paint so that trim and floors are protected. This is harsh but sorry!

We do not allow them to anything for trade of money etc. I have had people that have asked to do things in lieu of reduced rent. It's always no. I have no idea what their qualifications are. I will chose to do the upgrade as I see fit.

Much of what you end up is that you "suck it up" as you say. You can't charge for this one. But here on out, go talk to them, let them know what the expectations are,nget it in writing, then you can charge if they fail to act on their part.

I can guarndamntee that they are flushing things that shouldn't be flushed....expect a backup. Nothing much more fun then a plumber pulling out tampons and sanitary napkins and telling me that " these things should not be flushed down the toilet".....

This has happened in each rental that we have owned.

We consider it part of the business. does not go towards their security deposit, although we do remember the hassle and the expense if they leave the house in bad shape.

ML

I am not upset about any of this, just curious.

The junk, which was lint and hair was in the strainer in the sink I AM kind of surprised they did not look at the strainer and see that it was full of stuff.It was not in the drain or the pipe. And yes this happened after they moved in because the strainer was clear and the trap was taken off and pipe snaked prior to closing and checked at closing and then not used.

The door sticks. Because it sticks it does not latch fully, or lock unless you really push hard. But it closes and it stays closed. I think it can be planed to work better, but I also think the entire jamb is a bit "out" because the house has settled.

I guess its just because I would have made sure there was nothing obvious plugging the sink before I assumed a bigger problem. And this glob sitting on top of the drain was pretty obvious. The other thing is this is the house with that Horrible Salvador-Dali inspired bathroom and they seem to think that is perfectly fine.

As the parent of a college student who is renting a house with others, I think what you are experiencing is pretty typical. But since you bought this house to eventually be your residence, I think you have a more personal vested interest in keeping it up vs if it were to always be an income property.

To address some of the areas you noted:

I think that some people are more comfortable having the bedroom door closed. These renters are not a family; they each may have needs for privacy. They may need it for quietness for online tests, I think that it is reasonable for a bedroom door to close and be lockable if desired. Some people would want to be able to lock their bedroom door at night, so if their roommates have male guests over, they feel they are safer. We live in a harsh world.

As to the maintenance issues, even though my child's housemates all paid utilities, do you think they spent $4 on a furnace filter. Not. They figured it was the landlord's responsibility, even if a dirty filter would make their electric bill higher!

So I guess I am saying that realistically you may want to do a site visit every 6 weeks or so and change the furnace filter, plunge the sinks, check for pests and set traps or spray if necessary. You will want to make sure the hose is disconnected before you get a hard freeze, and you also may want to make sure they have a snow shovel around.

I agree with the others about not wanting the renters to do any repairs themselves.

And yes, get them those drain hair things to pull the hair out of the drain.
And tell them specifically that only #1, #2 and TP go into the toilets. (not kleenex or any type of cleaning wipe or paper towel) If they are from a newer area or different area of the country, they may have not had issues. So just be clear. Make sure they know that by engineering design, kleenex is designed NOT to dissolve when wet.

But generally I do think they will be fine.