Who is Responsible: Tenant or Owner?

A few words on tenants’ and owners’ responsibility in maintenance of the suites.

The Residential Renancy Act deems that painting, scuffing and so forth would be reasonable wear and tear, and therefore it is the landlord’s responsibility to paint the suites.

We’ve had some issues in the past where a tenant just moved out and there is some scuffing to the paint and the landlord is not wanting to repaint. However the landlord must repaint it and it is a cost that must be borne by him. Obviously if there is major abuse, the walls completely scratched, definite gouging, holes punched, then this would be a tenant’s responsibility. But normal wear and tear is the owner’s responsibility and they have to be prepared to have that expenditure –  probably every couple of years or times during a tenant turnaround. Not necessarily every wall in the suite, but the walls that get the most traffic.

Any maintenance issue, any heavy appliance, would be the owner’s responsibility unless we can prove that there is some damage by the tenant. Other exceptions are hair clogging drains, toilets with foreign objects in them.

We make sure that all these items are working, all the appliances are working, when the tenants move in. And should something happen, we will charge back to the tenant.