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Rental appliance repairs are one of those decisions you never actually make. You just get ambushed by it. The refrigerator quits at nine o’clock on a Friday night. The dishwasher waters the floor instead of the dishes. The washer starts walking across the laundry room like it owes somebody money. And there you are, phone in hand, wondering what your policy actually is.
That was me with our very first rental. We inherited the original appliances from the previous owner. They were white, which was very early 2000s, and they were cheap, but they did the job. Right up until the refrigerator didn’t. I freaked out a little, because I could not tell you whether that was our problem or the tenant’s, and I honestly did not know what our lease said about it either.
Here is what I wish somebody had told me sooner. You have more than one option. Landlords handle appliances about five different ways, and most of us never look at four of them.
We start by breaking appliances into three tiers, because what tier something falls into changes everything that comes after. Then I get to the rule that hangs over the first two tiers, which is refreshingly simple and catches a surprising number of landlords off guard. Kevin follows with the legal piece, kept deliberately short, because your answer depends entirely on where your rental sits and not on what works for us in California. He gives you a twenty-minute homework assignment that will settle it for your own market.
Then Kevin gets into tenant-provided appliances, which is the option people ask us about the most and handle the worst. There are four things to put in writing before that appliance comes through the door, and the third one is the one nobody thinks of until two in the morning when it becomes very expensive.
I come back with the line that decides most repair calls, which is normal wear and tear versus tenant misuse, and more importantly how you prove which one you are looking at. I read you the actual exceptions in our lease addendum. I also answer a follower who wrote in asking how to word an addendum for the washer and dryer she provides, including whether a short warranty window is worth offering.
Kevin closes with all five options laid out side by side, told honestly, including how each one fails. One of them looks like it saves you money and quietly costs you more. Another one only works on certain appliances and will not save you at all on the ones that matter.
By the end you will know which of the five you are actually running right now, which is more than most landlords can say.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
- The three tiers of rental appliances, and why the tier decides the answer
- Why appliance decisions are a comps question, not a national one
- How every appliance is a marketing asset and a maintenance liability at the same time
- The one rule that hangs over your kitchen core and your expected extras
- Why a lease that is silent about appliances never works in your favor
- The implied warranty of habitability, in plain English
- A twenty-minute homework assignment that settles your state’s rule
- Why a lease clause pushing habitability repairs onto a tenant will not hold up
- The four things to put in writing before a tenant’s appliance comes through the door
- The tenant-supplied clause that turns a repair into a water damage claim
- How to prove tenant misuse instead of just deciding it was their fault
- The exceptions we spell out in our own lease addendum
- How to word an addendum for a washer and dryer you provide
- All five options for handling appliance repairs, and how each one fails
- Why the repair deductible can cost you more than it saves
- When to repair, when to replace, and the one time you ignore the math
Key Takeaways
1. Rental Appliance Repairs Start With One Simple Rule
If you provided it, you maintain it. That covers the stove, oven, and refrigerator, and it covers the dishwasher, built-in microwave, and garbage disposal too. If it was sitting in that kitchen when your tenant walked through on move-in day, it is part of what they agreed to rent. It got priced into the rent whether you thought about it that way or not. So when it dies of old age, that is your bill.
2. A Silent Lease Is Not a Win
The mistake we see most often is a lease that says nothing about appliances at all, and a landlord who assumes silence means it is the tenant’s problem. Silence almost never works in your favor. When your lease does not take a position, the default fills the gap, and the default is that whatever you handed over working, you keep working. Therefore, if you want a different arrangement, you have to write it down. And it has to be legal where your property sits.
3. What You Include Is a Comps Question
I cannot give you a national statistic on what percentage of rentals include a washer and dryer, and I am not going to make one up. But you do not need a national number, because this is a local decision. Pull ten active listings in your neighborhood, at your price point, in your property type. Whatever eight of them are doing is your market standard. Furthermore, remember that every appliance you add is both a marketing asset and a maintenance liability, so decide on purpose rather than by accident.
4. Tenant-Provided Appliances Need Four Clauses, Not One
Most landlords write down the easy one, which is that repairs are the tenant’s problem. Then they stop. You actually need four. Ownership, so it is clear the appliance belongs to the tenant. Repairs, which is the obvious one. Damage the appliance causes, because a washer hose that lets go at two in the morning is not an appliance repair anymore, it is a water damage claim, and this is why renters insurance matters so much here. And move-out, because otherwise that appliance gets abandoned in your garage and becomes your disposal problem.
5. Wear and Tear Is Yours, Misuse Is Theirs, But You Have to Prove It
A compressor that dies at year twelve is a lifespan problem, not a tenant problem. Misuse, abuse, and neglect are a different story. However, you do not get to decide it was their fault simply because you do not want the bill. Your evidence is your repair tech, who can tell you flat out whether that drum failed on its own or whether the washer has been loaded like a clown car for two years. Get it in writing on the invoice, because that is what makes this a conversation instead of a fight.
6. There Are Five Options, and Each One Fails Differently
You can supply and cover everything, which is the most common approach and what we do. You can use an as-is clause, which genuinely works on non-essentials and will not save you at all on a stove or refrigerator where those are habitability items. You can use a repair deductible, which stops the light bulb calls and also stops the calls you actually want. You can charge an appliance amenity fee, provided that is permitted where you operate. Or you can go tenant-supplied, which costs you the least and narrows your applicant pool the most. Most importantly, pick one on purpose and write it into your lease.
Links & References Mentioned in This Episode
Episode 128: AI Is Your New Business Partner, how to use AI to search your own lease
Episode 131: Landlord vs Tenant Maintenance Responsibilities, who handles what
Episode 137: Emergency Maintenance vs Routine Repairs, what is urgent and what can wait
CPSC Recall List: The federal recall database, worth checking against your appliance model numbers
EZ Landlord Forms: State-specific lease documents, notices, and addendums
TurboTenant: Great landlord management software for newer landlords
DoorLoop: The landlord management software we recommend for larger portfolios
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Legal Disclaimer: Nothing in this episode constitutes personalized legal or financial advice. Always consult a licensed real estate attorney or CPA for guidance specific to your state, city, and situation.