lease? Also, if you have a sprinkler system, you need to consider who will hold the responsibility for taking care of it, and then stipulate this in your lease. • Light bulbs. This might seem insignificant, but tenants should hold responsibility for maintaining/ updating lightbulbs, as necessary. But for you to carry this out, it needs to be in the lease. • Phone/Internet. Avoid potential disputes regarding phone and Internet expectations by clearly stating the terms in your lease. If you don’t have a landline hookup, then say so, and be sure the tenant agrees. If you will not provide Internet access, or guarantee high-speed Internet, say so. It’s as simple as that. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Protect yourself. And your best protection is your lease, so make sure it’s thorough and covers all these areas. • Drain stoppage. If the tenant plugs up the toilet, are they responsible for addressing the situation, or are you responsible for addressing and fixing the issue? Put it in the lease! • AC filter. Who’s responsible for maintaining the air- conditioning filter and changing it regularly? Is it you or the tenant? Put it in the lease! • Lock-out charge. If you don’t include this area in your lease, then you’ll be getting keys for tenants whenever they accidentally lock themselves out, as well as allowing yourself to be disrupted at any hour to let the tenant back inside. Because this happens, and most landlords don’t want to be bothered at 2 a.m. with “Please let me back in!” requests, they charge a lock-out fee of anywhere from $50 to $100 to help a locked-out tenant.
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