A tenant texts you at 9 p.m. The bathroom faucet drips. Another one says the AC quit during a heat wave. A third swears the clogged drain was “already like that.” Who pays for each one?
If you own a rental, you’ve either argued about this already or you’re about to. It matters most for owners with a first rental, owners moving from self-managing to hiring help, and anyone who inherited a lease and a stack of vague promises. We’ll cover what landlords generally fix, what tenants fix, the gray areas that start fights, and how to keep small repairs from becoming legal problems.
Our company grew out of an owner who started investing in rentals back in 1998 and self-managed while working a full-time tech job. So the “I’ll get to it this weekend” problem isn’t theoretical to us.
“500 | properties managed ; 21 | years in business ; 24 hrs | non-emergency response ; 1 hr | emergency response”
In This Guide
The Short Version: Who Usually Pays for What
Here’s a quick cheat sheet. Your lease and the cause of the problem can change the answer, but this is the usual split.
| Issue | Who usually pays | Why |
|---|---|---|
| No heat or a failed water heater | Landlord | Basic habitability |
| Roof or window leak | Landlord | Weatherproofing is the owner’s job |
| Old plumbing that bursts or corrodes | Landlord | Age and normal wear |
| Electrical faults in the walls | Landlord | Building systems |
| Dead light bulbs | Tenant | Routine upkeep |
| Drain clogged by hair, grease or toys | Usually the tenant | Caused by use |
| Broken window from a tenant’s guest | Tenant | Damage, not wear |
| Smoke alarm testing and upkeep | Landlord, once the tenant reports a problem | State law assigns it |
| Yard care | Whatever the lease says | Spell it out in writing |
That last row is where most disputes begin. We’ll get there.
What the Landlord Owns
California has an implied warranty of habitability. In plain terms, you have to keep the home livable the whole time someone rents it, and that applies even if the lease says nothing about it.
The Big Systems
Think of anything that makes a house a house:
- Heating: A unit with no working heat is a habitability problem.
- Plumbing: Working water, working drains, no active leaks.
- Electrical: Safe wiring, working outlets and panels.
- Weatherproofing: Roof, windows, doors and walls that keep the weather out.
- Structure and safety: Working locks and security for doors and windows, plus anything code enforcement could flag.
If a system fails because it got old, that’s yours. Age isn’t the tenant’s fault.
Things You Promised in the Lease
If the lease lists a dishwasher or a garden service, you generally keep those working. California now counts a working stove and refrigerator as habitability items for leases entered into, amended or extended on or after January 1, 2026. A tenant can choose to supply their own fridge only under specific lease language, so check the details before you assume what you do or don’t owe.
Can a lease make the tenant waive your repair duties? Don’t count on it. California generally treats those waivers as void, so confirm the current rule with a qualified attorney before you lean on a clause.
What the Tenant Owns
Tenants have duties too. They’re expected to keep the home reasonably clean, use fixtures the way they’re meant to be used, and not damage the place.
A tenant generally covers:
- Damage they or their guests cause: A hole punched in a door or a shattered window is theirs.
- Routine upkeep: Light bulbs, keeping drains clear of obvious misuse, and cleaning the unit.
- Telling you about problems: A tenant who sits on a slow leak for three months makes the damage bigger and the dispute messier.
- Pet damage: If we allow pets at a property, which we decide case by case, damage beyond normal wear is the tenant’s cost.
Property damage and unauthorized pets show up near the top of the issues we see from tenants. Clear lease language and photo documentation settle most of these before they start.
The Gray Areas That Start Fights
Some repairs don’t fit in either column. These are the ones we’d put in writing at lease signing.
- Air conditioning: California law is clear about heat, but not about cooling. Tenants here expect working AC in summer anyway. Disputes spike in July and August.
- Drain clogs: Tree roots in the main line are the owner’s problem. A toddler’s toy in the toilet isn’t.
- Yards and landscaping: Say who mows, who trims and who pays for the sprinklers.
- Pests: It depends on cause. A building-wide infestation points to the owner. A mess left on the counter points to the tenant.
- Alarm batteries: State law makes the owner responsible for testing and maintaining smoke alarms in a rented unit, and the tenant has to report one that isn’t working. Carbon monoxide alarm rules are specific too, so confirm who installs, tests and replaces what.
Gray areas shrink when you write them down. A one-page maintenance addendum with named responsibilities costs you nothing and saves you the “I thought you were doing that” conversation.
Older Buildings and Summer Heat
A lot of homes in this part of Southern California were built long before modern building codes. That’s especially true in neighborhoods like Wilmington, San Pedro and parts of central Long Beach. Older plumbing, older wiring and older HVAC fail faster, and they may not meet today’s habitability expectations without regular upkeep.
So the baseline maintenance load is higher here. Budget for it before you buy.
Heat adds another layer. Hot summers mean HVAC service isn’t a luxury in practice, even where the law only requires heating. For service calls, our HVAC partner Rojas Air gets the call. An owner who services the system every spring pays a lot less than one who replaces it in the middle of a heat wave.
Local tenant protection rules matter too. If a tenant believes that neglect is retaliation or harassment, deferred maintenance can get tangled into that claim. That’s especially worth watching on older multi-family buildings. We’d check the current local rules with an attorney before you let anything sit.
Why “Just Let the Tenant Handle It” Backfires
Plenty of landlords strike an informal deal. The tenant fixes the little stuff and takes a small rent break, and everyone saves a phone call. We think that’s almost never worth it.
Here’s why. If an unlicensed repair causes water damage, an electrical fire or an injured guest, you may still be on the hook, and your insurance may not cover it.
Picture a tenant who patches a slow leak with a hardware store fitting. It holds for a month, then fails behind the wall. Now you have mold, a ruined cabinet and an argument about who was supposed to do what.
Compare that to calling a vetted vendor for a $150 repair. For plumbing, that’s a company like Mullen Plumbing. For electrical, Peak Voltage. For general handyman work, R3 Pros. One invoice, a documented fix, no liability question.
Cheap now can get expensive fast.
What Happens When a Landlord Stalls
Say a tenant sends a written complaint about a slow leak under the kitchen sink. You put off calling a plumber for six weeks. Meanwhile the tenant hires someone and deducts the bill from rent.
That’s California’s repair-and-deduct remedy at work, and you probably won’t get that rent back.
Repair-and-deduct and rent withholding have strict limits. They apply only to habitability problems the tenant didn’t cause, after proper notice and a reasonable wait. But if you ignore a real problem, your legal exposure can grow well beyond the repair bill. Check the current statute text for the specifics.
Entering the unit has rules as well. You generally need reasonable written notice before you come in to make repairs, except in an emergency. You can’t show up whenever it suits you.
Three habits keep you out of trouble:
- Acknowledge every request quickly, even if the fix takes a few days.
- Keep everything in writing, including dates and who did the work.
- Fix habitability issues first, and cosmetic ones second.
If you’re skimming landlord tips Long Beach California Reddit threads for advice on this, treat anything without a statute behind it as opinion. We say that as people who read those threads too.
Wear and Tear vs. Damage
This is where owners lose the most money, and often to themselves.
Say you install new carpet before a tenant moves in. Two years later, they move out and the carpet is visibly worn but not damaged. You can’t deduct the replacement cost from the security deposit. Carpet has a finite life, and normal wear is the owner’s cost to bear.
The same goes for faded paint, small nail holes and scuffs near the doors.
Damage is different. Burns, large stains, pet damage, holes in walls and broken fixtures are real deductions. California sets a deadline for returning a deposit or sending an itemized statement, so check the current statute and calendar it the day the tenant leaves.
Here’s our opinion, and we’ll stand by it. Wear-and-tear fights often cost owners more than the damage itself. Between a small claims appearance, your time and the risk of a bad-faith penalty if a judge decides you overreached, a $400 deduction can turn into a much bigger bill.
Take move-in and move-out photos, and only deduct for damage you can document. Anything else is a gamble you probably lose.
Section 8 and HUD Units Have Extra Rules
If you rent to a tenant with housing assistance, you answer to a second set of rules. HUD’s Housing Quality Standards inspections add specific maintenance expectations on top of state law.
Say an owner treats a Section 8 unit like a market-rate one and misses a loose window latch. The unit fails the inspection, the housing authority can withhold the housing assistance payments, and if the repair isn’t made within the cure period, those payments are abated. That’s a direct hit to cash flow over a $20 part.
We manage Section 8 and HUD properties alongside single-family homes, multi-family buildings, townhomes, condos and commercial space. Our maintenance vendors know the inspection checklist, and we use Zinspector for property inspections so issues get logged with photos before they become failed inspections.
How We Handle Maintenance Day to Day
We’re a boutique firm, but we manage about 500 properties for 175 owners. That works only if the process is simple.
Sussy Espinoza, our Maintenance Coordinator, handles incoming requests. Tenants can reach us by portal, email, phone or text, and everything gets tracked in AppFolio so nothing disappears into someone’s inbox. Our average response time is 24 hours for non-emergency requests and one hour for emergencies.
One tenant described it this way:
An owner who has worked with us for about four years put it differently:
Small repairs handled fast keep a property in shape. That’s the whole idea.
Our management fee averages around 5.9% of collected income, and the exact number depends on the property type. A big piece of what owners pay for is not having to be the person who answers the 9 p.m. faucet text. If you’re comparing the best property management companies in Long Beach, CA, ask each one for response times and who actually coordinates repairs.
Our average rent runs about $2,000 a month, so a vacant unit or a failed inspection costs real money quickly. If you’re pricing out the cost of rent in Long Beach against what a repair program costs, run the numbers both ways.
For owners who want free landlord tips Long Beach California specific, ask us anything. And if you’re weighing property management Long Beach options because maintenance has become a second job, we’re open to a conversation.
FAQ
Who pays for AC repair in a rental?
California law clearly requires heat, but it doesn’t spell out cooling the same way. Many owners cover AC repairs anyway, especially if the lease lists air conditioning as a feature. Put it in the lease so there’s no argument in July.
Can a tenant fix something and deduct it from rent?
Only in limited cases. It applies to habitability problems the tenant didn’t cause, after notice to the landlord and a reasonable wait, and the remedy has statutory limits. Check the current statute before you decide to accept or contest a deduction.
Can I make the tenant responsible for all repairs in the lease?
Not for habitability. California generally treats waivers of the landlord’s repair duties as void. You can assign routine tasks like yard care or bulbs, but get an attorney to review the wording.
Can I deduct for worn paint or old carpet from the deposit?
No. Normal wear and tear isn’t deductible. You can deduct for damage beyond normal wear, and only with documentation like move-in and move-out photos.
How much notice do I need to enter for a repair?
California generally requires reasonable written notice before a landlord enters, except in an emergency. Don’t skip it, even for a quick fix.