Apartments for rent, repairs and mattresses

Josefa and MJose are tenant and landlady. And both have doubts about who should repair the things that break in a flat for rent. Here we resolve them. Check out.

The repairs of boilers, blinds, furniture, appliances ... in apartments for rent bring head home and tenants. In the Community we received many questions about this, such as Josefa and MJose, who share their names and doubts about their rights and obligations when it comes to fixing something in a rental apartment. Here are the answers

About repairs
repairs

Josefa, tenant, asks La Comunidad: Is it legal for the landlord to put the tenant that everything that is damaged by use (heater, kitchen, windows, etc ...) must be done by the tenant? If not, is it reportable?

No, it's not legal. The tenant only has to pay for the small repairs and the ones that he has to do because he has done for bad use of the house, its facilities and appliances, that is, if he breaks something he must repair it. Everything else corresponds to the landlord.

But let's clarify more: the landlord has to make and pay all the repairs of conservation of the house that are necessary to maintain their habitability except in two cases: that it was the tenant or his guests or subtenants who caused the damage or who is of a 'small' repair derived from wear and tear due to the ordinary use of the house.

Is not it clear to you? Take a look at the graphic made by Amparo BB, homemade and expert from La Comunidad:

Repairs apartments for rent

Do you want to take a look at some cases that came to court? Press here.

About mattresses
mattresses on floor for rent

MJose, a landlady, asks La Comunidad: "I have a tenant who has lived in the house for more than 10 years and now he tells me that the mattress is for change. He tells me to pay for it. Should I pay him? "

It is a more complex issue because if the landlord rented the furnished apartment, he must make a mattress maintenance and that implies his change, although ... the tenant has lived on the floor for more than 10 years and it is he who has worn out the mattress. If the tenant is a good tenant, I would be inclined to change the mattress for a new one, but making him see that the obligation of the landlord to do it in this case is not clear.

If we take the courts we see that there is a case in which the tenant had to replace a mattress. In the judgment of the Provincial Court (AP) of Santa Cruz de Tenerife of March 29, 2004, the tenant had to take charge of: the repair of a door and the replacement of a gas heater, a mattress, a glass and a box spring.

Do you want to see other cases of small repairs that came to court and that the tenant had to pay? There they go:

- The repair of the cistern of a toilet, but not the humidity and the tiles that move (SAP Lleida of April 23, 1999).

- The repair of the sink siphon and the satellite dish (SAP Alicante of March 7, 2001).

- The rupture of a pipe, given that it was produced by the daily and continuous use of it (SAP Murcia of March 18, 2002).

- The repair of the breakdown of a thermos in the rented house (SAP Valencia of February 15, 2003.

- The repair of the glass of the main facade and the glass of the two-leaf glass that gives access to the living-dining room from the lobby (SAP Baleares of April 4, 2003).

- The repair of door fittings and maintenance of these, glass breakage in windows, blinds and blinds missing, repair of kitchen cupboard doors, painting of doors, windows and interior walls of the house (SAP Asturias of December 7, 2004).

- The repair of blinds or taps (SAP Asturias of December 16, 2004).

- Arrangements in the heating, in the installation of the water and in the toilet cistern (SAP Burgos of March 3, 2006).

- Expenses for electricity supply, once the landlord provides the appropriate facilities, and although the tenant has had difficulties with the electricity company due to non-payment of the previous tenant (SAP Burgos of April 28, 2006).