Landlord vs. Tenant Maintenance Responsibilities: Who Fixes What

A text comes in at 9 p.m. The garbage disposal hums but won’t grind. Or the sink is backing up. Or there’s a brown spot spreading across a bedroom ceiling. Whoever owns the rental has about two seconds to decide if this is their problem or the tenant’s.

If you own a rental in Orlando, especially your first one, you’ve probably felt that. This post covers who is responsible for what under Florida law, where the gray areas sit, what happens when a landlord stalls, and a quick way to sort requests so nothing slips. Short version: more of it lands on the owner than most people expect.

In This Guide

The Short Version of Who Fixes What

Florida’s landlord-tenant law (Chapter 83, Part II of the Florida Statutes) splits maintenance into two buckets. The landlord keeps the building safe, sound and up to code. The tenant keeps their living space clean and doesn’t break things. Here’s how common items usually fall.

Plenty of real requests don’t fit a row. We get to those below.

What the Landlord Has to Maintain

Code and structure

Where local building, housing and health codes apply, as they do in most of metro Orlando, your basic repair duty is to comply with those codes the whole time the tenant lives there. Codes differ by address, so check the current City of Orlando or Orange County rules for your property.

Where no codes apply, the statute spells out what you keep in good repair:

• Roofs, windows, doors and floors
• Steps, porches and exterior walls
• Foundations and other structural parts
• Plumbing, in reasonable working order

Screens and smoke detectors

Screens need to be in reasonable condition when the tenancy starts. After that, you repair screen damage once a year, when needed. A tenant who wants a new screen every month isn’t owed one.

For single-family homes and duplexes, you also install working smoke detectors at the start of the tenancy unless the lease says otherwise in writing.

Extra duties for apartments and multi-unit buildings

For anything other than a single-family home or duplex, the landlord also covers the following unless the lease says otherwise in writing:

• Extermination of rats, mice, roaches, ants, wood-destroying organisms and bedbugs
• Locks and keys
• Clean and safe common areas
• Garbage removal and outdoor bins
• Working heat in winter, running water and hot water

If a pest treatment means the tenant has to leave, you give 7 days’ written notice. The tenant can be kept out for no more than 4 days, and you reduce the rent for that time.

What Tenants Owe

Tenants have a list of duties too, and it’s worth handing it to them at move-in. Under the statute, a tenant must:

• Follow the codes that apply to tenants
• Keep their part of the home clean and sanitary
• Remove garbage in a clean and sanitary way
• Keep plumbing fixtures clean, sanitary and in repair
• Use electrical, plumbing, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems reasonably
• Not damage or remove the landlord’s property, or let anyone else do it
• Not unreasonably disturb the neighbors

And if a tenant, their family or a guest causes the problem, the landlord isn’t responsible for fixing it under the repair statute. A shattered window from a tenant’s party is a tenant bill.

Many renters here work in hospitality and service jobs, and a lot are renting on their own for the first time. They often have no clue where the line sits. Some assume the landlord fixes everything. Others assume a tenant fixes everything. Walk them through it on day one and you head off most of the arguments.

Can a Lease Push Repairs onto the Tenant?

Sometimes. It depends on the property type.

For single-family homes and duplexes, the landlord’s core repair duties can be changed in writing. A lease can make the tenant responsible for certain repairs. For apartments and other multi-unit buildings, that exception doesn’t apply.

Even where it’s allowed, be specific. “Tenant handles lawn care and replaces air filters” is clear. “Tenant handles minor repairs” starts a fight over what “minor” means.

One more thing the lease can do. It can make the tenant pay for garbage removal, water, fuel or utilities. That’s a normal, clean way to shift costs.

The Gray Areas That Cause the Most Arguments

Say an owner isn’t sure whether a broken garbage disposal is theirs or the tenant’s. The answer depends on three things. Did the unit come with one? Was it damaged by misuse, like a bone or a fork down the drain? What does the lease say? No statute settles it for you.

A few other items that start debates:

• Clogged drains: A plumbing service call here typically runs $150 to $400 depending on the problem. If a tenant flushed something that shouldn’t go down a toilet, that’s on them. If it’s old pipe or roots, it’s on you.
• Air conditioning: A replacement or major repair often costs $1,500 to $5,000 or more. Whether a local code requires A/C at your address isn’t something we can promise, so check your local code and your lease. Either way, treat a dead unit in summer as an emergency.
• Pests: In apartments, extermination falls on the landlord unless the lease says otherwise. In single-family homes, the lease usually decides. An infestation the tenant’s housekeeping caused is a different conversation.
• Lawn care: Whatever the lease says. If it’s silent, expect an argument.

When the gray area turns into a dispute, the paperwork wins. That’s the next section but one.

Storm Season and Year-Round Heat Change the Math

Central Florida’s heat and humidity keep air conditioners running almost all year. Systems that work that hard fail more often, and they fail at the worst times.

Hurricane and storm season runs June through November, and that’s when roof, window, gutter and water intrusion calls bunch up. Your duty to keep the structure sound matters most in those months. Owners with rentals in Kissimmee, FL and across the metro deal with the same weather.

A simple pre-season check before June helps:

1. Look at the roof for loose or missing shingles.
2. Clear gutters and check that water drains away from the foundation.
3. Test windows, doors and seals.
4. Service the A/C and replace the filter.
5. Check the screens, since the yearly repair duty is yours.

What Happens When a Landlord Drags Their Feet

Florida doesn’t give tenants a repair-and-deduct remedy. It gives them two paths, and both start with a written notice.

• Ending the lease: If the landlord materially fails to meet the core repair duties and doesn’t fix it within 7 days after receiving written notice describing the problem and saying the tenant intends to terminate, the tenant can end the lease.
• Withholding rent as a defense: In an eviction for unpaid rent, a tenant can raise the landlord’s failure as a defense, but only if 7 days have passed since written notice saying they won’t pay rent because of the problem. The court decides how much to reduce the rent.

A tenant can’t just stop paying. In an eviction, a tenant raising a repair defense must pay the rent into the court registry or file a motion to determine rent within 5 business days after being served. Skip both and they lose the defense.

A note on email. Repair notices can go by email only if both sides signed the email-notice addendum under § 83.505 and each gave an email address. Without that addendum, an emailed request may not count as formal notice. Smart owners treat every request as if it did anyway.

Experienced managers will tell you the math usually favors fixing things fast. Turnover, vacancy and a habitability fight almost always cost more than the repair itself.

Sorting Requests in One Minute

Most of the work is triage. Every request falls into one of three tiers.

• Act now: No A/C in the summer, an active leak, no running water, sparking outlets, a broken exterior lock, storm damage letting water in.
• Schedule soon: A slow drain, a dripping faucet, an appliance that works badly, one dead outlet, a torn screen.
• Can wait: Cosmetic fixes, worn caulk, a loose cabinet hinge.

Whatever the tier, handle it the same way every time:

1. Log the request in writing with the date.
2. Decide whose responsibility it is, using the lease and the statute.
3. Dispatch a vendor, confirm the work, and close the request.

Our own policy is same day for emergencies and within 4 days for everything else.

This checklist helps you sort every repair request in a minute and handle each one the same way, start to finish.

Photos Settle More Arguments Than Lawyers Do

Most landlords assume “tenant damage vs. normal wear” is obvious. In small claims court it rarely is. What you call abuse, a judge may call normal wear.

Without a detailed move-in inspection with photos, you have almost no footing to bill a tenant or make deductions from a deposit. Date-stamped photos of every room, appliance, wall and floor are cheap and boring and worth it. Take them again at move-out.

How We Handle Maintenance for Owners

We’ve been in business for 19 years and manage 600 properties. Steady work is a big reason vendors pick up the phone for a property manager.

Tenants submit maintenance requests online any time through Property Meld. The system alerts our Maintenance Coordinator, who dispatches vendors, and most issues are resolved the same day. The crew includes A/C Cowboys for HVAC, Drain Daddy of Orlando for plumbing, Linx Electrical, Artifex Maintenance Services for handyman work, Josko Services as general contractor, and Fire Fellas Junk Removal for trash-outs. Owners can check monthly statements any time in the Owner Portal.

One owner, Ihosvany, wrote that he and his partner worried about becoming landlords and handling everything correctly. He said we manage his property “with the same level of care and attention that I would give it myself.” Another owner told us we’ve managed their property for 6 years “without any problems.”

If you’re reading property management Orlando Florida reviews to compare companies, look at how each one talks about repairs. That’s where management earns its fee.

If sorting out who fixes what feels harder than it should, we’re open to a conversation.

FAQ

Who pays when the A/C breaks in a Florida rental?

It depends on your lease, whether the home is single-family or multi-unit, and any local code that applies, so check those first. In Central Florida heat, a dead A/C is best treated as an emergency either way.

Can a landlord make the tenant responsible for repairs in the lease?

For single-family homes and duplexes, yes, if the change is in writing. For apartments and other multi-unit buildings, the landlord’s core repair duties can’t be shifted that way.

Can a Florida tenant withhold rent over repairs?

Not simply. The tenant must first give written notice and wait 7 days. Then the problem can serve as a defense in an eviction, and the tenant still has to pay rent into the court registry.

Can a tenant send a repair request by email?

Only if both sides signed the email-notice addendum under § 83.505 and each listed an email address. Without that addendum, an email may not count as formal notice.

Is a landlord responsible for damage the tenant causes?

No. The repair statute doesn’t make a landlord responsible for conditions caused by the tenant, the tenant’s family, or anyone on the property with the tenant’s consent.