02/13/2023
Are you a landlord who has received a maintenance request from a tenant that you considered to be minor and thought “I will put it on the back burner and repair it later?” This information is for you!
As per the Residential Tenancies Act, a request, no matter how small it is, must be attended to in a timely fashion or you risk a maintenance application be put against you from your tenant and the Landlord and Tenant Board may award an abatement of rent to your tenant, however, there is a catch to this!
If the tenant makes a maintenance application to the Landlord and Tenant Board, the board will consider on how severe the issue is. For example, say the tenant makes an application for a small leaky faucet from the kitchen sink, or if appliances are included in the lease, say a stove element needs to be replaced, the board would make an order for you to make the repairs, however, they will more than likely give you plenty of time to fix the small faucet and the stove element as these issues are considered to be minor as opposed to a broken home heater, in which the latter takes more precedence as home heating is essential to make your home habitable for your tenants to live in.
Also, if your tenant receives an abatement of rent for a minor repair, it would be nominal and you would not have to pay a lot out of your pocket which is a good thing, however, the best incentive is to make the repairs right away so you can save money!
More information and case law regarding minor repairs can be accessed by reading our article on our website!
Trivial Maintenance Issues Involving Minor Repair and Whether Minimal Concerns Legally Require Attention. The maintenance requirements imposed upon a landlord per the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 appear as without limit to the triviality of the concern.