How Much Maintenance and Repair Is Required by Law?

The law requires you to keep a rental fit to live in and in line with local building, housing, and health codes: weathertight, with working plumbing, heat, hot and cold water, and electricity, safe floors and stairs, and free of pests and garbage buildup. A lease generally cannot waive these duties. If you do not fix a covered problem within a reasonable time after the tenant tells you, tenants may qualify for remedies such as repair and deduct, rent withholding, code complaints, or ending the lease under state notice and eligibility rules, and several states put a number on "reasonable": 7 days presumed in Texas and 30 days presumed in California. Washington requires you to begin remedial action as soon as possible after receiving written notice, generally within 24 hours to 10 days depending on the problem, and complete the work promptly.

What does the warranty of habitability require?

In states that recognize it, the implied warranty of habitability is a promise read into residential leases that the unit will stay livable. Arkansas has narrower statutory residential quality standards and does not recognize this general warranty. In New York, Real Property Law section 235-b applies it to every written or oral lease and covers the unit and common areas: they must be fit to live in and free of conditions dangerous to the tenant's life, health, or safety. Other states list specific items. California's list in Civil Code section 1941.1 is typical:

• Roof and exterior walls that keep out weather, and unbroken windows and doors
• Plumbing and gas fixtures that met code when installed and are kept working
• Hot and cold running water connected to an approved sewage system
• Heating, lighting, and electrical wiring that met code when installed and are kept working
• Building and grounds kept clean and free of debris, garbage, rodents, and vermin, with enough clean trash containers
• Floors, stairways, and railings in good repair
• For leases signed, amended, or extended on or after January 1, 2026, a working stove and refrigerator, with limited exceptions (for example, a tenant may agree to supply their own refrigerator)

Florida requires you to follow applicable building, housing, and health codes, or, where none apply, to keep the structure and plumbing in good repair. For buildings other than a single-family home or duplex, Florida also requires extermination, locks and keys, clean and safe common areas, garbage removal, heat in winter, and running and hot water, unless the lease says otherwise in writing.

Your city or county housing code can add requirements on top of state law, such as smoke alarms or minimum heat, so check it for each property. Three limits apply in the states covered here. Damage the tenant or a guest causes is generally the tenant's to pay for (New York, Florida, Texas, and California each carve it out). Cosmetic wear such as faded paint is not a habitability problem. And a feature the lease promises, such as a dishwasher, is a lease duty you owe even if it is not a habitability item.

Can the lease make the tenant responsible for repairs?

For routine upkeep, yes. For habitability, mostly no.

• California. Any lease clause waiving the tenant's habitability and repair-and-deduct rights is void. You may agree that the tenant will repair or maintain all or part of the unit as part of the rent bargain, for example a rent reduction for yard work.
• New York. Any waiver of the warranty of habitability is void.
• Florida. For a single-family home or duplex, your code and structural duties can be changed in writing. In other buildings, the extra duties above apply "unless otherwise agreed in writing," and the lease can make the tenant pay for utilities and garbage removal.
• Texas. Under Tex. Prop. Code section 92.006, the tenant can be made to pay for health and safety repairs only if, at the start of the lease, you own just one rental dwelling, the unit has no such condition and you have no reason to expect one, and the clause is in a written lease, underlined or in bold, specific, and agreed to knowingly. Separately, a lease meeting the same format rules can make the tenant pay for drain clogs caused by objects the tenant put in the lines, damage to doors, windows, and screens, and damage from doors or windows left open, unless you were negligent.

How fast must you make repairs?

Where your state sets no number, treat loss of heat, water, power, or a safety hazard as a same-day call and other repairs within days, not weeks. You still need to give proper notice before entering; how to maintain and repair your rental covers a response-tier system and the entry steps.

What can tenants do if you do not make repairs?

• Repair and deduct. In California, the tenant can pay for the repair and deduct up to one month's rent, no more than twice in any 12 months. In Texas, the deduction can reach one month's rent or $500, whichever is greater, but only for qualifying conditions and after the notice and waiting requirements above, and only through a repairer who is not the tenant or a family member. The tenant must give a second written repair notice after a reasonable time unless the first used certified mail with return receipt requested, registered mail, or another mail service that tracks delivery. At least one notice must state the tenant's intent to repair and describe the planned work.
• Rent withholding. In Florida, this defense to eviction for nonpayment requires material noncompliance with section 83.51(1)'s code or structural and plumbing duties. The tenant must deliver written notice identifying the noncompliance and stating the intent not to pay rent, then allow 7 days to pass. A breach of only the additional duties in section 83.51(2) does not qualify. The court can reduce the rent. The tenant must pay the rent into the court registry while the case is pending. In New York, a court can award a rent reduction for the period the warranty was breached.
• Code complaints. Tenants can call local code enforcement or the health department. An inspector's citation gives you an official deadline. In Texas, an official's written notice must identify a condition materially affecting health or safety to support repair and deduct; the tenant must also meet the notice and waiting requirements above.
• Ending the lease. In California the tenant can move out and owe no further rent. In Texas the tenant can terminate the lease and get a prorated refund of rent and the deposit back.
• A lawsuit. Tenants can sue for damages and other court remedies, such as a rent reduction.

These remedies have conditions. In Texas, for example, the tenant must be current on rent when giving notice, and in California the remedy is unavailable when the tenant caused the problem.

Where can you find your state's rules?

State-specific repair duties and deadlines are in California maintenance and repair obligations, New York maintenance and repair obligations, Texas maintenance and repair obligations, and Florida landlord maintenance obligations. Log when each repair notice arrives, when work starts, and when it is completed; why to keep a record of tenant communication explains how. Repairs fit into the move-in and tenancy steps in how to help your tenant get set up.