The lease is signed, the tenant is moved in, and then the text comes in: the heat is out, or the kitchen sink won’t drain, or there’s a leak in the ceiling. The question every landlord eventually asks is the same one tenants ask from the other side: what is a landlord required to fix?
The honest answer is that your lease is only part of it. On top of whatever the lease says, nearly every state imposes an implied warranty of habitability, a legal duty to keep the unit safe and livable that you cannot write away. It is the reason a lease clause saying “tenant accepts the unit as-is and waives all repairs” is worth nothing when the furnace dies in January. This guide lays out what a landlord is actually required to fix, where the line between a habitability repair and a cosmetic one sits, how the responsibility splits with the tenant, how fast the law expects you to move, and the record that keeps a missed repair from becoming a rent-withholding case.
Maintenance guide · 2026 edition · ~10 min readThe short answer: what is a landlord required to fix?
A landlord is required to fix anything that affects the health, safety, or basic livability of the rental. That duty comes from the warranty of habitability and applies in almost every state whether or not the lease mentions it. The core list is remarkably consistent across the country:
- Heat (and, in some climates, cooling), running and hot water
- Working plumbing and sewage disposal
- Safe, working electrical systems
- A weathertight roof, windows, and exterior, and a structurally sound building
- Working appliances the landlord supplied (the stove, the fridge if it came with the unit)
- Working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors
- Freedom from pest infestations and serious environmental hazards (mold, lead paint, exposed wiring, gas leaks)
- Common areas kept clean and safe in a multi-unit building
What a landlord is generally not required to fix: cosmetic wear (scuffed paint, a worn carpet at the end of its life), damage the tenant or their guests caused, and minor routine upkeep the lease properly hands to the tenant. Those lines move by state, so treat this as the general rule and confirm your local statute.
One disclaimer governs everything below: this is general education, not legal advice. Repair duties and deadlines are set by state statute and sometimes local ordinance, they change, and the facts of your situation matter. Confirm the rules in your jurisdiction before you act on a specific dispute.
What counts as a habitability repair versus a cosmetic one?
This is the line that decides almost every argument. A habitability defect makes the unit unsafe or genuinely unlivable and is squarely the landlord’s problem. A cosmetic issue is about appearance or comfort, not safety, and usually is not.
Some fast tests:
- Does it affect health or safety? No heat, no water, a sewage backup, exposed wiring, an active roof leak, a broken lock on an exterior door: all habitability. A landlord has to fix these.
- Is it just appearance or preference? A faded wall color, a dated but functional countertop, a small nail hole, a slightly noisy but working dishwasher: cosmetic. Not required, though many landlords fix them anyway to keep good tenants.
- Is it normal wear or actual damage? Carpet worn thin from years of foot traffic is wear you eventually replace as an owner. A carpet the tenant burned or stained is tenant-caused damage. The normal wear and tear guide draws that line in detail, because it also decides who pays.
The gray zone is real. A single cockroach is not an infestation; a colony is. A cracked tile is cosmetic; a cracked tile leaking water into the subfloor is not. When you are unsure, the safe move is to treat it as habitability, respond, and document, because the downside of ignoring a real defect is far worse than the cost of a fix you did not strictly owe.
Landlord versus tenant: who is responsible for what?
The warranty of habitability sets the landlord’s floor. Above that floor, a lease can assign minor, non-habitability upkeep to the tenant. What a lease cannot do is push a core safety duty onto the tenant. Here is how the split typically falls.
| Item | Usually the landlord | Usually the tenant | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heat, hot water, plumbing, electrical | ✅ | Core habitability, cannot be waived | |
| Roof, foundation, windows, structure | ✅ | Owner’s building, owner’s duty | |
| Supplied appliances (stove, provided fridge) | ✅ | Unless sold or gifted “as-is” in writing | |
| Pest infestations | ✅ (often) | Tenant may owe if they caused it; varies by state | |
| Smoke / CO detectors (install and repair) | ✅ | Tenant usually replaces batteries | |
| Lightbulbs, batteries, furnace filters | ✅ | Minor routine upkeep the lease can assign | |
| Lawn care and snow removal (single-family) | ✅ (if in lease) | Common to assign; put it in writing | |
| Keeping the unit reasonably clean | ✅ | A tenant duty in nearly every state | |
| Damage the tenant or guests caused | Repairs it, bills the tenant | ✅ (pays) | Landlord fixes to keep it safe, then charges |
Two principles make sense of the table. First, the landlord owns the building and its systems, so the building and its systems are the landlord’s to keep working. Second, the tenant owns their conduct, so damage they cause is theirs to pay for, even when the landlord is the one who makes the repair. That second point matters at move-out, where the same distinction drives what you can itemize as a deposit deduction.
Pests deserve a note of their own, because the responsibility genuinely varies. Many states put general pest control on the landlord as part of habitability, while allowing a landlord to bill a tenant whose own behavior caused an infestation. The pest control responsibility guide walks through how that line is drawn.
How long does a landlord have to make a repair?
Almost every state phrases the duty the same way: repairs must be made within a reasonable time after the tenant gives notice. “Reasonable” is not a fixed number. It scales to how serious the problem is, and the clock starts when the tenant reports it, not when you get to it.
Some states put hard numbers on this. A common statutory figure for a serious defect is 14 days to begin a repair after written notice, with faster timelines for emergencies. Others leave it at “reasonable” and let a judge decide after the fact. Either way, the emergency tier is where landlords get burned: a no-heat call in January that sits for a week is not a paperwork problem, it is a habitability breach that can trigger every tenant remedy at once.
The practical rule: acknowledge every request the day it comes in, triage it into emergency or not, and start the fix on a timeline that matches the severity. For how to sort a 2 a.m. call from a Tuesday-afternoon one, see emergency versus non-emergency maintenance.
What happens if a landlord doesn’t make a required repair?
Ignoring a legitimate habitability repair does not make it go away. It hands the tenant a set of legal remedies, and depending on the state, several can apply at once:
- Rent withholding or escrow. In many states a tenant can stop paying rent, or pay it into a court-held escrow account, until a serious defect is fixed.
- Repair-and-deduct. The tenant pays for the repair and subtracts the cost from rent, usually up to a statutory cap.
- Code enforcement. A call to the local housing inspector can produce citations, fines, and an official record that follows the property.
- Lease termination. If the defect is severe enough, the tenant may be able to move out and break the lease without penalty.
- A habitability defense in eviction. This is the one that surprises landlords most. When you later try to evict for nonpayment, an unaddressed defect becomes the tenant’s defense, and it can stall or defeat the case.
The through-line across all five is that they are decided on timing and proof, not on who was ultimately right about the repair. The tenant’s remedy is limited to the period the unit was actually impaired, and it collapses if you can show you responded promptly, or if the tenant blocked access to let you fix it. The full mechanics of those remedies, from the landlord’s side, are covered in when a tenant is withholding rent over habitability.
Why the record matters as much as the repair
Here is the part that separates landlords who win these disputes from the ones who lose them. In every scenario above, the decision comes down to a single question a judge or inspector asks you, not the tenant: how fast did you respond, and can you prove it?
If your only record is memory and a few scattered texts, you are arguing against the tenant’s version of the timeline with nothing to anchor yours. If you have a dated chain, reported, acknowledged, dispatched, repaired, confirmed, then a rent-withholding claim shrinks from an open-ended liability to a short, provable window, and a habitability defense in eviction has nothing to stand on.
Building that chain by hand across texts, emails, and a vendor’s invoices is exactly where the gaps appear. That is what DiscoveryMark’s Maintenance Record flow is built to close. The tenant reports the issue and the vendor completes their part through a passwordless link, no account and no app, capturing the request date, photos of the problem and the repair, notes, and the completion sign-off into one finalized, timestamped PDF tied to the unit. You end up with the exact record a habitability dispute turns on, created as the work happens instead of reconstructed under deadline. Here is what the tenant sees when they submit and track a request.
A landlord’s repair-response checklist
The duty is only half the job. Meeting it defensibly is the other half. Run every repair request through the same five steps and the record builds itself.
For the wider habit of turning repairs into records that hold up, see documenting maintenance with photos and what maintenance receipts to save.
Frequently asked questions
What is a landlord required to fix?
A landlord is required to fix anything that affects the health, safety, or basic livability of the unit. In nearly every state this comes from the implied warranty of habitability, which applies regardless of what the lease says. The core list includes heat, running and hot water, working plumbing, safe electrical service, a weathertight roof and windows, a structurally sound building, working appliances the landlord supplied, working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and freedom from pest infestations and serious hazards like mold, lead, or exposed wiring. Cosmetic wear and damage the tenant caused are generally not the landlord's responsibility. The exact list and the deadlines vary by state and sometimes by city, so confirm your local rules.
Is the landlord or the tenant responsible for repairs?
The landlord is responsible for anything that affects habitability and for the systems and structure of the building: heat, water, plumbing, electrical, the roof, the foundation, and supplied appliances. The tenant is generally responsible for keeping the unit reasonably clean, for damage they or their guests cause, and for small routine upkeep the lease properly assigns to them, such as replacing lightbulbs and smoke detector batteries, basic lawn care, or changing furnace filters. The dividing line is that a landlord cannot shift a core habitability duty onto the tenant through the lease, but can assign minor, non-habitability upkeep. When damage is tenant-caused, the landlord still usually has to make the repair to keep the unit safe, but can bill the tenant for the cost.
How long does a landlord have to make a repair?
Most states require repairs within a reasonable time after the tenant gives notice, and reasonable is measured against the severity of the problem. For a true emergency that makes the unit unsafe or uninhabitable, such as no heat in winter, no water, a gas leak, or a sewage backup, reasonable can mean same day or within 24 hours. For a serious but non-emergency defect, many states set an outer limit in the range of 3 to 30 days, with 14 days being a common statutory figure. For minor issues, a few weeks is often acceptable. Some states set specific deadlines by statute, so check yours. The clock starts when the tenant reports the problem, which is exactly why a dated record of the request matters.
Can a tenant withhold rent if the landlord won't make repairs?
In many states, yes, but only under specific conditions. The defect usually has to be a genuine habitability problem, the tenant has to have given proper notice, the landlord has to have failed to fix it in a reasonable time, and the tenant generally cannot have caused the problem or blocked access to fix it. Depending on the state, the remedy may be formal rent withholding, paying rent into a court escrow account, or repair-and-deduct, where the tenant pays for the fix and subtracts it from rent up to a cap. These remedies are limited to the period the unit was actually impaired. A landlord who can prove a prompt, documented response usually defeats or sharply narrows the claim.
What happens if a landlord refuses to make necessary repairs?
Refusing or ignoring a legitimate habitability repair exposes a landlord to several outcomes, often at once. The tenant may withhold or escrow rent, repair-and-deduct, or report the unit to a local code enforcement or housing inspector, who can issue citations and fines. If the failure is serious enough, the tenant may be able to break the lease without penalty or sue for damages. And when the landlord later tries to evict for nonpayment, the unaddressed defect becomes a habitability defense that can stall or defeat the case. In every one of these scenarios, the landlord's best protection is a dated record showing what was reported and how quickly it was handled.
Where to go next
Three follow-on reads, in order:
- Emergency versus non-emergency maintenance, how to triage a repair request into the right response window so a “reasonable time” stays reasonable.
- When a tenant is withholding rent over habitability, the landlord’s side of the remedies a missed repair can trigger, and the timeline that caps them.
- Documenting maintenance with photos, how to turn every repair into a record that proves you met the duty.
What a landlord is required to fix is mostly settled law: the warranty of habitability puts safety and livability on you, and no lease clause takes it back. What is genuinely in your hands is how fast you respond and whether you can prove it. Acknowledge every request, match the fix to the severity, and build the dated record as the work happens. This is general information, not legal advice, and repair duties and deadlines vary by state, so confirm the specifics for your jurisdiction before acting on a dispute.
