General Landlord and Tenant Responsibilities to Maintain Rental Units

Standard maintenance items for landlords required by law generally include:

• Adhering to local health and safety codes.

• Keeping all common areas safe and clean.

• Making sure that plumbing, heating, cooling and ventilation systems are in good repair.

• Supply hot and cold running water connected to an adequate sewage system.

• Keeping floors, walls, ceilings, stairways, railings and common areas in good condition.

• Keeping doors and windows in tenants’ units weather-tight.

• Ensuring that landlord provided appliances are in good working condition.

Things landlords generally have a right to require from tenants:

• Dispose of garbage in a sanitary manner.

• Maintain their units safely and responsibly.

• Utilize the unit for only legal residential purposes.

• Park only in designated parking areas and keep boats, additional cars, or other vehicles off of your property.

• Make sure overnight visitors do not turn into co-tenants without your permission.

• Altering, adding or removing any part of the unit without your consent.

• Making noise that disrupts the peace and disturbs other tenants or their neighbors.

• It is a landlord decision as to whether to allow pets with the notable exception of an assistance animal for the disabled.

• Smoking in places that you designate as non-smoking areas.

• Bringing in items that can harbor insects, rodents or other pests.

• Bringing in water beds, certain types of appliances or heavy furniture.

Shelter Plus Care Funding – TMHA Readies to Implement Program

Last month’s edition of the Owner Update ran a news section on the new funding TMHA has received to serve homeless, disabled individuals and families. TMHA has now met with the community service collaborators to discuss how the program will run. These collaborators are Community Mental Health Care, Southeast, Inc. (formerly Cornerstone), Harbor House, the Mental Retardation & Developmental Disability Board (MRDD), and the Friends of the Homeless (Tusc. Co. Homeless Shelter).

Under this funding the housing authority offers the “Shelter” in the form of a housing voucher that will house the client in privately owned rentals, such as those now on our Voucher program. The “Care” component is offered by one or more of the community service collaborators in the form of case management service plan to help the client to manage life issues facing them. The Shelter Plus Care program has proved to be successful in other communities by giving these (formerly) homeless, disabled people a stable housing base while they work through other life problems.

TMHA has always served many disabled families, and so has always maintained a working relationship with other area care agencies. The Shelter Plus Care program is a new step in terms of formalizing these collaborative partnerships. A key program component is owners. Without owners willing to work with the program, the S+C Voucher holders, the funds which go for rental payments, will not be used.
 

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