Spring Break
Avoid getting busted pipes … and getting busted period
Amy Walker
Issue date: 12/10/07 Section: Opinion
If you'll be out of town over the holiday break and you're a renter, make sure you have your lease obligations covered or it could be a less-than-happy New Year.
Every lease assigns certain responsibilities solely to tenant. Do you know what yours are?
If you don't, finding out should be on the top of your to-do list. Some of them may even surprise you.
• Keep the heat on in your residence. Some leases specifically detail what temperature to keep the residence, usually 60 degrees. Some go further and require you to open closet, cabinet and bedroom doors so circulating heat will keep water pipes from freezing. If you return to your rental and the Avs are practicing in your living room, that's going to cost you.
• If you agreed in your lease to keep driveways and sidewalks clear, then you must arrange for someone to shovel in your absence. This is true even if there is no shovel on the property. Landlord does not have to provide you with the tools to meet your obligations unless landlord has agreed to do so in your lease. If you're obligated to shovel and you don't, landlord can hire someone and pass the full bill onto you. In addition, the City of Fort Collins can do the same and fine you for their trouble.
• Have you disconnected garden hoses from the exterior of your rental? Nine times out of 10 this is tenant's responsibility. It should already have been done earlier this season. But better late than broken when it comes to pipes. Keeping hoses connected during freezing temps can cause serious and expensive damage to water spigots and pipes. Such damage is a legitimate deduction from your security deposit and the repair could run several hundred dollars.
• Arrange for your morning paper delivery to be stopped while you are gone. A sea of papers is a blinking, neon "Welcome!" sign to potential burglars you're not home. Further, some homeowner's associations as well as the City of Fort Collins, may fine for the eyesore or nuisance the pile up creates. I'll give you one guess who pays those fines.
Every lease assigns certain responsibilities solely to tenant. Do you know what yours are?
If you don't, finding out should be on the top of your to-do list. Some of them may even surprise you.
• Keep the heat on in your residence. Some leases specifically detail what temperature to keep the residence, usually 60 degrees. Some go further and require you to open closet, cabinet and bedroom doors so circulating heat will keep water pipes from freezing. If you return to your rental and the Avs are practicing in your living room, that's going to cost you.
• If you agreed in your lease to keep driveways and sidewalks clear, then you must arrange for someone to shovel in your absence. This is true even if there is no shovel on the property. Landlord does not have to provide you with the tools to meet your obligations unless landlord has agreed to do so in your lease. If you're obligated to shovel and you don't, landlord can hire someone and pass the full bill onto you. In addition, the City of Fort Collins can do the same and fine you for their trouble.
• Have you disconnected garden hoses from the exterior of your rental? Nine times out of 10 this is tenant's responsibility. It should already have been done earlier this season. But better late than broken when it comes to pipes. Keeping hoses connected during freezing temps can cause serious and expensive damage to water spigots and pipes. Such damage is a legitimate deduction from your security deposit and the repair could run several hundred dollars.
• Arrange for your morning paper delivery to be stopped while you are gone. A sea of papers is a blinking, neon "Welcome!" sign to potential burglars you're not home. Further, some homeowner's associations as well as the City of Fort Collins, may fine for the eyesore or nuisance the pile up creates. I'll give you one guess who pays those fines.
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