It's July and the AC just quit
It's a hot July afternoon in Nampa and your tenant texts you a photo of the thermostat. It says 88 inside and climbing.
Whose problem is that? Short answer: yours. But it helps to know exactly what Idaho law expects, so you're not overreacting to small stuff or underreacting to the big stuff.
What Idaho law says landlords have to handle
Idaho Code 6-320 lists the situations where a tenant can take a landlord to court. In practice, it works as a list of what you have to keep up:
- Reasonable waterproofing and weather protection.
- Electrical, plumbing, heating, ventilating, cooling and sanitary facilities you supplied, kept in good working order.
- A home that isn't maintained in a way that's hazardous to the tenant's health or safety.
- Returning the security deposit on time.
- Lease terms that materially affect the tenant's health and safety.
- Approved smoke detectors in each unit.
On smoke detectors, the landlord has to verify they're installed and working when the lease starts. After that, the tenant is responsible for keeping them in working order.
If the landlord doesn't install working smoke detectors, the tenant can send a certified letter, and if they're still not installed within 72 hours of receipt, the tenant can put them in and deduct the cost from the next month's rent.
What tenants are responsible for
Tenants have their part too. The City of Boise's summary puts it simply: keep the home as clean and safe as conditions allow, get rid of garbage, keep the plumbing clean and use the electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling systems reasonably.
Damage beyond normal wear and tear, like a hole in the wall or a toilet clogged with something that never should've been flushed, is generally the tenant's to pay for. That's what the deposit is for, within the limits of Idaho's security deposit rules.
Your lease should spell out the small stuff, like who replaces furnace filters, light bulbs and batteries, and who handles yard care.
How repair disputes actually play out
Idaho has a specific process. Before a tenant can sue over one of those issues, they have to give the landlord three days' written notice listing each problem and demanding it be fixed.
If it isn't fixed within those three days, the tenant can go to court for damages or an order to make the repair.
What tenants can't do is stop paying rent. Idaho law doesn't allow rent withholding over repairs, and a tenant who stops paying can still face the eviction process.
Boise has a tighter clock
If your rental is in Boise, the city's Uniform Housing Code adds its own requirement. When a repair is needed to fix a housing-code violation, the landlord has three business days to fix it.
Boise also has an ordinance against retaliating against tenants for asking for repairs or reporting safety issues. So the right move is to fix it, document it and move on.
Other cities in the valley have their own codes, so if your rental is in Meridian, Caldwell or Kuna, check with the city.
Where repair costs really come from
The repair itself is rarely the expensive part. It's the delay.
A slow drip under a sink becomes a rotted cabinet. A furnace that "makes a weird noise" in October quits on the coldest night in January. A small roof leak shows up months later as a stained ceiling.
A few habits that help:
- Make it easy for tenants to report problems, and respond quickly.
- Have the HVAC serviced before summer and winter.
- Walk the property at move-in and move-out, with photos.
- Know your plan for after-hours emergencies before you need it.
How we handle repairs
This is the part of property management we care about most. Cory Hinderager, who owns Badger, is a licensed contractor with more than 10 years in the trades and also works as an HVAC tech.
So repairs on the homes we manage are handled in-house. There's no waiting on an outside vendor's schedule, and there's no vendor markup added to your bill.
When that AC quits in July, it's our own team on it. If you'd like that kind of help with your rental, read our guide to renting out your house in Idaho, check out what we do for owners or give us a call at (208) 812-2717.
