Do I have to Keep my House Clean?

As a tenant, you have a right to live in a clean and well-maintained rental unit. You also have a responsibility to keep your rental unit clean and free of debris. However, the property owner or your landlord cannot tell you how clean to keep your house. They can, however, set expectations in the lease agreement about the condition of the rental unit and common areas.

For example, the lease agreement may state that the rental unit must be kept clean and free of trash at all times. If there are specific cleaning requirements, such as mopping the floors or cleaning the stove top, these should be listed in the lease agreement too. If your landlord says the house is dirty, they may send you a written notice asking you to clean up.

The notice should state what needs to be cleaned and give you a reasonable amount of time to do so. If you do not properly clean up the rental unit, your landlord may have the right to terminate your lease agreement.

What to do if Maintenance Reports Pets in your Apartment

Since maintenance workers are employed by the property owner, they have a role in reporting any apparent lease breaches, such as the presence of pets. If the landlord has a pet policy for their apartments, they will most likely instruct maintenance to report pet issues.

In addition, the maintenance staff at a rental property knows pet policies that ban anybody from keeping pets and will report any infractions. Be prepared for someone to register your pet to the management if they see it acting aggressively against maintenance staff.