Idaho legally requires landlords to meet certain “habitability” requirements for all rental properties. This means that they’re responsible for providing a property that meets specific health and safety standards and for fixing issues that violate them.
Idaho Implied Warranty of Habitability
In Idaho, the implied warranty of habitability requires landlords to provide and maintain a safe and habitable rental property. “Implied” means the requirement applies regardless of whether or not the rental agreement mentions (or tries to waive) the obligation. Idaho’s warranty of habitability is statutory only, not through common law.
Examples of clear habitability violations include:
- Exposed electrical wiring.
- A pipe leaking human waste.
- A broken front doorknob that won’t lock.
However, the implied warranty of habitability does not guarantee that anything at the property will be pretty, clean, new or issue-free, so it doesn’t cover things like stained carpet or dents in a wall. It only guarantees basic health and safety.
Landlord Responsibilities in Idaho
Note: Check local city/county laws and ordinances for additional requirements.
| Item | Has To Provide? | Has To Fix / Replace? |
| Air Conditioning / Heating | No | Only If Provided |
| Hot Water | Yes | Yes |
| Kitchen Appliances | No | No |
| Washer & Dryer | No | No |
| Smoke/CO Detectors | Only Smoke | No |
| Window Coverings | No | No |
| Light Fixtures | No | No |
| Landscaping | No | No |
| Garbage Removal | Yes | Yes |
| Garbage Pickup | No | No |
| Mold | N/A | Yes |
| Pest Control | No | N/A |
| Pest Infestations | N/A | Yes |
| Water Leaks | N/A | Not Usually |
| Clogs | N/A | Not Usually |
Landlord Responsibilities for Heating & Air Conditioning in Idaho?
Idaho landlords have no specific responsibility to provide heating or air conditioning. However, if the landlord supplies a device on the premises that provides heating or cooling, the landlord must ensure it’s in good working condition.
Are Landlords Required to Provide Air Filter Replacements in Idaho?
Idaho landlords don’t have to replace things like air filters, unless heating equipment won’t work otherwise.
Landlord Responsibilities for Plumbing in Idaho
Idaho landlords must keep plumbing in reasonable working condition.
Are Landlords Required To Provide Hot Water in Idaho?
Idaho landlords must provide and maintain running heated water for rental properties.
Are Landlords Responsible for Fixing Clogged Drains & Toilets in Idaho?
Idaho landlords have to fix clogs the renter didn’t cause, which keep the plumbing from being in reasonable working condition.
Are Landlords in Idaho Responsible for Fixing Leaks?
Idaho landlords only have to fix “severe” leaks which take the plumbing out of reasonable working condition.
Landlord Responsibilities for Kitchen Appliances in Idaho
Idaho landlords have no responsibility to provide or maintain kitchen appliances such as a dishwasher, stove, oven, microwave, or refrigerator.
Landlord Responsibilities for Electrical Issues in Idaho
Idaho landlords are responsible for keeping electrical service in good working order on the premises.
Are Landlords Responsible for Replacing Light Bulbs in Idaho?
Idaho landlords are not responsible for replacing light bulbs or particular light fixtures.
Landlord Responsibilities for Garbage Removal in Idaho
There’s no specific law outlining a landlord’s responsibilities for garbage removal in Idaho. However, the common standard is that the landlord has to provide means for the renter to remove and store garbage, and it’s the renter’s responsibility to actually make sure the garbage gets properly disposed.
Landlord Responsibilities for Landscaping in Idaho
Idaho landlords have no specific obligation to provide landscaping or maintain it with actions like cutting grass. They only have to deal with issues like fallen trees if they interfere with the cleanliness of common areas, violate local codes, or create a hazard to health and safety.
Landlord Responsibilities Regarding Mold in Idaho
Idaho landlords are responsible for most mold issues. While there’s no state requirement for testing, landlords must investigate and fix mold problems since they threaten health and safety. If the renter’s lack of cleanliness created the mold issue, a landlord can ask the renter to fix the situation.
Landlord Responsibilities Regarding Pests in Idaho
Idaho landlords aren’t required to conduct regular testing for infestation, but they are responsible for fixing pest issues the renter didn’t cause, including rats, roaches, mice, bed bugs, and ants.
Landlord’s Responsibilities for Windows & Window Coverings in Idaho
Idaho landlords have no specific responsibility to provide window screens or coverings, but the landlord must provide adequate weatherproofing for the premises, which could include various kinds of window maintenance. The landlord also must repair broken windows the tenant didn’t cause, since this is a health and safety issue.
Landlord Responsibilities Regarding Safety Devices in Idaho
Idaho landlords are responsible for ensuring working smoke detectors are installed at the beginning of a tenancy. If the premises don’t have smoke detectors, the tenant can install them and deduct the cost from rent. The tenant is otherwise responsible for related costs and maintenance.
Are Landlords Responsible for Replacing Batteries of Safety Devices in Idaho?
Idaho landlords are not responsible for replacing batteries in safety devices. The landlord has to ensure there are working smoke detectors when the lease begins, which includes working batteries. After the lease begins, maintenance is the tenant’s responsibility, including battery replacement.
Landlord Responsibilities for Washers and Dryers in Idaho
Idaho landlords are not required to furnish their rental properties with a working washer and dryer.
Renter’s Rights for Repairs in Idaho
Idaho renters have the right to repairs for issues that affect health and safety, unless they caused the issue themselves. To exercise their right, the renter must start by notifying the landlord of the issue in writing. The landlord gets three days after notice to fix the issue.
If the issue isn’t fixed, the renter can ask a court to order repairs or compensation. In severe cases, the renter might be able to end the rental agreement. However, the renter isn’t allowed to withhold rent, and can’t repair and deduct (except to fix a smoke detector).
Sources
- 1 Id. Code § 6-320(a) (2022)
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“A tenant may file an action against a landlord for damages and specific performance for: (1) Failure to provide reasonable waterproofing and weather protection of the premises; (2) Failure to maintain in good working order electrical, plumbing, heating, ventilating, cooling, or sanitary facilities supplied by the landlord; (3) Maintaining the premises in a manner hazardous to the health or safety of the tenant; (4) Failure to return a security deposit as and when required by law; (5) Breach of any term or provision of the lease or rental agreement materially affecting the health and safety of the tenant, whether explicitly or implicitly a part thereof; and (6) Failure to install approved smoke detectors in each dwelling unit, to include mobile homes, under the landlord’s control.”
Source Link - 2 Worden v. Ordway, 105 Idaho 719, 723 (Idaho 1983)
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“The Idaho legislature has already acted in this area and enacted a statutory version of the implied warranty of habitability theory. I.C. § 6-320. This Court should refrain from changing or expanding a common law rule, where the legislature has already acted in the same area.”
Source Link - 3 State of Idaho Office of the Attorney General, Landlord and Tenant Manual 11-12 (2018 ed.)
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Guidance provided by the Attorney General typifies the standard: “Landlords must maintain the rental to protect a tenant’s safety and health. This means landlords must comply with city and county ordinances and state laws regarding housing conditions. The following are examples of housing conditions that may violate local or state housing standards:
-Structural deterioration, including cracked and crumbling walls and ceilings and broken or missing doors and windows;
-Defective plumbing, including a broken toilet, lack of hot/cold water, absent sinks or bathing facilities and serious leaks;
-Exposed wiring;
-Nonfunctioning heating units;
-No means to remove or store garbage;
-Insect infestations;
-Leaking roof or walls from insufficient waterproofing or weather protection; and
-Dismantling or not installing smoke detectors.”
Source Link - 4 State of Idaho Office of the Attorney General, Landlord and Tenant Manual 13-14 (2018 ed.)
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“The tenant must safeguard the rental property and ensure that damage does not occur. Typical tenant responsibilities include: -Keep the property clean and sanitary; -Properly dispose of garbage; -Use appliances, electrical fixtures and plumbing facilities properly; -Prevent family and friends from damaging the property; -Obey the landlord’s property regulations and use the property for only lawful purposes; and -Prevent injury to others due to actions performed on the tenant’s property.”
Source Link - 5 Id. Code § 6-320(a)(6) (2022)
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“Upon commencement of a rental agreement, the landlord shall verify that smoke detectors have been installed and are in good working order in the dwelling unit. The tenant shall maintain the smoke detectors in good working order during the tenant’s rental period. … If the landlord or the landlord’s assignee fails to install working smoke detectors, the tenant may send written notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the landlord or the landlord’s assignee that if working smoke detectors are not installed within seventy-two (72) hours of receipt of the letter, the tenant may install smoke detectors and deduct the cost from the tenant’s next month’s rent. Smoke detectors purchased by the tenant and deducted from rent become the property of the landlord and shall not be removed from the premises.”
Source Link - 6 Id. Code § 6-320(d) (2022)
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“Before a tenant shall have standing to file an action under this section, he must give his landlord three (3) days written notice, listing each failure or breach upon which his action will be premised and written demand requiring performance or cure. If, within three (3) days after service of the notice, any listed failure or breach has not been performed or cured by the landlord, the tenant may proceed to commence an action for damages and specific performance.”
Source Link - 7 McCullough v. Cuthbert, 46 Idaho 294, 299 (Idaho 1928) (internal citations omitted)
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While the bar for severity is high, the tenant can end the lease in cases where the landlord’s failure to repair substantially prevents the intended use of the premises. “It is generally held that a covenant for quiet enjoyment is implied in a contract of lease, but to effect a breach of such covenant there must be an eviction either actual or constructive; and even if it be deemed that an eviction can exist without the actual expulsion of the tenant from the premises, or the abandonment of the premises by him, there must at least be acts actually interfering with his possession or enjoyment of the premises.”
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