Most property owners think they are doing their tenants a favor when they leave their washer and dryer in a rental home. They have a perfectly good set sitting there. The tenant gets a nice amenity. Everyone wins.
Except that is not usually how it ends.
What typically happens is this: the washer breaks after 18 months of heavy use. The dryer stops heating. The tenant calls. And the property owner — who just wanted to do something nice — now has to buy a replacement set, because under North Carolina law, if you provided a working appliance when the tenant moved in, you are obligated to keep it working.
This is one of the most consistent pieces of advice Carolina Property Management gives to every owner before we take a property to market: remove the washer and dryer before we list it.
Here is exactly why — and what the law says about it.
The Key Legal Principle: You Are Not Required to Provide It, But If You Do, You Must Maintain It
This is the rule that most landlords do not know until it costs them money.
North Carolina landlords are not required to furnish their rental properties with a working washer and dryer. However, if provided, it's the landlord's responsibility to maintain such appliances.
That one sentence contains the entire issue. You can choose not to provide a washer and dryer. That is completely legal. Many landlords in Charlotte, Gaston County, Cabarrus County, and York County SC do exactly that — they leave a laundry hook-up, let the tenant bring their own appliances, and avoid the maintenance obligation entirely.
But the moment you leave your washer and dryer in the property, you have created a legal obligation. Under North Carolina General Statutes § 42-42, landlords are required to "Maintain in good and safe working order and promptly repair all electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, air conditioning, and other facilities and appliances supplied or required to be supplied by the landlord."
The phrase "supplied by the landlord" is the operative one. You supplied the washer and dryer. That makes them your responsibility for the entire duration of the tenancy. If they break — and they will, eventually — you are required to repair or replace them.
According to LawHelpNC.org, the resource maintained by Legal Aid of North Carolina for tenant and landlord guidance: your landlord is also required to maintain and repair appliances that the landlord has provided. This includes plumbing, heating and air conditioning units, refrigerators, and stoves, etc.
The City of Raleigh's official guide to landlord repair obligations confirms the same principle: everything supplied with the unit — including appliances such as a stove or refrigerator, toilets, showers, doors, windows, and other items — must work properly.
And according to Platuni's January 2026 analysis of landlord appliance law: appliances listed in the lease and supplied by the landlord become part of the property's amenities. As a result, landlords are typically required to keep them in good working order throughout the tenancy. If an item cannot be repaired, replacing it with a similar functioning unit is generally expected.
That last sentence is the critical one. Not just repair it — if you cannot repair it, replace it. With something similar and working.
The Practical Reality: Washers and Dryers Wear Out Under Rental Use
The reason this rule matters so much for rental properties specifically is the nature of how washers and dryers are used in a rental versus an owner-occupied home.
An owner who uses their washer and dryer does a few loads of laundry per week. They care about the machine because they own it. They are careful with it. They notice when it starts sounding off and call for service before it breaks completely.
A tenant using a landlord-provided washer and dryer does not have the same relationship with the machine. It is not theirs. They may run more loads. They may not clean the lint trap consistently. They may put items in the washer that should not be there. None of this is malicious — it is simply the normal usage pattern of an appliance that belongs to someone else.
The machines that were "perfectly fine" when the owner left them — maybe five, seven, or ten years old, lightly used by the original owner — are now being run harder than they ever were before. And the age of the machine, combined with the intensity of rental use, produces a predictable outcome: it breaks.
When it breaks, the tenant sends written notice to the property manager. That notice triggers the landlord's repair obligation under NC Gen. Stat. § 42-42. The landlord must repair or replace the appliance within a reasonable time. If they do not, the tenant has legal remedies including the ability to seek rent abatement — a reduction in rent reflecting the reduced value of the unit — through Small Claims Court.
According to LawHelpNC.org: when the landlord fails to make necessary repairs, North Carolina law allows a tenant to seek money damages through rent abatement. To obtain a rent rebate, you must file an action in Small Claims Court for the reduced value of the rental property.
A broken washer or dryer, left unrepaired for weeks, is not a small inconvenience. It is a situation where the tenant has a documented legal claim.
The Same Rule Applies to All Appliances You Leave
The washer and dryer are the most common example — but the principle applies to every appliance you leave in a rental property.
Refrigerator: If you leave a refrigerator, you are required to keep it working. A refrigerator failure is particularly serious because it directly affects food safety. This is one of the few appliance failures that can rise to a habitability concern under the implied warranty of habitability.
Dishwasher: If you leave a dishwasher, you must maintain it. A broken dishwasher is less urgent than a refrigerator, but it is still your legal obligation to repair if you provided it as part of the tenancy.
Stove and oven: In North Carolina, landlords don't have to provide or maintain kitchen appliances such as a dishwasher, stove, oven, microwave, or refrigerator. However, if provided by the landlord, it's also the landlord's job to keep them in good and safe working order.
Garage door opener: If the rental includes a garage with an automatic opener, the opener is a supplied appliance. If it breaks, the landlord is responsible.
Ceiling fans: Same principle — if they were there when the tenant moved in, they need to be maintained.
The rule is not complicated: if provided, it's the landlord's responsibility to maintain. The only way to avoid that obligation is to not provide the appliance in the first place — or to remove it before the tenant moves in.
What About South Carolina?
Landlords with rental properties in Fort Mill, Rock Hill, Indian Land, and other York County communities operate under South Carolina's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (SC Code of Laws Title 27, Chapter 40).
South Carolina's framework is similar to North Carolina's in its core principle: a landlord who supplies appliances as part of a tenancy becomes responsible for maintaining those appliances in working condition. South Carolina's landlord habitability obligations specifically require landlords to "maintain in good and safe working order and condition all electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, air-conditioning, and other facilities and appliances, including elevators, supplied or required to be supplied by him."
The phrase "supplied by him" is identical in effect to the North Carolina standard. If you left the appliance, you own the maintenance obligation.
For landlords in York County, SC who are comparing their obligations to their North Carolina properties: the rule is the same. Remove the washer and dryer before listing, or budget to maintain and replace them throughout the tenancy.
The Carolina Property Management Recommendation — and the Alternatives
Carolina Property Management's standard recommendation before listing any property is:
Remove the washer and dryer. Leave the hookups — the water connections, drain, and electrical outlet. Let the tenant bring their own appliances. Make it clear in the listing and the lease that washer/dryer hookups are provided but appliances are not. This is common and well-understood in the Charlotte and Carolinas rental market.
The benefit: You have zero obligation if the tenant's appliance breaks. It is their machine. It is their problem. And you have avoided the phone call that goes: "My washing machine broke. You need to replace it."
If you choose to leave the appliances:
Some property owners decide they want to include appliances — either because the property's rent range supports it, or because they want to attract a specific tenant profile, or because removing the appliances is more trouble than it is worth. In those cases, the smart approach is to:
Document the appliances' condition at move-in. Photograph everything. Note the age and model numbers. Include the appliances specifically in the lease with their current condition documented. This creates the baseline that any future repair or replacement dispute will reference.
Budget for appliance maintenance and replacement. A washer and dryer set that is already 8 to 10 years old when a new tenant moves in may not survive the full lease term. Budget accordingly, or consider replacing the set with new appliances before the tenancy begins — so you start the clock from a known condition.
Use the lease to address tenant-caused damage. The landlord's maintenance obligation applies when appliances fail through normal use or age. If a tenant damages an appliance through misuse or negligence — running a front-load washer with an unbalanced overload until the drum bearing fails, for example — the tenant may be responsible for that damage. The lease should clearly address this, and any tenant-caused damage should be documented before any repair or replacement is authorized.
Include appliances in your property visit checklist. During regular property visits, Carolina Property Management includes a check of appliance condition and operation. An appliance that is developing a problem — a washer that is vibrating excessively, a dryer that is taking two cycles to dry a load — can be addressed before it fails completely. Early maintenance is significantly cheaper than emergency replacement.
What Happens If You Leave Appliances Without Telling Your Property Manager
Here is a scenario worth understanding clearly.
An owner hands over the keys to their property. They mention they left the furniture and a few things behind. The property manager does the intake inspection and discovers a washer and dryer in the laundry room that the owner forgot to remove.
The lease is drafted. The tenant moves in. The washer and dryer are in the unit.
Are they now part of the tenancy? Almost certainly yes — if they appear in the move-in documentation, they are supplied appliances. If the lease does not specifically exclude them, the tenant has a reasonable expectation that they will be maintained.
This is exactly why Carolina Property Management conducts a thorough pre-listing walkthrough of every property before we take it to market — and why we specifically ask about appliances and communicate clearly about what should be removed before the property is listed.
Frequently Asked Questions for NC and SC Landlords About Rental Appliances
Do I have to provide a washer and dryer in my Charlotte rental? No. North Carolina landlords are not required to furnish their rental properties with a working washer and dryer. You can list the property with washer/dryer hookups only, allowing tenants to bring their own. This is a very common arrangement in Charlotte-area rentals and eliminates your maintenance obligation for those appliances entirely.
What if my tenant damages the washer and dryer? If the damage is caused by the tenant's misuse — rather than normal wear and age — you may be able to charge the tenant for the repair or replacement cost, or deduct it from the security deposit, provided the damage is documented and clearly beyond normal wear and tear. You must document the appliances' condition at move-in and at move-out to support any claim. Consult a licensed property management professional or attorney before taking any deduction from a security deposit.
What if the lease says the appliances are provided "as is" with no maintenance obligation? Under North Carolina law, the landlord is not released of his obligations under any part of this section by the tenant's explicit or implicit acceptance of the landlord's failure to provide premises complying with this section, whether done before the lease was made, when it was made, or after it was made. In other words, a lease clause that attempts to waive the landlord's maintenance obligation for supplied appliances is not enforceable. If you provided the appliance, you must maintain it — regardless of what the lease says about it.
Can a tenant withhold rent if a supplied appliance breaks? No. Under North Carolina law, the renter is strictly prohibited from withholding rent or repairing and deducting. A tenant whose supplied appliance has broken must notify the landlord in writing and allow a reasonable time for repair. If the landlord does not repair within a reasonable time, the tenant's remedy is to seek rent abatement through Small Claims Court — not to stop paying rent.
What is a "reasonable time" for appliance repairs in North Carolina? The law does not specify a fixed number of days. According to Innago's February 2026 North Carolina landlord-tenant guide, landlords are generally expected to address appliance repair requests within 24 to 48 hours for emergencies or critical repairs and within 30 days for non-critical repairs. A broken washer or dryer is typically considered non-critical in most circumstances, though a broken refrigerator affecting food safety is more urgent.
The Bottom Line for NC and SC Landlords
The washer and dryer sitting in your rental home are not a gift to your tenant. They are a legal obligation — one that follows you for the entire tenancy and requires you to repair or replace them when they fail.
The cleanest, simplest solution is to remove them before the property is listed. Leave the hookups. Let the tenant bring their own. Spend your maintenance budget on the things that matter more — the HVAC, the roof, the plumbing, and the systems that actually affect habitability — and let the tenant own their own laundry appliances.
Carolina Property Management provides this guidance to every property owner before we take a listing to market. It is not about being rigid or unhelpful. It is about protecting you — the landlord — from an obligation that looks small when you move out and becomes expensive the first time the spin cycle stops working.
Carolina Property Management serves landlords and investors across the Charlotte, NC and South Carolina markets. If you are preparing to rent your home or convert it to a rental property and want guidance on what to leave, what to remove, and how to set up the lease correctly, contact us today.
