In most private rentals, no federal law forces a landlord to provide a stove and refrigerator, so whether a landlord has to provide a stove and refrigerator depends on your state or local housing code, what your lease says, and whether the appliances were already in the unit when you moved in. The practical answer for most renters: if a stove and refrigerator were there when you signed the lease, your landlord almost certainly has to keep them working. Federally subsidized housing is stricter and generally requires both.
What State and Local Law Requires
Appliance rules come from state housing codes, local ordinances, and court decisions, not from any single national statute. A small number of states explicitly list a stove or range and a refrigerator as required equipment in every rental. Most states take an indirect route: their habitability laws require landlords to keep rental housing fit for human occupancy and in compliance with local building and health codes, without naming kitchen appliances at all. In those states, whether a stove or refrigerator counts as required depends on how courts and local code enforcement treat “fit for habitation.”
The implied warranty of habitability is the legal backbone. It exists in nearly every state, requires landlords to keep rental property safe and livable even when the lease is silent, and cannot be waived by a lease clause. What “livable” means varies. Some jurisdictions treat a working stove and refrigerator as baseline habitability, on par with heat and running water. Others treat them as optional amenities. Your local housing code is what settles the question for your specific address.
Subsidized Housing: A Clearer Yes
If your unit receives federal housing assistance, the answer is straightforward. HUD’s inspection standards require every assisted dwelling unit to have a kitchen area with a cooking appliance, a refrigerator, a food preparation area, and food storage space. These standards apply across HUD programs, including the Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) program, public housing, and multifamily assisted housing.
The details are strict. The cooking appliance has to actually heat, and every burner must work. The refrigerator must be large enough for your household and keep food below roughly 40°F. Hot plates do not substitute for a stove or range. A microwave can substitute for a conventional oven only in limited circumstances, and only if the tenant agrees and microwaves are provided equally to subsidized and unsubsidized tenants in the same building. Either the landlord or the tenant can supply the equipment under the lease, but it must be present and functional to pass inspection. HUD folded these requirements into the National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate (NSPIRE) starting in 2023.
Appliances That Were Already in the Unit
This is where most private-market tenants land. Even in states that do not explicitly require a landlord to provide a stove or refrigerator, if those appliances were in the kitchen when you toured the unit and signed the lease, the landlord has generally taken on the obligation to maintain them. Including the appliances as part of the rental property is an implied promise to keep them working for the duration of the tenancy.
That holds even when the lease never names the appliances. The appliances were part of what you agreed to rent, so they are part of what the landlord agreed to provide. If the refrigerator dies six months in, the landlord cannot shrug and say it was never promised. In many states, failing to maintain appliances present at move-in breaches the implied warranty of habitability.
The flip side matters just as much. If you toured a unit with no stove and no refrigerator, signed a lease that promised neither, and the local housing code does not require them, the landlord has no obligation to supply them. You would need to bring your own or negotiate before signing.
What Your Lease Should Say
A well-drafted lease removes ambiguity by listing every appliance included with the unit and spelling out who handles maintenance and repairs. If the lease says the landlord provides a stove and refrigerator, that is a binding contractual obligation on top of the housing code. If the lease is silent, you fall back on local habitability law plus whether the appliances were present at move-in.
Some landlords try to include “as-is” clauses that provide appliances but disclaim any responsibility for repairs. These clauses are generally unenforceable where they conflict with the implied warranty of habitability. The warranty exists whether the lease acknowledges it or not, and tenants cannot waive their right to a livable home. A landlord who provides a stove “as-is” still has to fix it when it stops working, because the warranty requires functional equipment. An “as-is” clause may carry more weight for items local law does not consider essential, like a dishwasher or garbage disposal. Enforceability depends on your jurisdiction.
Before signing, document every appliance in writing. Note the make, model, and condition. Take photos. If anything is already damaged or not working, get written acknowledgment from the landlord. That record protects both sides later.
Repairs When Appliances Break
When a landlord-provided appliance breaks down through normal use, the landlord pays for the repair. Normal wear and tear covers the kind of deterioration that comes with ordinary use over time: a compressor failing, a burner wearing out, a thermostat dying. The landlord’s job is to get the appliance working again within a reasonable time after you report the problem.
If an appliance cannot be economically repaired, the landlord generally must replace it with a comparable working unit. There is no fixed legal rule for when repair becomes replacement, but the threshold is practical: when repair cost approaches or exceeds replacement, replacement makes more sense. The landlord is not required to upgrade you to a better model. A working equivalent is enough.
Tenant-caused damage flips the responsibility. Crack a glass cooktop by dropping a pan, or damage a refrigerator shelf through misuse, and you pay. The cost may come out of your security deposit, and if the damage exceeds your deposit, you could owe more.
Report Problems in Writing
Report appliance problems to your landlord in writing as soon as you notice them. Many leases set deadlines for reporting maintenance issues, but even without one, prompt written notice protects you in two ways. It starts the clock on the landlord’s obligation to respond. And it prevents the landlord from arguing that your delay caused additional damage. A leaking refrigerator reported on day one is the landlord’s problem. A leaking refrigerator you ignored for three weeks while it warped the kitchen floor may become yours.
If the Landlord Won’t Fix It
If your landlord ignores a repair request or drags out the timeline unreasonably, most states give tenants one or more legal remedies. The specifics vary, but common options include withholding rent until the repair is made, hiring a repair service yourself and deducting the cost from the next rent payment, or terminating the lease without penalty. None of these should be used casually. Almost all of them require you to first give the landlord written notice describing the problem and a reasonable chance to fix it. Keep copies of every communication. Some states cap the amount you can deduct under a repair-and-deduct remedy, and using any of these tools incorrectly can expose you to an eviction filing.
A broken refrigerator is more urgent than a stove burner that will not light. Food spoilage starts within hours, so a non-functioning refrigerator is the kind of problem many jurisdictions treat as requiring a faster response. If your landlord cannot repair it quickly, ask about a temporary replacement or a loaner while the repair is pending.
Gas Stoves Come With Extra Duties
Landlords who provide gas stoves take on additional safety obligations. Gas cooking appliances produce carbon monoxide, and a poorly maintained or improperly installed gas stove can leak this colorless, odorless gas into your living space. Federal law now requires carbon monoxide detectors in HUD-assisted housing that contains any fuel-burning appliance, including gas stoves. Detectors must be installed outside each sleeping area and near bedrooms, following the International Fire Code standard.
A growing number of state and local codes impose similar detector requirements on all rental units with gas appliances. Even where local law does not mandate detectors, a landlord who provides a gas stove without one is taking on significant liability. If a tenant is harmed by carbon monoxide from a stove the landlord provided, the absence of a detector strengthens a negligence claim considerably.
Gas stoves also require proper ventilation and installation that complies with local building codes. A stove with a hazardous gas connection or evidence of leaks fails inspection under HUD standards and most local codes. If you smell gas near your stove, leave the unit, avoid using electrical switches, and call your gas utility’s emergency line before contacting your landlord.
Negotiating When Appliances Aren’t Included
If your rental does not come with a stove or refrigerator and local law does not require them, negotiation is your tool. Before signing the lease, ask the landlord to provide appliances and put the agreement in writing. Many landlords will agree, because furnished kitchens make units easier to rent and can justify higher monthly rent.
If the landlord will not provide appliances, negotiate a rent reduction to offset the cost of buying or renting them yourself. Appliance rental services exist in most markets, with monthly costs varying by location and equipment. Any agreement about who provides, maintains, and owns the appliances belongs in the lease or a signed addendum. Verbal promises are hard to enforce and tend to be remembered differently by each side once something breaks.