What Maintenance Issues Are Emergencies and What Can Wait for Regular Business Hours?
Unlike office jobs where you work within a set regular period from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. keeping your rental property habitable requires performing maintenance tasks sometimes outside of these normal working hours.
What happens during property emergencies when it’s already past the regular working hours? As a landlord, you are likely to encounter critical situations after-hours and you need to be fully prepared to resolve them.
This article will focus on how to deal with a property emergency and how to define them. A tenant may call you requesting a quick property maintenance which is not categorized as an emergency. So landlords should be able to distinguish property emergencies that require immediate solutions from those that can be fixed during normal business hours.
What Covers Rental Property Emergency Maintenance?
You need to know what counts as property emergencies since some may not require prompt attention. While some things can be unpleasant, such as noise issues, you can investigate the matter in the daytime.
Situations that cause harm to the renters, risk their safety, and contribute to massive property damage can fall under a property emergency. The other cases you can consider as an emergency are the following:
- Fire
- Flood occurrence
- Frozen pipes bursting
- Broken doors and locks that risk the residents’ safety
- Broken heater in the middle of winter
- Broken air conditioning in a heat wave
Situations That Are Not Categorized A Maintenance Emergency
There may be instances when renters mistakenly consider a scenario as a property emergency. However, if there is no grave threat to the health and safety of the renter and there is minimal property damage, then this is not categorized as an emergency.
If a tenant contacts you for immediate resolution, you can inform them that the issue will be settled during regular working hours.
Here are typical property issues that are NOT labeled a property emergency:
- A broken oven
- No available hot water for showers
- Malfunctioning air conditioning (when the outside temperature reflects below 90 degrees)
- Broken heater (when the outside temperature displays below 50 degrees outside)
- Loud music past midnight
How to Handle Rental Property Emergency Maintenance?
Nurturing good landlord-tenant relationships is a must if you want to succeed in the rental business. Being responsive to property maintenance requests reduces conflict. Tenants also trust that you can handle property emergencies when they occur.
As a landlord, you have to be adept at managing property emergencies to inspire renters to sign a lease renewal. Below is a list of tips you can try for effective emergency maintenance in your rental property.
Availability
Landlords must give their contact information so that tenants can call them in an emergency. You are expected to stay on top of things and give instructions, give responses, or keep the tenants informed about any updates on the situation, even if you are unable to rectify the matter immediately.
Emergency Services
Aside from ensuring tenants have easy access to the contact numbers of police, fire, and utility services departments, you must also have a list of reliable vendors to contact after hours. It is always good to be prepared ahead of time for potential property emergency problems.
What if a renter experiences flooding due to pipe issues? You need to be able to call a repair specialist to ensure that the problem is fixed right away. Make sure you have a network of trusted vendors on standby for these
urgent situations.
Communication
Make sure your lines of
communication with renters remain open. Just because you have contacted a vendor to handle a burst pipe, this does not mean the issue is over.
Provide regular updates to the renter from the arrival time of the vendor to asking for feedback after a few days whether the problem is completely resolved.
Landlord Duties
Even if you have several tasks to attend to, you need to ensure that property emergencies are prevented and handled correctly if they occur. Learning the difference between what can wait during regular business hours vs. what requires your immediate attention is also vital to ensure your resources are well-managed.
Proper Documentation
In an emergency situation, landlords may communicate verbally, but they also need to be able to capture and document the incident for future reference. It is advisable to record all that happened, along with an estimate of the cost of repairs. Landlords should also follow up to make sure the matter has been completely fixed.
Hiring A Property Manager
During a maintenance emergency, a seasoned property management company like First & Main Property Management becomes an invaluable ally. Their experienced team ensures swift and efficient resolution of issues, ranging from plumbing mishaps to electrical failures.
Proactive in approach, routine
property inspections allow for early detection of potential problems, averting crises before they escalate. The seamless coordination with skilled contractors ensures timely repairs, minimizing disruptions for tenants.
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