Maintenance and repairs are vital to owning a successful rental property. However, when you own more than one rental, fulfilling every tenant’s request for maintenance can be challenging, and it may lead to delays. If you experience tenant complaints due to maintenance delays, knowing how to handle them is important. Today, we’ll discuss some common reasons for delays, how to handle tenant complaints, and when to hire help for rental property repairs or maintenance.
Contents of This Article:
- Common Reasons for Maintenance Delays
- How to Handle Complaints About Maintenance Delays
- How to Prioritize Maintenance Requests
- When to Hire Outside Help for Repairs and Maintenance
- How Can Professional Management Help?
Common Reasons for Maintenance Delays
As Baltimore property managers, we understand how frustrating it can be for tenants to wait on maintenance or repairs. Landlords and property managers aren’t perfect–some things may be accidentally forgotten, or schedules can become overbooked. However, certain factors, like supply chain issues or unforeseen complications, are out of our control.
Whether there’s a staff shortage or a delay in receiving the right parts, there’s typically a reasonable explanation. Here are some common reasons for maintenance delays in rental properties.
- Supply Chain Issues- Sometimes, there are delays in getting the right materials or parts, especially for more complex maintenance issues.
- High Volume of Requests- In multi-family properties, especially during peak seasons, several issues may arise at the same time, making it difficult to promptly address all repairs.
- Scheduling Conflicts- Finding a time for repairs that works for both the tenant and maintenance staff can be tricky.
- Unforeseen Complications– Not every repair or maintenance request is simple. Sometimes, you may see a deeper issue, which can extend the repair timeline.
- Complexity of the Repair- Some maintenance issues may require further investigation or multiple steps to fully resolve, which can prolong the process.
How to Handle Complaints About Maintenance Delays
Most tenants don’t like to wait long for maintenance or repairs to be completed. As such, you may experience some complaints if things are taking longer than expected. Instead of matching their frustration, it is important to handle the situation with respect and professionalism. Here are some of the steps you can take.
Acknowledge Their Complaint- Give Honest Updates
- Empathize With Them
- Set Realistic Expectations
- Improve Your Maintenance Process
Acknowledge Their Complaint
First and foremost, it’s important to acknowledge your tenant’s complaint and understand why they’re upset. Respond to their complaint as soon as possible, explain why the repair is taking a bit longer than expected, and try to give them an estimated timeline. After all, it’s important that they know their concerns are being taken seriously during this time.
Give Honest Updates
Once you’ve acknowledged your tenant’s original complaint, keep them informed about the progress of their maintenance request. If there are any delays or potential delays, it’s important to be transparent about them to avoid issues with the tenant later on.
Empathize With Them
Waiting for repairs to be done can be extremely frustrating for a tenant, especially if there’s nothing they can do to speed up the process. As such, it’s important to show understanding and empathy during this time. A simple “I understand your frustrations, and I’m going to do the best I can to take care of this for you” can go a long way.
Set Realistic Expectations
You might not even know when a repair can be completed. If there are supply shortage issues or multiple steps, it can be hard to give an exact end date for that particular maintenance issue. However, you can give your tenant realistic expectations, a timeline of steps being taken, and a rough estimate of when they should be done.
Improve Your Maintenance Process
If you’re consistently getting tenant complaints about maintenance delays, it’s time to improve your maintenance process. Whether you have to hire more contractors or improve your maintenance tracking system, you’ll want to find ways to streamline the process to become more efficient.
How to Prioritize Maintenance Requests
If you own or manage several rental properties, you probably get a ton of maintenance requests. But how do you prioritize maintenance tasks and decide which ones are most important? You’ll want to consider the urgency, impact on habitability, and the order in which they come in. Here are a few ways to categorize them to help you decide what’s most urgent compared to routine maintenance tasks.
- High-Urgency– Issues that make the property inhabitable must be taken care of right away. Some examples include a gas leak, major water leaks or flooding, no heat in the winter, electrical issues resulting in fire hazards, etc.
- Medium-Priority- Some non-emergency issues that impact a tenant’s comfort or the property’s condition may need to be addressed within a few days. Some examples include broken appliances, minor plumbing issues, or pest issues.
- Low-Priority– Some issues are minor and may not direct affect a tenant’s safety or comfort but still need attention. Some examples include smaller cosmetic repairs, like chipped paint, broken blinds or window screens, landscaping concerns, or speaky doors.
- Routine Maintenance- Your tenant may not request a routine maintenance task, but it’s still important to have these on your schedule. Routine maintenance includes things like changing HVAC air filters, checking smoke detectors, or replacing the carpets during tenant turnover.
When to Hire Outside Help for Repairs and Maintenance
As a rental property owner or manager, handling maintenance and repairs efficiently is crucial to tenant satisfaction and preserving property value. That said, while some tasks can be handled in-house, there may be some scenarios where hiring outside help is necessary to ensure the job is done correctly and safely.
Some repairs require specialized knowledge or expertise that your maintenance staff may not have. For instance, you’ll probably need to hire a professional contractor for things like electrical work, plumbing repairs, HVAC repairs, or structural issues.
Additionally, certain emergency services that may threaten tenant safety or the integrity of the property should be handled by licensed professionals to ensure compliance. A professional should take care of issues like gas leaks, electrical outages, or mold caused by water damage to comply with safety standards.
How Can Professional Management Help?
If you’re experiencing an uptick in tenant complaints from maintenance delays, it’s time to switch up your process or priority list. Completing every maintenance request that you get in a timely manner can be difficult. However, it’s important to preserve the value of your property and the happiness of your tenants.
Are you struggling to maintain all of your rental properties? A professional property management company, like Bay Property Management Group, can help! We offer comprehensive services, including rental marketing, tenant screening, rent collection, maintenance, and more. Contact BMG today to learn more about our services throughout Baltimore, Philadelphia, Northern Virginia, and Washington, DC.
