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What Qualifies as an Emergency Maintenance Request?

Rental home resident holding a bucket under a water leak.It is widely known among property managers that an immediate approach is essential when a resident calls with an emergency maintenance request. But which maintenance requests are emergencies, necessitating immediate attention, and which can be dealt with at a later time? This presents a rather complicated situation for property owners, as some problems, despite causing discomfort or inconvenience, are not true emergencies. Yet, other maintenance issues are sufficiently serious to be addressed immediately or risk violating Landlord/Tenant laws or habitability codes. Knowing the dissimilarity between the two can authorize you to properly handle all your renter’s maintenance requests.

What defines an emergency repair?

One way to know when you have a true emergency on your hands or not is to evaluate to what degree the maintenance issue could cause injury, severe property damage, or pose a risk to your resident’s health and safety. Any matter that fits with this description would typically be considered an emergency. Common emergencies involve:

  • Gas Leak
  • Frozen or Broken Water Lines
  • Flooding or Water Emergencies
  • Fire
  • Carbon Monoxide Detection
  • Sewer Back-up
  • No Heat in Cold Weather
  • No Air Conditioning in Extremely Hot Temperatures
  • Extended Power Outage
  • Intruder Break-In

Determining an Emergency from Non-Emergency

You must realize that certain maintenance items may be emergencies in one context while being less vital in another. For example, a broken air conditioner is not an emergency during the cold season. However, it unquestionably is amidst a heatwave where temperatures reach dangerous levels.

Failing to respond immediately to emergencies like these – even those that arise during nighttime – could violate habitability laws and, in due course, give rise to serious legal trouble. This is specifically accurate if your failure to act prompts your tenant to take matters into their own hands and arrange or make the repairs themselves.

Non-Emergency Maintenance Types

On the other hand, other maintenance issues that, while bothersome, typically do not rise to the level of emergencies unless there are extenuating circumstances. For example, a malfunctioning appliance, no hot water, or minimal drips may be troublesome for your residents but usually do not fall under the category of an emergency repair. These maintenance issues must be reported as regular maintenance requests, which you can tackle during business hours.

For rental property owners, being mindful of what constitutes an emergency maintenance issue and how to respond appropriately is important to successful property management. If you cannot meet such demands quickly or have other obligations on your time, it might be best to hire a quality property management company servicing the Smithfield area and neighboring regions. Contact us online or call 757-206-2071 for more information about what Real Property Management Tidal recommends for rental property owners like you.

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