Key Takeaways
- Prompt repair reporting protects everyone by preventing small issues from turning into costly damage and keeping tenants satisfied.
- Tenants delay reporting repairs due to fear of blame, bad past experiences, unclear impact of issues, or complicated reporting systems.
- Clear expectations and strong communication, thorough leases, pre-lease discussions, and tenant orientation, encourage timely reporting.
- Easy reporting and proactive maintenance build cooperation, reduce emergencies, and help maintain the property long-term.
As a landlord, the tenants in your rental property serve as your eyes and ears to help you stay up-to-date on the physical condition of the rental. They need to promptly report all issues in the property so that you can handle them before they get worse.
This arrangement keeps everyone happy by ensuring that tenants get prompt responses to their repair requests, and so you can keep maintenance costs low and protect your assets from serious damage.
Sometimes the tenants in your rental will fail to play their part. They may report the issues in your property late or not at all. When these problems are discovered, they may have caused major damage that will cost a lot of money to fix.
Louise Beck Properties has put together this article to help you ensure your tenants report repairs.
Why Tenants Don’t Report Repairs Promptly
Here are the most common reasons tenants give for not reporting repairs promptly:
Fear of Being Blamed
This is the number one reason tenants give for delaying reporting the problems in the rented home. They assume that the landlord will blame them for the problem and force them to pay for the repairs.
Previous Bad Experiences
The second most common reason is the landlord’s failure to respond efficiently to past repair requests. If a landlord will not do anything about the reported problems, what is the point of reporting?
They Underestimate the Problem
Some tenants underestimate the impact that seemingly minor issues can have on the structures of a building. As a result, they overlook the so-called small problems and fail to inform the landlord about them.
The Reporting Process is Hard
If the process for requesting repairs is hard, tenants may postpone reporting problems. To avoid the pain of going through the reporting process, they will wait before reporting the issue.
They are Irresponsible
Tenants who routinely violate the terms by damaging the rental or infringing on the rights of other tenants will not report the problems in their rental unit on time, especially if those problems are caused by them.
How to Encourage Tenants to Report Repairs Promptly
To get the tenants in your rental property to report repairs more quickly, you need a multi-pronged plan. You want to make it a contractual obligation for tenants to report repairs on time and create a system of incentives.
Set Clear Expectations Early
Ensure that your tenants know how your rental operates. If you fail to educate tenants properly, they are free to form their own assumptions, and those conclusions may not always be accurate.
Create a Clear and Detailed Lease Agreement
The lease agreement serves as the roadmap for how landlords and tenants should interact. It explains the owner’s role versus the tenant’s duties for maintaining the property.
These details should be spelled out in terms that the tenant can understand. The lease agreement should be comprehensive, structured, and clear.
Have a Pre-Lease Discussion
Before they sign the lease, prospective tenants must know what to expect in your rental property.
The pre-lease discussion is where you help tenants understand their role in maintaining the property. You should discuss every aspect of the lease and listen to the tenants’ questions and objections.
Ensure Proper Orientation for New Tenants
A formal process for welcoming new tenants to your rental property helps a lot. This time should be used to reinforce your rental policies and explain the lease terms.
You also want to do a walkthrough of the rental with the tenant to record the physical condition of the unit before the tenant moves in.
Use Professional Tenant Screening
Proper tenant screening minimizes the risk of renting your property to a tenant who will willfully damage it and refuse to report problems on time.
It is a huge mistake when landlords forgo tenant screening or fail to vet prospective tenants thoroughly. That error can come to bite the landlord later.
Make Reporting Easy
Make Communication Systems Accessible
Communication should be based on technologies that tenants already use (email, phone, chat, and SMS).
Tenants must be able to post videos and photos of the problems they are reporting. To avoid confusion, tenants should know who to contact for specific issues in their unit.
Ensure Prompt Response and Regular Updates
When tenants report repairs, they should receive a response to acknowledge their message. This should be followed by a detailed update explaining the steps being taken to solve the problem and how long repairs will take.
Updates should continue throughout the repair period. When the work is completed, tenants should confirm that repairs were done to their satisfaction.
Ensure Prompt and Adequate Repairs
Do Preventive Maintenance
It is a mistake to wait for your tenants to report the issues in your property before you take action. You cannot outsource the task of property maintenance to your tenants.
Create a preventive maintenance plan based on scheduled inspections to help you catch problems early and fix them before they become costly emergencies.
Conduct Seasonal Inspections
Seasonal inspections let you assess a tenant’s handling of your property.
It lets you catch lease violations quickly, discuss the problem with the tenant, reinforce your rental policies, and address problems at their beginning stages when they are cheaper to fix.
Final Thoughts
You want to build a culture of cooperation with your tenants rather than one of competition. Avoid trying to catch your tenants breaking the lease terms.
Instead, focus on recruiting your tenants as partners to ensure the smooth operation of your rental property for the benefit of both parties.
For more information on how to encourage tenants to report repairs and get the help of a professional property management company, contact Louise Beck Properties today!
