Responsibility for babysitting servicemen / installers?

[Rick E.]

I own and self-manage four single-family-home rentals. I had a situation recently come up where a property's refrigerator's (actually just the freezer side's) compressor died.

The earliest a new refrigerator could be delivered was a Monday (within 3-hour window of time that would be communicated the night before). The tenants, who both work full time, asked me to be at the house to take delivery/installation of the new appliance. I explained that I was unable to, and that's when the tenants claimed that "the landlord is responsible for repairs". I explained that I felt it a reasonable expectation on tenants to make the house available for the repairs to be made. In the end though, since I was not positive what the law would say here, I agreed to be at the house to take the delivery/install (which meant I had to take the afternoon off from my full-time job).

I have researched about this quite a bit; however, I can't find anything definitive on this. I guess the question comes down to: who is responsible for babysitting repairmen, installers, service technicians that need to work inside the property, especially since many companies won't go into the property if someone is not there?

I am just about to execute a lease renewal with this tenant - I'd like to potentially include a clause to assure the arrangement / responsibility is clear for the future. Thanks for any insight or guidance!

Rick

[Kyle Hipp]

If I were in your shoes I would have asked when they could be available and see if I can work it into their schedule to help you out. If that could not work, try to get something that works in your schedule. If that doesn't work have a trusted friend or family member meet the repair or installation person for you. At the end of the day this is a service industry and the best service gets the highest pay.

If you wanted to exercise your rights or show off your understanding of the law you could explain the you are only legally required to handle this issue within 7-14 days of notice. This varies by state and municipality but you could wait. However this would be within your legal rights but also not a good experience for your tenant thus a bad service, and bad service is not rewarded well.