Hot Water Boiler Broke - Tenant Seems Ignorant of Landlord Consideration

[Chan K.]

Hi BPer,

I would consider myself a decent landlord, where I would address every issue or concern that my tenants have.

Recently, my hot water boiler broke, so this issue negatively affect 2-3 units in the building. Two of the tenants seem to have no concern, but there is one tenant seems to be very ignorant about the situation.

Here is the story:

The first time the hot water issue was encountered, the lady called me at 7:45 PM telling me that she has no hot water. I told her I can come down at 8:00 AM in the morning. She seems very annoy by my answer. I told her that I could not just come instantly when you call, there is standard protocol .... etc.

The next day, I came by at 8 AM (on Saturday) to reset the boiler. Everything came up normally and everybody has hot water. Two days later, the boiler's light went off again. I got a call again. I told the lady this is something serious, and I have to call professional. She asks me when is it going to get fix. I told her I don't know, because I have to call the maintenance company, and make the appointment. Again, she seems very annoy. I got a schedule the same day a few hours later. The plumber came, and found no critical issue. He reset the light and charged me $95 for 25 minutes of work. This morning the same tank went busted, and gone (water starts coming out ..).

So, I have to replace a new tank, in which will require to order a new part, tank, schedule with the plumber, ..... I told everyone in the building including the lady that I am really sorry, but the boiler is broken and I proactively call around to get someone to come down and replace it. Everybody seems to understand, but this same lady is so ignorant and she demands that I get her hot water immediately.

I told her mam, even at my house when my boiler broke, I have to wait until the maintenance guy can come down and replace it. I told her nicely that I am really apologize for the inconvenience this might cause, but I have tried everything to my best to get the boiler up and running again.

Question:

When we have problem like hot water boiler (broken) or other similar issues, how soon does landlord have to get it up and running again?

From my view, I also have to call someone else, and I also have to wait until plumber's queue is clear to come down and fix my issue. Even though, I have the money, but it is not like I can force the plumber to come down instantly.

I look through "landlord responsibilities mass", I could not find the mention of such turn around timeline.

Can any experience property management or landlord give me some insight into this?

Thanks,

[Jon Holdman]

@Chan K.  you seem to have a very negative view toward this tenant.  You repeatedly refer to her as "ignorant" and say "people who don't have much common sense".  As a tenant, though, her expectations are not unreasonable.  She's paying for a unit that includes hot water.  There's no hot water.  She want's it fixed ASAP.  Just like you do when your cable or internet goes out.   Hopefully that negative view doesn't come across in your interactions.  These negative situations are when your customer relations skills are really tested.

There's a big difference between when your water heater breaks and when one breaks in your rental.  Control.  You can choose how to deal with your own broken water heater.  The tenant does not have that choice.  They're at your mercy to take care of it.

You say the boiler broke twice and then failed catastrophically (leaking.)  That sounds to me like you were trying to nurse a little more life out of an old unit.  I've been there with a sewer line that I knew I was going to have to eventually replace.   I should have been more proactive in dealing with this.  But it failed catastrophically, leaving the tenants with no sewer.  So, I had to scramble and get someone there ASAP and at least get them going.  And it ended up costing me more, probably over a grand more, because of my reluctance to proactively replace it.  That was the gamble I took.  I lost. 

No hot water is a big deal.  I would do everything I could to get it replaced ASAP even it meant paying a plumber more to do it today than less to do it three days from now.

I do have a clause in my lease that says I will keep the tenants apprised of the status of any repairs.  If you're done your best to get the repairs done as quickly as possible I would fall back on that clause.  Explain parts have to be ordered and then installed.  Give her a time frame for when it will be done.