When to authorize after-hours calls to plumber or electrician?

Question

I live in California and have a "professional renter" (he is very knowledgeable about the lease and laws and acts strictly within those bounds - I perceive him to be a potential lawsuit threat) in my rental property. Fortunately, I have a natural tendency to do the right thing and in a timely manner so his complaints to have "safety" issues addressed are not too much of an inconvenience for me (although the renter himself is an annoyance). I am going to go on vacation for 10 days and I want to be clear on when I should authorize calling a plumber or electrician after business hours to address an issue. Obviously, I am going to authorize an after-hours call to a plumber if there is a leak that results in water accumulating under the bathroom sink (preventing property damage is a no-brainer); however, if a toilet is clogged, the water heater stopped working, electric power is no longer coming into a section of the house, then I dont want to pay the premium to have the tradesperson come after-hours (I dont feel like paying a premium for the convenience to my renter) when the call can be made the following day or on Monday if the issue occurs on Sunday morning.

I know that by law (regardless of what a lease may say) landlords are supposed to provide basic amenities (hot water, electricity) to renters, but what are the timelines that such services need to be made available to the renter when there is a plumbing or electrical failure?

I want and will be in compliance to the fullest extent of the law, but to be truthfully honest, I dont want to go any further for this particular renter than what I am legally supposed to do and I want to be ready if the late night plumbing call comes and I am on vacation.

I know that by law (regardless of what a lease may say) landlords are supposed to provide basic amenities (hot water, electricity) to renters, but what are the timelines that such services need to be made available to the renter when there is a plumbing or electrical failure?

I want and will be in compliance to the fullest extent of the law, but to be truthfully honest, I dont want to go any further for this particular renter than what I am legally supposed to do and I want to be ready if the late night plumbing call comes and I am on vacation.

Ned J. · Answer

It comes down to 3 factors

#1..... damage to the property...... the issue needs to be fixed NOW or the damage will escalate quickly

#2...safety..... is the issue an immediate safety problem

#3...habitability..... does the issue effect the immediate habitability of the tenant. That's one gets a little trickier when it comes to things like heat/AC.... in most situations being cold/hot for a day or 2 sucks but isn't life threatening.....obviously there are exceptions, but most of the time its not a true emergency...urgent but not emergency. There is a BIG difference between urgent and emergency.... but tenants aren't paying the bill, so they see everything as an emergency

So unless the unit will be damaged.... or you have to vacate the unit due to your safety or habitability, don't call an emergency contractor...it can be taken care of the next day or within a few days AFTER I approve it

Kyle J. · Answer

Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to this question. There's just too many factors to take into consideration. Ultimately whether it's an emergency or not will boil down to whether it affects the habitability of the home (you can read more about that here). But even then it can depend on many factors.

For example, according to law, lack of a functioning heater may make a home uninhabitable in California. So what if your tenant calls you while you're on vacation and says the heater is broken? Do you authorize an emergency repair or not? Would it make a difference to you if your vacation was in July when it's 100+ degrees outside at your rental property, or in December when it's 20 degrees outside at your rental property? It should. One situation probably warrants an emergency call and one probably does not.

What if your vacation was in July when it was 100 degrees outside and your tenant calls and says the AC is out on a Sunday and he's demanding you call an emergency repair tech because he's hot and uncomfortable. Do you call one? What if you call one and they tell you they can come out the same day but it'll be triple the regular rate, or they can come the next day (Monday) at the regular rate? What do you do if the tenant says Monday is unacceptable because he's hot today! Hopefully you'd know that AC is not one of the conditions of habitability for a home in California and you'd tell your tenant that the repair person will be coming out the following day on Monday and save yourself from unnecessarily paying triple time.

Lastly, since you mentioned clogged toilets, what if your tenant called you while you're on vacation and said his kid just flushed a toy down the toilet and now the toilet is clogged and he's demanding you call out a plumber immediately. You've studied the law on habitability and you know that landlords are required to provide functioning plumbing, so you think you'd better call, right? Well, if you use the standard California Assoc of Realtors Lease Agreement, you can take comfort in calling because you're not going to have to pay for it since the tenant caused the clog and he's responsible for paying for it. So tell him you can call the plumber or he can, but he's paying for it. (Hopefully if you don't use the CAR lease then your lease has a similar clause that holds the tenant responsible for toilet/plumbing clogs/blockages that they cause.)

So, as you can see, there's far too many variables to give you a simple answer as to when to authorize the afterhours service calls and when not to. Ultimately, the best advice I can give you is to know your lease and the laws BETTER than your "very knowledgeable" tenant.

Enjoy your vacation!

Brendon Pishny · Answer

I had this happen. A tenant called me the Friday night before Memorial weekend on an AC issue that I feel they should have known about the day before or at least earlier that day. I told them it wasn't an emergency that evening. Then rethought it and had a technician go out over the weekend. Most of the bigger HVAC companies in our area don't charge extra for weekend calls. This was for long term tenants that have been good so far. They were very appreciative, and I think the extra effort was worth the relationship. My opinion is, even if it costs a little more money, just make the call and get the repairs done. It takes the stress off you especially while you're on vacay. Hope that helps.

When to authorize after-hours calls to plumber or electrician?

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