Maintenance for tenants with dogs

[Pete Woelfel]

I have a number of units (SFH and duplex) where the tenants have dogs. This is allowed in their lease and they pay extra for them so I like that they have them. The problem I run into is with maintenance. Most of these tenants have normal 8-5 jobs and so the dogs are home alone during the day. The problem I'm running into is when maintenance is needed. Most of the handymen/repair companies in my area are standard rates 8-5 and will do night/weekend calls but only for an extra fee.

My question is for others that allow tenants to have dogs - how do you handle this when you need to send someone else over to the property, especially if the tenant isn't home?  These are nice dogs, but I feel like sending a stranger that the dog has never met over there, with potentially loud equipment is a recipe for disaster.  Anyone have methods they've used successfully to deal with this?

Thanks in advance!