Should I be present during maintenance if tenant isn't home?

[Wade Penner]

The tenant won't be home during some upcoming maintenance (heater replacement), which could take at least a few hours. It's a trustworthy company doing the installation.  I need to let the installer in, but is it advisable to wait around until they finish since the tenant isn't home?

It seems unrealistic for me to be present during all types of maintenance, but I just wanted to double check.

Thanks!
Wade

[Erik W.]

Let's re-frame the question.  Should ANYONE be in your tenant's home when the tenant or his/her representative isn't home?  Think about it...  your workers go over to do something.  Tenant later says, "I'm missing the $500 that was hidden in my drawer."

Uh-oh.  Want to play that game?   Thought not.

In our lease agreement, the tenant agrees to be present and allow access for all maintenance visits.  If they cannot be present, they must designate an adult (18 or older) representative to be present on their behalf.  We explain that this is not only for the security of their belonging, but also for the safety of our workers.  Would you believe some people set up things in their house that could be dangerous to someone who doesn't know about them?  Had one guy who had several hand guns, one of which was stored under his mattress.  My guys were moving the bed to access the electric panel that was on the wall behind it.  Tenant says, "Hold on, let me get that gun out of there before you start pushing the bed around.  It's loaded." 

DUDE! What could have happened to my guys if they'd have pushed something just the wrong way to pull off a trigger squeeze?  I don't want to be liable for that kind of crazy.

The other thing to consider is scalability of this strategy.  Once you get above 20 units, you won't want to run over and hang out 3-4 hours every time something needs to be fixed.

Bottom line: our guys NEVER go inside unless the tenant or their adult rep is present.  I also give them discretion to reschedule if the only person home is a young female.  Last thing I need is someone to claim they were "harassing" her.