How to deal with petty tenant requests...

[William C.]

Do any seasoned landlords out there have any advice on how they’d handle this situation? Truth is, I hear from these tenants about once a month or so, maybe less, for stuff like this. With 1 or 2 properties, stuff like this isn’t really an issue. 2 hours trip to the property round trip included to make this repair is no big deal. But with 25 properties, this could become a full time job.

[Account Closed]

Originally posted by @William C.:

I'm trying hard not to curse you. I deleted the first response because I'm trying to be a nicer person on the internet. You are being an absentee slumlord.

It's not their fault the chain broke. Accusing them of breaking it is deflecting your responsibility on to them in the lowest way possible. Expecting them to pull the lid and reach their hand into the tank water to flush the toilet every time they use it is vile.

If I was your tenant the word I would use to describe you starts with an A.

You chose to invest and self manage out of market. Now you want to make the tenant bear the responsibility of that choice and worse, are accusing them of being petty.

I might start pouring grease down every drain in the house if you were my landlord and treated me like this.

What you could do instead of accusing, deflecting and insulting, is work with them on the phone and maybe, just maybe, you can work together and have them fix it. Now that you've insulted them, that ship may have sailed.

Or get off your lazy duff and go down there and fix it. Or call a plumber and pay them to do it. You might have been halfway there in the time it took you to write and manage this thread.