Where to draw the line? Tenant Wants to Take Over

[Yolanda W Cuevas]

Where should I draw the line? Always, a few days before rent is due I get a maintenance request.

My tenant is a self-described handy person and he also works in an appliance repair and sales shop. He is the first tenant in my newly -remodeled SFH with all new appliances.

1st month, he let me know that the closet shelves fell down when he hung up his clothes so he went to Home Depot and purchased materials to fix them. I sent my apologies and discounted the rent by $100 to reimburse him for the materials. 

2nd month, the bathroom vanities were leaking....totally legitimate repair request so I sent a plumber to fix them. While the plumber was there, he asked the plumber to fix some other small problem that was not discussed with me. 

3rd month, he suddenly discovered that the brand new oven does not heat to the exact temperature. This time I went in person with an oven thermometer to test it for myself and also to make it not so easy for him. I also wanted him to pay full rent before I paid for another service call. The oven temp appeared to be off by about 40 degrees but otherwise works fine. I let him know I would get someone out to look at it and confirmed with him that this was not an urgent repair as he could still use the oven.

I scheduled a diagnostic for today and now the tenant wants to know if they are bringing parts, what parts he suggests they should bring, what he thinks the problem is, etc. I'm trying to keep this professional by using 3rd party maintenance but I do think this tenant is looking for problems and/or angling for me to discount rent.

Any advice on how seasoned landlords would handle this tyoe of tenant?

[Jeff Copeland]

This is all pretty normal and routine stuff. 

It's also one of the challenges of self-managing. As a property manager, our maintenance staff is trained to say "put in a work order...I can't do anything until the manager and owner approve it". This stuff is going to happen when the tenant has a direct line of communication to you, but it also doesn't appear to be anything too dramatic or problematic. It's just #LandlordLife!

As far as the appliance repair, it's pretty easy to say "Look, I have no idea what parts they carry on their truck or whether they'll be able to make the repair in one visit. It's a warranty repair and they have to follow their policies and procedures." (Which he should understand if he is in the business).

It's also perfectly reasonable for you to put a written policy in place that any repairs the tenant wants to be reimbursed for have to be approved in advance, in writing, with a cap on the dollar amount. 

And make sure you understand the liability associated with allowing the tenant to make repairs: https://vimeo.com/295658671

(Since you are in Florida, I highly recommend Evict TV (google it) - there are literally hundreds of free videos like the one above by an attorney on Florida-specific landlord-tenant topics!)