Allowing handyman to enter when a tenant is not there

[Matt C.]

Hello BP Forums, 

I've have lived in apartments where I usually let maintenance fix the issues when i am not there or at work.

Now, renting out properties my property manager and handyman do not like doing that and wants someone there, even though the tenants work doing the day.

I understand where the handyman is coming from, someone might blame him for stealing something. My question is are there things you guys do to allow a handyman to access a property without a tenant present? Is verbal approval of being unsupervised enough? Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Cassi Justiz]

We require a tenant to be present for all maintenance calls if someone is accessing the interior of the home. There are too many things that could go wrong with someone unsupervised in an occupied home. I don't want something to get broken, theft accusation, a door left unlocked, pet got out, pet isn't secured, etc. have a he said/she said argument on who is responsible.  I think having a tenant home to "supervise" contractors just takes a lot of liability off everyone involved.

In an apartment complex, usually the maintenance crew is employed and insured by the apartment owners. With independent contractors, they are independently licensed and insured. If something were to go wrong, it would be on the contractor to file the insurance claim. If they don't feel like they were responsible, that's going to be really tricky. 

If it were a big enough issue and the tenant was not able to meet the contractor at the home, I'd offer to have someone (myself or a team member) there with the contractor.  However, I've yet to have a tenant not be able to make arrangements to be available for a service call.