Electrical Fire? I don't think so.

This is the story of how I dealt with a tenant that thought her house was going to catch on fire.

I received a basic email in my inbox the other day. "One of the lights isnt working. Please help." I only responded with "What is the problem?" After some back and forth of not getting answers, I did nothing.

Another month rolls by, "The problem isnt fixed. yadayada. Sob story, feel bad for me, I dont want the house to catch fire." I reached out to my electricians and they told me to check the GFIs ( the outlets that get tripped from electrical surges) and the breakers. 

I asked the tenant if they could check that stuff first, before I send someone out. "Oh yes we did. It is really dark and blahblah." You can tell I dont have much faith in the stories of a tenant. 

This is where I get tough but soft. "You will need to call an electrician if you cant tell me what the problem is. The owner will not pay to send someone out just to see what the problem is. If they can tell me why there is a problem and it is something we are responsible for, we will gladly take care of it."

The response was something like "We dont have money for an electrician, what if I get raped or robbed or the house catches fire, we dont have insurance for that." All I think is "I have insurance on the property and I dont believe her."

Then she tried to strong-arm me by threatening to withhold rent. I review the Florida tenant law and my lease, and I have no responsibility to call someone if a light goes out. I tell her rent is due on the first and if you are wrong, it will cost you much more than hiring an electrician. 

I was glad I won that battle. I got the rent in full and setup an appointment to see the property that way I will know what is actually going on. The lady writes 6 pages, never uses punctuation or line breaks. It looks like one ugly mess that I only read a few sentences of before closing it. I can always get the message anyway.

I make my appointment and check out the place. 2 of the outside lights dont work but they have power. I have them put in new bulbs and hallelujah! Let there be light. I give them the "cmon man, seriously?" look and ask them why they didnt do that before blasting my inbox and trying to withhold rent? 

I thank them for their time ( that's right) and left.