If the agreement says they will notify you before performing maintenance and they fail, then there should be a process wherein you try to get them to correct their behavior or you can fire them without penalty.

But you can attenuate that pattern of behavior in your rentals with good vetting.To further your point Jim this is where I see newbie landlords who have absolutely no clue how most tenants at least those that can only afford 600 to 800 dollar rents live their lives and how they think.landlord wants to charge for any little thing that gets busted by the kids.. tenants have no money  .. so then they start to get upset and look for a new place.. maybe break the lease all together.. 

What the behavioral patterns are of the ones that are successful? 

Lets just say that the very things in life that keep people poor is the normal behavior at the office. 

But my experience has also been that by imitating the successful behaviors of people I have actually met and know to be successful (versus sorting out what works/doesn't work, what's real/not real, which is the best of a multitude of opinions - and which are qualified opinions or unqualified opinions), I am also more successful and avoid some of the "muck".  

This is opposed to signing a quick renewal because they can't move and causing disgruntled feelings that encourage poor behavior (delinquent rent, complaints, more maintenance reports, treating the property badly, and non-renewal in the future). 

That kind of behavior makes sellers apprehensive to work with any investor.

It is pure behavior economics, they "trick" themselves into paying more each month which leads to faster payoff and lower amount paid.   

You can always invest after paying off bed debts, as investment will be a long term goal and getting rich and staying rich is behavior and process.

No doubt, exercise and wise personal financial behavior are generally good, but they can be taken to excess - we've all seen it.It's a tricky thing to keep the servant and the master in their proper places.