What Does “Routine Maintenance” Mean to You?

As the landlord of an apartment complex, it’s up to you to provide your tenants with a good living experience by providing routine maintenance. The official definition of routine maintenance is “recurring work a building owner does to keep an entire building, or each system in a building, in ordinarily efficient operating condition.” Here’s what tenants really expect from you, their landlord, and what you should do to meet those expectations:

Check Apartments Before Tenants Move In

Before a tenant moves into the apartment they have rented, you should always do routine maintenance on the apartment leading up to the move in date. That way, you can catch and fix any issues before the tenant moves in. Plus, tenants expect the apartment to be in good condition when they move in.

Have a checklist available that details the condition of the apartment before the tenant moves in and after the move out. It’s also a good idea to take pictures for documentation of the condition of the apartment.

Recognize Normal “Wear & Tear”

The apartment in which your tenants live will be their home for the next year or more. With that in mind, recognizing what is normal wear and tear will help you regularly maintain the building. Tenants will appreciate you knowing what is normal so their security deposit isn’t misused. If you must deduct from their security deposit to fix a broken door, make sure you give the tenant a description of and reason for the deduction.

Give Tenants Notice of Routine Maintenance

Before you go begin routine maintenance, it’s important that you let tenants know that you plan to do so. For example, if the apartment gym is due for a cleaning or upgrade, let the tenants know a few days beforehand:

• When the maintenance will be taking place
• For how long
• What tenants can expect from the maintenance (e.g. new equipment or updated security)

That way, tenants aren’t taken by surprise and can take steps to work in other plans to get in their fitness needs.

Give Tenants an Easy Way to Report Maintenance Needs

If you want to keep good tenants, it’s important that you give them an easy way to report maintenance needs in their building and individual apartment. For example, have an after-hours hotline or even a sheet they can fill out and submit to the office.

Next Up: The 3 Most Useful Upgrades for Your Aging Apartment Building

The post What Does “Routine Maintenance” Mean to You? appeared first on True Fitness.