Landlord Tips on Tenant Complaints

What Do I Do if My Tenant Complains About Silly Things?

When dealing with many tenants, it is not unusual to have a tenant who wants extra attention from the landlord or property manager. Some people like to complain for various reasons. Sometimes it is merely a matter of loneliness. Other times, the tenants may want to make you work for their hard earned rent money. This amounts to a service call, your time and expense that should have been applied somewhere else more productively.

What is the solution for this situation?
The are many ways to deal with the frivolous complainer.

• Talk with the tenant. Warn him or her that each minor complaint that gets logged in their file counts as an "incident" and can actually add to the rent increase when the renewal option comes up for review.
• Some property managers require tenants to notify them of any defects in the property in writing.
• Some managers require the tenant to submit all requests for work in writing.
• The LPA Lease provides that repairs less than $175. are deemed minor repairs and as such are the tenant's responsibility.
• In serious cases, I have sent a copy of a Work Order form as a bill to the tenant with a service charge for the service call, the time spent @ $x. per minute. The form also has an area that is checked off if this job is the owner/management's responsibility or the tenant's responsibility.

Of course the tenant will be upset about any charges billed. You can then warn the tenant not to call for minor complaints that fall under their responsibility, or future charge will apply.

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