Most landlords know that they are in charge of taking care of property repairs and maintenance.

While the bulk of the requests made by your tenants will be simple and affordable to resolve, there will be a few that are expensive and urgent. These requests are considered emergencies, so you must answer them quickly and effectively.

For a set portion of your monthly gross rent, Branson MO property managers offer a full-service property staff that responds to inquiries, handles repairs, and handles any property-related concerns on your behalf. However, how can you assess if a tenant maintenance request is urgent? And how do you deal with one?

Some repairs are both ordinary and not urgent. For instance, replacing the furnace filter regularly is a good idea. However, even if the filter is really unclean, it may be able to wait a few days.

How can you determine whether a repair request is actually an emergency?

You can classify a situation as an emergency if it prevents a renter from having access to any of the following:

Running water

Everyone must always have access to running water, except for brief, well-planned shutoffs. If your renter loses access to flowing water, you must swiftly re-establish that access.

Hot water

Branson MO property managers also know tenants have a right to hot water. You should work on replacing the hot water tank as soon as possible if it needs to be fixed; you can't wait a week.

Heat

For obvious reasons, having access to heat is also regarded as essential. This is typically only a wintertime issue, but if your renters cannot get heat when they most need it, you must fix the furnace as soon as possible.

Electricity

In the same way, electricity is essential. The electric provider is liable for completing the necessary repairs if passing storms or natural calamities knock out energy for the entire region. However, treat the electrical outage as an emergency if it is your fault.

Bathroom facilities

For daily living, your tenants must have access to a bathroom with a functioning toilet, shower, and bathtub. The problems that prohibit this access must be fixed immediately.

Basic services/facilities

There may also be times when your tenants need emergency repairs for more fundamental amenities and services. Stoves and ovens that aren't working, missing or broken windows, and malfunctioning doors and locks must be fixed immediately.

You can also treat a problem, flaw, or damage to the property as an emergency repair request if it endangers the health or safety of your renter.

How to handle emergency requests from your tenants?

Provide emergency contact information

Since repairs can occur at any time and without prior notice, it's critical to proactively give your tenants emergency contact information. You should provide your tenants particular contact details and instructions far in advance of any emergency ever occurring.

What should they do to contact you? How are they to submit this request? Preferably include a phone number.

Respond immediately

You should react quickly if your tenant contacts you with an emergency request. This communicates your knowledge of the problem and your efforts to resolve it to the renter. Inform them and set their expectations if you cannot do the repair immediately.

Visit the property (if possible)

Consider visiting the property if you are nearby to learn more about the required repairs. Otherwise, ask your tenant for pictures or videos so you can better understand what's going on.

Coordinate a repair plan

You can assemble a repair strategy after you have the necessary information in front of you. Depending on your ability level, you could accomplish this, or you could need to engage a contractor or maintenance person.

Provide updates to the tenant

Whatever your strategy, keep the tenant informed by sending updates. Set their expectations for when the repair will be finished and let them know whether they need to find a hotel to stay in while they wait.

What kind of repairs are considered emergencies? When you've addressed this particular situation, be sure to let your tenant know what constitutes an emergency repair. Point the tenant in a more appropriate direction politely