Repairs during Tenancy: Who Pays for what Repairs?

Most of us, at some point in time, have rented a home. And while renting a home, more than likely a repair or two was needed, right? Some of those repairs were minor, while others were major. Now, raise your hand, if you called your landlord/property management company for the small and significant repairs? Why not, after all, it’s not your “house”, you're just “renting”?

Or maybe, you are handy, and you just took care of the smaller things because you don’t want to be bothered with someone coming to your home to repair something.

It can be frustrating trying to schedule repairs. Most repair people only work Monday through Friday, 9 am to 5 pm, just like you and me. This timeframe translates into you having to take time off from work, to have a sprinkler head changed, for example. I am sure the thought “heck, no, not happening,” just ran through your mind. And we agree!

We have a plan

We realize that taking some time off from work is not realistic for most of us, especially for repairs. Sometimes this is a necessary evil of living in a home or apartment, whether you own or are renting. Things break over time and will require fixing.

If you own the home and are handy, you run out to the hardware store, purchase your supplies, come home and fix the issue. If it’s a bigger issue, you might call in the professionals. If you rent, more than likely you will call your landlord or property management company. But wouldn’t it be great if you could take care of the less complicated things and get reimbursed for the supplies?

At Management One, You Can

We created a system that allows you to repair items under $50 and receive reimbursement for the supplies needed to complete the repair. Not for special tools or for your time, but the actual supplies themselves. “Resident Responsibility” repairs will not be reimbursed. Meaning, if you drove over the sprinkler head and broke it, that’s on you to fix, not the owner. However, we will reimburse a repair if the sprinkler head breaks from normal wear and tear.

So how does this work exactly?

It’s simple. You purchase the materials, complete the repair, submit the receipts online, by clicking here: Reimbursement Form, then upload your receipt(s).

A few things to note:

1. Before and after pictures are needed to prove repairs were complete

2. We will not reimburse any receipts are older than 90-days ago from the date on the receipt

3. You broke it; you fix it

4. Turn around time is approximately 30-45 days for the reimbursement.

Here is a quick reference for items that are reimbursable. https://www.managementone.com/files/50-no-Hassle.pdf

Disclosure! You are not to deduct repairs from your rent! That is a huge NO!

Nickel-ing and Dime-ing

Keep in mind; this program is not an opportunity to nickel and dime the landlord. It’s an opportunity to maintain the house which you call home. Annual repairs such as seed, cover, and fertilizer are reimbursable. Which begs the question, “Have you ever heard of any other management company or landlord that offers this?” Probably not. Some companies require you to cover all repairs, up to the first $90 to $100 dollars and will not reimburse you for any of it.

Not here, we appreciate Residents who take pride in their rental, so much so, that we created a program known as “ the BOB award” or Best on the Block. We honor one resident a month with a $25 Starbucks gift card for maintaining the exterior of their home.

While we might not issue a card for taking care of the interior of the property, we do offer the reimbursement, which is a big deal. Therefore, any repairs you can take care of yourself, we are more than happy to give you your money back, up to $50. You're saving us time and the owner on money. However, if you have a repair that is going to be more than $50 we would appreciate that you call it in, so we can have a vendor address it, and it would fall under a warranty they would give.

Remember the entire point of this program is hassle-free, no wait time, on the small items. Instead of calling your landlord or management company, submitting your maintenance request, the company calling a vendor, waiting 72 hours for the vendor to contact you to schedule an appointment, finally get the work completed, you would have already had the minor repair done and finished with at the snap of your fingers!

Final Words

Taking care of the minor repairs such as AC filters, lawn seed, fertilizer, broken sprinkler heads, etc. is relatively simple. Items such as these don’t require a handyperson to do the job thus saving you time and money. You don’t have to take time off from work to meet the repairman when you can take care of them yourself and get paid back!