The Maintenance Info I Require Before I Send a Vendor

A tenant texted me at 9 p.m. once: "the sink is leaking." That was the whole message. No unit number, no photo, no answer when I asked which sink. I didn't dispatch anyone that night. I waited until morning when I could see the problem with my own eyes. That taught me something: vague maintenance requests are the most expensive kind.

The bare minimum before I schedule anything

When I managed rental units, I learned to require a photo before I even open my vendor's calendar. The vendor is the plumber, electrician, or handyman I send to the unit. I also ask for a short video for anything that leaks or makes noise. And I need the exact unit and fixture.

A photo tells me if it's a slow drip or a waterfall. A video lets me hear the sound—a hissing pipe tells a different story than a rattling fan. "The bathroom sink" doesn't help in a building with fourteen identical bathrooms. I want "Unit 3B, hall bath, left sink."

Beyond that, I ask two questions: Is water still running? Have you tried the shutoff or the breaker? The shutoff is the small valve under the sink that stops water to that fixture. The breaker is the switch in the electrical panel that cuts power to a circuit. Those answers change how fast I move. If water is still running and the tenant hasn't touched the shutoff, I talk them through turning the valve. If they already tried and water is still flowing, that's an emergency and I dispatch now.

Why I put this in the lease

After too many one-line requests, I added a clause to my lease. It says a tenant must provide a photo or short video, the unit and fixture, and the answers to those two questions before I schedule a repair. If they don't, the ticket stays open. Not because I'm difficult. Because a vendor trip costs real money and often the problem is fixed in two minutes by the tenant once they know where the shutoff is.

Holding the ticket until the details arrive teaches tenants to comply. The first time a tenant sends "toilet broken" and I reply "send me a photo and your unit number," they learn. If I schedule anyway, they'll keep sending one-line requests. I hold every time. Consistency matters more than speed.

I had a tenant push back once. She said I was making her jump through hoops. I explained that a photo saves her a day off work waiting for a vendor who might not have the part. She sent the photo. The repair was done in one visit. She never pushed back again.

What I actually ask for

My standard reply now reads like this: "Thanks for letting me know. Before I schedule anyone, please send a photo (or a short video if it's leaking or noisy), your unit number, which fixture, whether water is still running, and whether you've tried the shutoff or breaker." That's it. It takes a tenant two minutes to answer.

One tenant sent a photo of a puddle under the kitchen sink. I saw the water was from a loose P-trap—the U-shaped pipe under the sink—not a supply line leak. I told him to hand-tighten the slip nut. Fixed in five minutes. No vendor. Another sent "no power in bedroom." I asked for a photo of the breaker panel. The breaker for that room was off. I walked her through resetting it. Saved a service call.

For noises, a video is the only thing that works. A tenant once called about "a banging sound" in the wall. Video showed it happened only when the furnace blower kicked on. The vendor arrived with the right part the first time. That's the whole point: good information before dispatch means the vendor shows up knowing what to do. And you don't pay for a second trip.