Things to consider before calling the property manager to address a maintenance issue:
| Appliance/system not working | First, make sure that everything is plugged in and all switches are turned to the "ON" position. Make sure there is no timer
that is set, preventing normal operation, such as on a programmable heating/air system. |
| Garbage disposal not working | "Stir"
the disposal blades with the handle of a broomstick or other such item.
This will often dislodge whatever is causing the unit to jam up. If
this does not work, try pressing the reset button, usually found under
the sink on the disposal unit. Disconnect power to the unit and then
make sure no foreign object has been placed in the disposal. Things
such as chicken bones, toys, bottle caps, onion skin, celery, chicken
skin and more will get stuck in the blades and cause the disposal to
cease working. |
| Heat/air conditioner not working | If
it is an electric unit, shut off all the switches at the breaker box,
wait several minutes and then turn them all back on again. |
| Are you enrolled in the Peak Corp program? Your system may be "cycled" by SMUD without your knowledge or your control. |
| Too little heat/air | Change your
heating/air conditioning filter. Clogged filters cause the system to
work harder and impedes the flow of air through the ducts. |
| Electrical problems | Flip all breakers to the "OFF" position, wait a few minutes and flip them back on. |
| Range/oven | If it is a gas unit, call PG&E first. Sometimes PG&E can fix small problems, such as the pilot light, at no charge. |
| Water leaks | Call the appropriate
water department first as it may sometimes be the city or county's
responsibility depending on where the problem is. If not, they will
tell you. If it is, they will fix it promptly. |
| Windows/screens | Windows and screens
damaged during tenancy are your responsibility. If glass is broken,
immediate replacement must be made with like-kind materials and
quality. You may assign repairs that are your responsibility, but a
professional job is expected. No deductions from rent will be permitted
nor reimbursements of any kind made unless specific arrangements are
made in advance. |
The tenant will be held responsible for any repairs that are due to negligence or abuse:
| Amenity | COMMON CAUSES CONSIDERED TO BE ABUSE AND/OR NEGLIGENCE |
| Garbage disposal | Attempting to
dispose of unacceptable stuffs (eg: chicken skin, celery, egg shells,
onion skins, artichokes, bones, potato peels, and much more) |
| Placing too much matter in the disposal at one time |
| Running the disposal for too long or without enough cold water running |
| Dishwasher | Leaving food residue on the dishes when placing them in the dishwahser |
| Running it less than once every other month, causing seals to dry out |
| Range | Using oven cleaner on self-cleaning oven (ruins interior surface) | | Grease accumulation on or around burners (can cause electrical fire) |
| Food spills and overflows (can clog burner lines, ruin elements) | | Central heat/air | Failure
to change the filter every two or three months, which can lead to
emission of dangerous fumes, as well as higher heating/ac bills |
| Fireplace | Leaving the damper closed when starting a fire |
| Using lighter fluid on wood |
| Building too large a fire for the size of the fireplace |
| Leaving the screen/glass doors open while a fire or embers are burning |
| Bathroom | Foreign objects dropped into toilet bowl |
| Using excessive amounts of toilet tissue at one time |
| Flushing inappropriate matter (eg: cigarette butts, paper towels, etc) |
| Grease and/or hair build-up in pipes |
| Not using the fan or opening the window while showering, causing mildew |
| Water splashing out of tub/shower (damages floors, ceilings, causes dryrot) |
Telephone wiring damage | Additional
telephone jacks/wiring is NOT permitted without prior written approval.
If approved, installation and removal must be done by a professional
technician. |
| Closets | Over-stuffing, which can cause sliding doors to slip off track and break |
| Excessive weight hanging on the clothes rods, causing rods to fall/break |
To schedule your interim inspection, you may use the inspection request form.
Your Responsibility To Promptly Submit Repair Requests To Your Landlord
by Kate Kemp
As a tenant in a rental community, you have
some advantages over homeowners. For example, you don't need to worry
about making simple maintenance repairs. What you DO need to worry
about is submitting repair requests in a timely fashion. If you wait
too long, YOU could be responsible for costly repairs.
Let's visit Suzy Shmoe - a resident of
Hypothetical Apartments. Suzy has a leaky washer. When her clothes hit
the spin cycle, some of the water inside ends up on the floor. Since
Suzy is a busy woman she keeps forgetting to turn in that repair
request to her landlord. So to temporarily "fix" the problem, she
surrounds the washer with big fluffy beach towels which she replaces
after every load. Sure, it's a makeshift job... but by the time she
gets home from school, its always too late to get in touch with the
landlord, and she's too tired to find him early in the morning. So the
problem continues, and replacing wet towels from around the washer
becomes more of a routine than a reminder of the leak.
What
Suzy doesn't realize is that the constant moisture on the laundry room
tiles is causing them to warp and crack. Slowly, water begins to soak
into the cracks and through to her downstairs neighbors ceiling.
(Aren't chain reactions fun?) So, Suzy's downstairs neighbors submit a
repair request to the landlord asking him to look at the water stain on
their ceiling. The landlord determines Suzy's leaking washer is the
source of the problem, and now she is responsible not only for
repairing the cracked ceiling of her downstairs neighbors, but also the
repair costs needed to fix the original problem!
Now if Suzy had taken the extra time to turn a repair request into her
landlord in the first place, her washer would work fine, she'd have a
cabinet full of dry towels, and she wouldn't have to worry about
dishing out the cost for all of the repairs which now have to be made.
Poor Suzy.
So let's go back to Hypothetical
Apartments and say that Suzy DID submit the request for repairs at the
first sign of leaking. What if the landlord didn't make the repair
before the downstairs neighbors had a crack in their ceiling? According
to the Cleveland Tenant's Organization, "If a landlord does not meet
the duties imposed by the Landlord Tenant law or the local housing
codes or the rental agreement or if there are conditions which
materially affect health and safety, then... a tenant may give the
landlord a written notice to correct the condition. This notice must be
in writing and delivered to the person or at the place where the tenant
normally pays rent. Tenant should keep a copy of this notice.
"If the landlord fails to correct the
condition within a reasonable time, not to exceed 30 days, then the
tenant may deposit his/her rent with the Clerk of Courts, or may apply
to the Court for an order to compel the repairs, or may terminate the
rental agreement."
In other
words, if Suzy did her part as a tenant by notifying the landlord of
the problem, the responsibility would move out of her hands and into
the landlord's. So if you have even a minor problem that requires your
landlord's attention, take the extra few minutes to turn in the repair
request. You'll save both you and your landlord from additional
stresses.
Copyright 2000 Realty Times
Posted with permission
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