How a Portland Property Management Company Should Handle Maintenance
Handling maintenance requests and work orders is one of the fundamental functions of a professional property management company. A good company will have the proper software and systems in place to support efficient repairs and maintenance work orders.
Make sure you have a list of qualified, reputable and licensed vendors and contractors. When a repair is needed at your property, you want to know exactly who to call, so take the time to establish relationships with the best licensed contractors you can find.
At Property Management Systems, we find it’s easiest for tenants and for us to have repair requests submitted online. This has been a very effective way to make sure the work gets done quickly and to keep a record of what kind of issues are happening at the property. In addition to having the tenants submit requests online, we also maintain a 24 hour emergency hotline, which is helpful when something needs attention right away.
When a tenant requests maintenance or repair work in writing, property managers are not required to give any additional notice that they will enter the property to take care of the problem. We don’t have to get that tenant’s permission to go to the property, and the tenant does not need to be at home in order for us to get our contractors into the house. All of us, especially the tenants, want to ensure the work is done as quickly as possible.
It’s important to communicate with the property owner. We inform the owner any time there are repairs or maintenance work done at the property. We also provide owners with copies of invoices for the work. That’s helpful for accounting records and tax purposes. All invoices are directed to our accounting department, and we pay them on behalf of the owner. Then, we simply deduct the cost from the next month’s rental deposit. We usually pay those invoices within 30 days, and our owners appreciate not having to pay them directly. All costs and charges will show up on the owner’s monthly accounting statement.
If you have any additional questions about how a property management company should handle maintenance for your rental property, please contact us at Property Management Systems, and we’d be happy to provide more information.
