Maintenance Requests

By Philip Shea, Associate Editor

This month, MHN once again teamed up with research and consulting services firm Kingsley Associates to discern the best protocols for handling maintenance requests. When an essential amenity that is taken for granted malfunctions, it can make for a stressful and unpleasant situation. And in an age in which tenants expect quick and easy solutions, the community’s management and maintenance teams cannot afford to delay. Response should always be quick and comprehensive, and attention should be paid not only to the issues of a particular unit, but to those of the overall community as well.

“Once again, maintenance is a big concern, and responsiveness to requests takes far too long.” —Coconut Creek, Fla.

“I notice that many times the entrance gates are broken. If they [break] on the weekend, then they are left open until Monday. I would like to see [the same] priority to fix the gates on weekends as…on weekdays.” —Houston

“The management, leasing and maintenance teams are all great. Always love working with them.” —Duluth, Ga.

“This is a fast-aging building and it needs to have attention paid to the apartment structure—namely the bathroom and kitchen tiling and grouting.” —Arlington, Va.

“Quality is not commensurate with price. I am paying $300 a month more than when I moved in; but it seems to require multiple requests to get non-routine maintenance requests fixed.” —Chapel Hill, N.C.

“I have completely given up on getting things fixed. My lease is up in a few months, and the problems will no longer by mine.” —San Ramon, Calif.

“If maintenance cannot attend to an issue for a week, it would be nice to be contacted to be kept informed of what is happening. Otherwise, it just feels like they don’t care and they will get to you when they feel like it.” —Phoenix

“The maintenance in my apartment is great, but the maintenance of the overall community is severely lacking, in my opinion.” —Dallas

“Staff is friendly and likes to please. Follow up calls from the community manager after maintenance calls is appreciated very much.” —Alpharetta, Ga.

“I would like to say that the maintenance staff is extremely courteous and proficient. For three men to tend to 200-plus units is no small task.” —Middletown, Conn.

“Maintenance activities such as blowers, lawn mowing, etc. could be done in the morning as opposed to late afternoon, reducing inconvenience to families with babies and small children.” —Santa Clara, Calif.