By Rick Pridemore Mr. Pridemore is currently a REIA board member, and has been a real estate investor since 1989.  Over almost 2 decades he has developed vacant land, rented single family dwellings, and built new homes (both site built and modular.)  He has also traveled the country conducting training seminars and attending trade shows.  Rick is a licensed real estate agent, specializing in both high end and investment properties.   To submit a question, click HERE.			I have a tenant that continuously calls me with minor repairs. Overall, she’s not a bad tenant, but these service calls are driving me crazy. What can I do?   Tenants calling about every little squeak or drip can test any landlord’s patience.  Your first line of defense is a well written lease.  Make sure that you include a clause that clearly identifies what repairs the tenant is responsible for, and what repairs the landlord will handle.  Make sure to include not only a cost threshold (i.e. “the tenant shall perform any repair under $75 at his/her expense…”) but also a few examples (“leaking faucets, squeaky door hinges, broken window glass, …”)    Once you have a good repair clause, try giving the tenant an incentive to not call you.  For instance, set up a repair account for each tenant.  For every month that the tenant doesn’t call you with a repair, add one point to their account.  If you send monthly or quarterly statements to your tenants, make sure you include their point balance as positive reinforcement.  However, each time the tenant calls you for a repair, deduct one point from their account for each repair.  When signing the lease, let them know that at the end of their lease, as long as everything is paid up in full, they will get a cash credit of $5 or $10 per point.  You might also want to tie the points to timely rent payments, too.  You can make a rule that if the rent payment is late, they won’t earn a point that month.  Is your sanity worth $5 or $10 a month?  I know mine is.  I read of a similar plan, where the landlord gives the tenant 6 repair “coupons.”  Each coupon is worth $50.00, and the tenant can cash in the unused ones at the end of their lease, or every 2 years if they are in good standing.  I’m sure you can come up with a few other ideas of your own.  Just remember, make it more rewarding for the tenant to not call you.  And start enjoying a little more free time!
			© Copyright by Rick Pridemore 2006 Permission is granted to reproduce and circulate this document, as long as it is maintained in its entirety and authorship is properly attributed.

Rick Pridemore