Maintenance

    Tenant Emergency Maintenance After Hours: What Counts and What to Do

    LIA Team7 min read
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    A true emergency is anything that puts people in danger or is damaging the home right now: a gas smell, fire or smoke, water pouring in, an electrical hazard, no heat in freezing weather, or sewage backing up into the home. When a tenant texts you one of these at night, safety comes first: if anyone is in danger, they call 911, and for a gas smell they leave and call from outside. Everything else, from a broken fridge to a dripping faucet, can wait for daylight, though how fast the law expects each repair depends on your state and city.

    This guide covers how to sort the request, what to tell your tenant first, and how to prepare so the next night call is easier.

    How do you tell an emergency from an urgent or a routine repair?

    Ask one question: is someone at risk, or is the home being damaged as we speak? If yes, it is an emergency. If the home is still safe but harder to live in, it is urgent. If it is an annoyance that can be scheduled, it is routine.

    LevelWhat it meansExamplesWhat to do
    EmergencyDanger to people, or damage happening nowGas smell; fire or smoke; water pouring through a ceiling or flooding a floor; sparking outlet, burning smell from wiring, or water near electrical; no heat in freezing weather; sewage backing up into the homeSafety first, then get a service provider out tonight
    UrgentSafe, but the home is clearly less livableRefrigerator not cooling; the only toilet not working; exterior door lock broken; stove not workingArrange a visit as soon as a provider can come
    RoutineAn annoyance, no risk, no spreading damageDripping faucet; running toilet; slow drain; sticky closet door; loose cabinet handleSchedule at a normal time that suits the tenant

    A few judgment calls come up often:

    • A leak can be any of the three. A slow drip under the sink is routine. A steady leak that is wetting the cabinet floor is urgent. Water coming through a ceiling light is an emergency, because water and electricity together are a hazard.
    • Heat depends on the weather. No heat in mild autumn weather is urgent. No heat during a freeze is an emergency, both for the people inside and for pipes that can burst.
    • Context changes the level. A broken air conditioner in a heat wave deserves more urgency than the same failure in spring, especially if anyone in the home is at higher risk from heat.

    When you are unsure at night, treat it as the higher level until you know more. A few questions by text usually settle it.

    What legally counts as an emergency repair?

    It depends on where your rental is. Repair duties, what counts as a hazard, and how fast you must act are set by state law and sometimes by city or county codes too, so no single answer covers every landlord.

    To show how specific this can get: Washington's landlord tenant statute (RCW 59.18.070) sets different time limits for a landlord to begin repairs after the tenant gives written notice. The shortest window covers loss of hot or cold water, heat or electricity, or a condition that is imminently hazardous to life. A longer one covers a refrigerator, range and oven, or major plumbing fixture the landlord supplies, and a longer one still covers everything else, with an exception for circumstances beyond the landlord's control. That is one state. Yours may be stricter, looser, or organized differently, and your city may add its own rules.

    Where to look for your rules:

    • Your state attorney general or state housing agency. The New York Attorney General's tenant page, for example, says a landlord is responsible for protecting the health of the people living in the home, and links to a fuller Residential Tenants' Rights Guide.
    • HUD's state pages. HUD's State Information index at hud.gov/states links to a page for each state. The New York page, for example, points renters to the state attorney general's tenant rights information and to free legal help.
    • Your city or county housing or code enforcement office. Local codes may add their own rules, for example on heat and hot water.

    This article is practical guidance, not legal advice. If you are unsure what your local rules require, check those sources or ask a local attorney.

    My tenant texted me about a leak at 2 a.m. What do I do?

    Start with safety, then stop the damage, then get help. In order:

    1. Ask if anyone is hurt or in danger. If yes, they call 911 now. Everything else comes after.
    2. Ask where the water is coming from and whether it is still flowing. A photo or short video tells you more than a paragraph.
    3. Ask if water is near outlets, light fixtures or the electrical panel. If it is, tell them to stay away from that area. Ready.gov's flood guidance is plain: do not touch electrical equipment if it is wet or if you are standing in water.
    4. If they can reach the main water shutoff without walking through water or going near anything electrical, walk them to it. The City of Bellevue's utility guidance says that if a pipe breaks, close the main shutoff valve to stop the flooding, and that the valve is often in a basement, a garage or outside by the foundation. If they cannot find it or cannot reach it safely, skip this step.
    5. Call your plumber. If the water is off and the area is safe, the repair itself may be able to wait until morning. If it is still flowing or coming from a unit above, get someone out tonight.
    6. Tell the tenant what happens next. Who is coming, roughly when, and how to reach you.

    What should you tell a tenant who smells gas?

    Tell them to get out, then call. Do not troubleshoot a gas smell by text.

    Gas utilities publish safety steps for this. For a suspected leak inside a building, Liberty Utilities, for example, tells customers to:

    • Leave right away, tell others to leave, and leave the door open on the way out.
    • Not use electrical switches, phones, appliances or a garage door opener, and not smoke or use lighters or matches.
    • Once at a safe location, call the gas utility's emergency number, or 911 from a mobile phone or a neighbor's phone, and give the exact street location.

    The gas utility handles the leak. Your job is to make sure the tenant is out, knows who to call, and knows you have been told.

    What about fire, electrical hazards and sewage?

    The same rule applies: people first, property second.

    • Fire or smoke: everyone out, then call 911 once outside. Ready.gov's fire guidance says to stay outside and not go back in for anything until the fire department says it is safe.
    • Electrical hazard (sparks, a burning smell, a scorched outlet, a hot panel): tell the tenant not to touch it and to keep away from it. If there is any smoke or fire, everyone gets out and calls 911 from outside. Then call a licensed electrician.
    • Sewage backing up: tell the tenant to stop all running water in the home, including sinks, showers, the dishwasher and the washing machine, and to stay out of the affected area. Call a plumber who handles sewer lines. The City of Muscatine, Iowa, notes that if the backup continues after all water use stops, the city's sewer main may be the problem, so check your city's sewer utility page for who to call.
    • No heat in a freeze: call your heating service provider tonight. Tell the tenant not to heat the home with a gas range or oven: the CDC warns against it because of the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. If the home is too cold, the CDC suggests staying with friends or at a community shelter, so talk with the tenant about a safe place to stay while it is fixed.

    How do you prepare before it happens?

    Four things, done once, make every night call easier.

    1. A written emergency plan for tenants. One page, given at move in and again each year. It should say what counts as an emergency (use the table above), that anyone in danger calls 911 first, the gas utility's emergency number, how to reach you, and what to include in a text: what is happening, where, whether it is still happening, and a photo.

    2. A shutoff location note. Write down, with a photo, where the main water shutoff is, where the water meter is, and where the electrical panel is. Keep a copy for yourself and leave one in the home. Tag the valve so it is easy to find in the dark.

    3. A list of service providers who answer after hours. For each kind of job (plumber, electrician, heating and cooling, water cleanup, locksmith), confirm before you need them that they take night calls, how to reach them at night, and what they charge for it.

    4. A standing decision about whether your provider may go out without reaching you. At 2 a.m. you may be asleep, traveling or out of signal. Decide now: if it is a true emergency and nobody can reach you, may your service provider go out and make it safe? Whatever you choose, write it down and tell your providers, so the decision is made before the water is on the floor.

    Where does LIA fit?

    LIA joins the text conversation with your tenant, and you talk to her privately in a separate thread. When a tenant texts about a problem, she asks the questions to understand it, contacts your service provider, schedules the visit, keeps the tenant updated, and follows up until the job is done.

    In an emergency such as a gas leak, fire, flooding or an electrical hazard, she tells the tenant to get to safety and to call 911 if anyone is in danger, and she alerts you. During setup, she asks you whether, for a true emergency, she should send your service provider out without waiting to reach you first.

    You choose the service provider. If you have no service provider for a kind of job, she offers to look one up, and searches only if you say yes. She then sends up to three top ranked local businesses from a public online search, with their public ratings and links to read reviews. She has not vetted them, and you pick which of them she contacts. Every quote goes to you for approval. LIA never approves a price herself.

    Start with the first 30 days free.

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