What You Should Do Every Time a Tenant Calls

Tenant calls are a part of managing your rental property and are the foundation of a good tenant-landlord relationship. The calls could be from anything as simple as the tenant forgot their keys or as complex as a water pipe breaking. Because of the variety of calls you may get it’s always a good idea to have a checklist to follow every time you receive a call. 

The checklist you follow should have the following items:

• Log the Phone Call
• Identify the Need
• Document the Action Item
• Communicate with Vendors
• Log the Follow Up
• Communicate and Thank the Tenant

Logging the Phone Call

While logging phone calls from your tenant may seem strange at first, it is important to remember that many new renters may be coming from apartments where there is a building manager onsite, meaning they are used to having access to help regularly.

Whenever a tenant calls with regards to your rental property be sure to log the tenants name, address, date and reason for the call. The primary reason for this is to maintain a log of which tenant you will be communicating with and which rental property is being discussed, especially if you have multiple rentals.

Identify the Need from Your Tenant

Once you have logged the tenant's call, the next step is to identify what is needed. There are several levels of needs that your tenant may have and depending on the situation it could be something that’s immediate but not severe, or it could be something that could hold off until a little later on.

For example, if your tenant calls because they forgot their keys then their need is immediate and must be addressed promptly. A simple enough task but if it is not addressed quickly it could become an inconvenience. On the other hand, if your tenant calls because an outlet doesn’t work, then you need to hire a third party vendor to address it in the near future.

Document the Action Item

After identifying the tenant's needs, be sure to document the action(s) required. Take notes on any information that may seem relevant for future needs such as the date and time, a brief description of the action and if it's required to contact a vendor in case of repairs.

Communicate with Vendors

If the call from the tenant was for a repair, it is important to communicate with your vendor(s) in a timely manner. Keep in mind both the vendor as well as yourself want to get to work as quickly as possible. Be clear and responsive to the vendor, let them know the purpose of your call and any other relevant information previously logged from your tenant’s call.

Finally respond to any questions the vendor may have about the situation and schedule a date for the repair to take place that aligns with the availability of your tenant.

Log The Follow Up

Keeping records of work done to your Long Beach rental property is helpful to have a complete maintenance history. Log the follow up date as well as the event that took place with the tenant. 

We recommend communicating with your tenant via email or on our portal to easily keep track of dates and times. This would also provide your tenant with security and peace of mind knowing the issue is being logged in case of future need.

Thanking Your Tenant

Showing appreciation to your tenant is a fantastic way to make them feel comfortable if any future problems arise with your rental. Remember that keeping your property well maintained is a great way to retain long term tenants and that it is in both you and your tenant’s best interest to make sure problems are dealt with in a swift manner as this can lower the overall cost of maintenance in the long term.

Keeping this checklist as a guideline for when tenants call is one of many ways new landlords can stay organized. If you have any further questions on what to do when tenants call, please call us today at (562) 888-0247 or fill out our free rental analysis to see what your rental could yield today.