"What if my apartment is dirty will maintenance say anything?"

I was looking through our analytics and this question popped up a surprising number of times, and I think it actually is potentially a very big problem. If our residents don't make a maintenance request because they are concerned that their apartment is dirty, it creates a potential for that maintenance problem to get worse and much more expensive. Plus, even though the resident him/herself was the one who decided to not call the maintenance request in, it still will create dissatisfaction with their apartment.

What do you think? How can we make sure that a fear of a dirty apartment won't stop maintenance requests from coming through?

I think we can kindly remind residents it's their responsibility to take care of the apartment, and that they can be held responsible if they let issues get out of hand. I've told a few folks, "I can only help you if I know what's going on, and I can only know if you tell me."

An example: One weekend I had a resident complain that his apartment smelled "like death." He was insistent that something needed to be done or he should be allowed to transfer because it was unbearable. Unfortunately our maintenance team members weren't on site over the weekend. So I said I'd go over and check out the smell, and if it seemed like an "emergency" (i.e., if it really smelled like something had died) I would call emergency maintenance on his behalf. When I got into the apartment, it did indeed smell ... and I had to ask him if he thought maybe the dirty clothes and disgusting bag of garbage (it was overflowing) might have something to do with the smell. (I phrased it better than that, of course, because I didn't want to offend the guy, but ... it was gross.) His retort was that his trash was his business, but the fact that the apartment smelled was mine and I needed to fix it. So I told him my "solution" to the smell problem was that the trash should be removed; we grabbed the bag and some other trash in the room, and took it out, and I asked him to come and get me in between half an hour and an hour if it still smelled.

I didn't see him again.

Residents need to know that we--and maintenance--*will* say something about an apartment when it's "dirty" to the point of being a potential health and safety issue, or when the condition is such that it's really a matter of it being unsanitary. I know I've gone into apartments where the person was embarrassed because it was "dirty" simply because they had some boxes out or hadn't put away their laundry. There's a difference between "messy" and "dirty" and "gross." Just as there's a difference between "that's the resident's business" and "this is a problem I need to get involved with/say something about."

Maybe a flyer in their welcome packet explaining why "Maintenance Matters" or even a quarterly newsletter reminding residents that it benefits their quality of life (and possibly security deposit) to report issues early on.

In my opinion "willful neglect" by not reporting a known issue immediately is the same as causing the damage yourself.

I find the best practice is to have it where it is in the lease agreement that maintenance calls are done every 90 days. That their unit will be checked for any maintenance issues. If they cannot be there on the scheduled day, then they need to ensure that there is a date within one week of the original scheduled date. I even had the weekend on there as a possible date as well.

At the same time the residents should know they are not to wait until the maintenance day if they have maintenance issues in their apartments and they should be called in immediately. Any maintenance issues not reported that caused damage and it was determined to be neglect could be costly.

Most tenants I find are pretty good when they know you are working to ensure they have a safe and functioning apartment to live in.

It really does not take much to find out those who do not clean their places. From my old military days a place can be clean as a whistle, but if it smelled like butt, I knew that the clean state was an exception and not the norm, so I stepped up the checks on that given area.

The company I work for requires that we do quarterly filter changes. The manager goes with the maintenance person who also checks the smoke detectors & that the fire extinguishers is present & charged. We check for leaks under the sinks, that toilets aren't running, window locks work,door locks work, balcony rails secure, note if their are pets, etc. Although it does take a block of time from office hours to do this, we are in every apt every 90 days and can assess the condition as well. We are not looking to make sure they pick up their clothes off the floor, but that there are not health & safety issues. Residents are notified ahead so if the apartment is disgusting then a clean up notice is given and we recheck it a week. If the carpet is nasty, we schedule a cleaning & the resident is billed for the damage. It really helps from the standpoint of staying ahead of leaks that can cause so much damage when they've gone unchecked for a long time & also to document for legal issues, unauthorized pets, etc. We make sure items aren't stored around the water heater & furnace to lessen fire hazards as well.

This thread reminds me of a newsletter article that I read back in June titled "Apartment Hoarders"

Here is a snippet of the article

Issue 38 - Hoarding in Apartments
Is there a specific deficiency for hoarding and other housekeeping issues?
Of all of the questions that we have been getting this year at trainings and conferences, the most consistent and passionate question seems to have come around the concept of what to do with hoarders. More specifically, is there a deficiency in the Uniform Physical Condition Standards (UPCS) code for tenants who are collectors of large volumes of belongings, commonly known as “Hoarders”?

Does anyone else have a good newsletter source in regards to HUD and REAC compliance? The SCORE from US Housing Consultants has been my favorite so far but I know there have to be more out there.

Well, as much as I hate to say it, I believe the one word answer that comes to my mind for this question would be: subterfuge.

The complex that I'm MS for has a long reputation for tenants being at odds with the maintenance staff. Needless to say, this is an image that I have worked very hard to eradicate. I truly believe that the key to tenant retention is in maintaining good tenant to maintenance staff relationships. If tenants believe that the staff are "snooping" or "out to get them", then you can beat your bottom line that they will do what it takes to keep the "complex police" from seeing their cleanliness violations. This would, and has, certainly included not calling our office about what a tenant sees as minor issues until a major issue crops up. This situation leads to service calls with such an eclectic list of problems that it would be comical if it were not for the fact that it means I'm losing a Tech for hours, or even days on end, that I had not planned for. Several of these types of calls in a row can not only throw my maintenance schedule off, but at a crucial time of the month, can threaten to keep us from making critical turn-over deadlines.

My solution to this issue was to clearly explain to both the maintenance staff and management in strategic/objective-oriented terms, that from here forward we would report any and all issues as we always had but that we would need to manufacture alternate ways and means of bringing the issue out in the open. Also, that we would need to keep the discoverer of said issue as far removed from that alternate method as possible.

We have annual inspections, state inspections, mortgage company inspections, insurance company inspections, pesticide inspections... The list of sources of "blame" for finding cleanliness issues is so long, that I see absolutely no reason why we would undo tenant-staff trust for any reason other than a situation that presents a present danger to the tenant themselves or their neighbors.

Also, by focusing on the importance of the implementation of a strategic objective: creating and maintaining trust between the tenants and the maintenance staff, I avoided the tension, finger pointing and defensive opposition which may well have accompanied fixing this longstanding issue. While, only time and persistence in accomplishing this goal will undo the years that have created the situation, we have already seen a marked improvement.

Cleanliness problems are of the utmost importance for both the longevity of the asset as well as more present pest and health issues, but if a small amount of deceptive production can preserve the staff-tenant relationship, then I believe it is worth the extra time and effort that goes into it.

I always thought smoke detectors were the tenant's responsibilty?

I think the property manager should send notice to all tenets about there apartment should be clean and organized and that if the maintenance has to enter the apartment it should be clean. And to report any problem in the apartment so it can be taken care of it right away.

Well said. In my experience if you let it go it will get worse. It's a Co-Op so cleanliness is a duty to all for all.