How to Handle Even the Most Unreasonable Tenant Requests

Unreasonable Tenant Requests Property Manager Insider

Upset and angry tenants are unavoidable in the property management industry. Whether you manage class A high-rise offices, retail shopping centers, apartments, or just a single-family rental home, you will have to handle an angry and sometimes unreasonable tenant. To complicate the situation, tenants will sometimes have complaints, and demand solutions, that are not reasonable or justifiable. When that happens, use these 5 tips for handling unreasonable tenant requests to resolve even the most off the wall requests:

5 tips for handling unreasonable tenant requests

 

1. Acknowledge the complaint:

It is important to not dismiss any tenant complaints, no matter how unreasonable they might be. Failing to acknowledge the complaint will only exacerbate the situation. When acknowledging the complaint, it is important to not go on the defensive or be dismissive. Simply say “Thank you for making me aware of the issue, let me look into it and get back with you”. This non-committal acknowledges the complaint and ties directly into our second point.

2. Do not address the complaint immediately:

In the moment, unreasonable complaints can often lead to arguments that are both unproductive and usually do more harm than good. Take a minute to step back from the situation, and do not immediately go to work on it.

3. Maintain control of the situation:

It is extremely important to keep control of your emotions and maintain control of any confrontations arising from unreasonable tenant requests. This is important even beyond the initial conversation or request. Once a tenant says “jump” and the property manager says “how high?”, they have lost control of the situation. This can also lead to additional requests and the situation can spiral out of the control.

4. Focus on a reasonable compromise:

It is important to acknowledge any parts of unreasonable tenant requests that actually are reasonable. This is the first step in finding common ground and compromise that works for both parties. Never completely dismiss a request until you have evaluated if it carries any merit.

5. Write a formal plan to resolve:

When handling unreasonable tenant requests, it is important any resolutions are agreed upon by both parties and written down. This does not allow for any “he said, she said” claims after the fact and helps create a formal resolution to the problem.

Now that you have read these 5 ways to handle unreasonable tenant requests, check out these Great Property Management Tips.

 

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