Why We Never Let Tenants Attempt Their Own Repairs
A water bill landed on our desk recently that made the point better than any policy explanation could. Normal cost for that property: around $175. This one came in at $636.
The property had been inspected just five weeks earlier, with nothing flagged beyond a bit of exterior paint touch-up. So we reached out to the tenant to find out what happened.
What Actually Happened
The tenant explained that the toilet handle had broken two to three weeks earlier. Rather than submitting a maintenance request, they tried to fix it themselves. The repair didn't take, and the toilet tank was left running continuously — quietly draining into the bowl around the clock for weeks, driving the water bill up more than three and a half times its normal cost.
Why This Happens
We get why a tenant might reach for a DIY fix instead of submitting a request. It feels faster. It feels like the more considerate option — not wanting to bother anyone over something small. And a broken toilet handle genuinely does seem like a minor, fixable problem.
The trouble is that a plumbing issue that looks simple on the surface can hide a lot of complexity underneath, and a repair that doesn't fully resolve the problem can end up being worse than not touching it at all. A running toilet isn't loud or dramatic. It doesn't flood the floor or set off any alarms. It just quietly runs, for weeks if nobody catches it, and the only sign is a much bigger bill arriving after the fact.
What We Actually Did
We responded to the tenant with genuine appreciation for their honesty about what happened — that matters, and it made resolving this far easier than it could have been. We sent a copy of the lease section covering maintenance requests, along with a reminder of how to submit one going forward, and an update on when our technician would be out to actually fix it. We also included an invoice for the extra water usage caused by the unrepaired leak.
The Actual Policy, and Why It Exists
We handle all repairs at our properties, and we handle them fast — same day or next day in almost every case. This isn't about not trusting tenants, and it isn't about being rigid for its own sake. It's about making sure a small issue gets fixed correctly the first time, by someone who does this for a living, instead of turning into a bigger, more expensive problem that could have been avoided entirely.
A maintenance request costs a tenant nothing and takes a couple of minutes. An attempted DIY fix that doesn't hold can end up costing far more — in this case, several hundred dollars in extra water usage for a repair that would have taken a professional a few minutes to actually resolve.
The Simple Takeaway
If something breaks, submit a request. It really is that straightforward, and it protects everyone — the tenant from an unexpected bill, and the property from a small issue quietly turning into a bigger one. Please let us handle the maintenance.
Want a maintenance process that actually makes it easy to report issues fast?
The right process turns small problems into quick fixes instead of expensive surprises. Let's talk. Blair Allen Property Management serves owners across South Dakota, Montana, and Arizona.
Chris Twiggs President, Blair Allen Property Management 📞 605-545-1218 ✉️ chris@blairallen.com