The Maintenance Request That Kept Growing
A manager handles a 40-unit building. On a Friday, a tenant reports water staining on the ceiling of her unit. The manager logs the request and schedules a plumber for Monday. Over the weekend the tenant emails photos showing active dripping and a bulging ceiling. On Monday the plumber finds a failed supply line above the unit and shuts off water to two units. Repairs will take four days, and one affected unit is occupied by a tenant with a medical condition. The owner is traveling and has not approved spending over $1,000; the estimate is $2,800. The manager also learns the building's insurance policy requires notification of water damage within 72 hours of discovery.
1. Prioritize the manager's actions from Friday through Monday, explaining the reasoning for each step.
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The manager's first error was treating active water intrusion as a routine request. Once the weekend photos showed dripping and a bulging ceiling, the issue became an emergency affecting safety and property. The manager should have arranged emergency response immediately: shut off the water if possible, contact the tenant, and document conditions. On Monday, the priority order is to stop the water, make the area safe, notify the insurer within the required 72-hour window measured from discovery of the damage, and inform the affected tenants in writing of the scope and expected duration. Owner approval for the $2,800 repair should not delay emergency mitigation; the manager should act to prevent further damage and seek ratification afterward, documenting why the urgency justified proceeding. Delaying mitigation to wait for approval can increase damage and may breach the duty to maintain the property.
2. How should the manager handle the tenant with the medical condition and the owner's approval limit?
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The tenant's medical condition may engage human-rights obligations, so the manager should ask what accommodation is needed, such as temporary access to water or alternate arrangements, and respond promptly and respectfully. The manager should not demand medical details beyond what is necessary to arrange accommodation. Regarding the approval limit, the manager should contact the owner or the owner's alternate immediately, explain the emergency and the estimate, and proceed with mitigation regardless if delay would cause further damage. The manager should keep a written record of the attempts to reach the owner, the decision made, and the reason. After the emergency, the manager should provide a full accounting of the cost and recommend that the owner set a clearer emergency spending authority so future incidents are not delayed.