When it comes to service requests, residents with disabilities move to the top of the list.
Apartment residents have come to expect timely and efficient responses to their work order requests. Those expectations are appropriate because having someone take care of maintenance issues in their apartment homes is a significant benefit of renting that residents do, in fact, pay for. Successful owners understand this and generally have great policies and procedures in place that enable their maintenance professionals to meet these expectations. An industry standard is that if it is not an emergency (no fire, no flood, no blood!), then work orders are prioritized “first come, first served.”
What some owners and maintenance professionals don’t understand is that while this standard is generally OK, there are times when it does not apply—and that would be when fair housing comes in to play.
When must work orders be re-prioritized? Not for whiny residents—assuming that you would ever have any of those!—but most likely for residents with disabilities. If, due to a disability, a resident needs a work order handled ASAP, pronto, on-the-double, then it needs to be addressed ASAP, pronto, on-the-double. Here are two examples to consider:
1. You are in a hot, steamy climate, it is July and five air-conditioners are on the fritz. Resident No. 6 calls in to report that their air conditioning is out, too. You tell them that you will fix it, but they are sixth on the list. Then they say, “But I am the resident with emphysema and the heat and humidity are making it difficult for me to breathe.”
Guess what? This is a request for a reasonable accommodation made by a resident who has just disclosed their disability to you. And guess what else? They are now No. 1 on the air-conditioning repair list because they have a need based on disability.
2.You have a waiting list for owner-provided microwaves.
A new resident moves in and asks for a microwave. You tell them that they
will be added to the list. Then they tell you that their physical challenges make
it difficult, if not impossible, to use the stove.
Guess what? This is a request for a reasonable accommodation made by a resident, and once again, they move to the top of the list.
“Please” and “thank you” may be magic words (you don’t give your little ones cookies unless they say them), but there are no fair housing magic words required before you give reasonable accommodation to residents. They do not have to say “reasonable accommodation,” they only need to express a need based on a disability. And owners or onsite staff should not inquire into the nature or extent of that disability. (That’s a topic for another column.)
Be sure that maintenance professionals know the proper way to respond when it has to be “last come, first served” under the Fair Housing Act.
Nadeen Green is Senior Counsel, For Rent Media Solutions. She can be reached at 770/801-2406 or nadeen.green@forrent.com.
This item originally appeared as a blog on Multifamilyinsiders.com.