For apartment dwellers, few things are more frustrating than having a maintenance issue ignored. Whether you’re beset by plumbing troubles, defective appliances or heating, and cooling mishaps, it’s reasonable to expect that your problem will be dealt with as soon as possible. After all, a portion of your monthly rent goes toward maintenance costs, and there’s no point in paying for a service you can’t depend on. In a perfect world, all maintenance issues would be addressed in a timely and professional manner, but as countless apartment residents can attest, this is not the world we live in. However, while unresponsive supers may be an unavoidable facet of apartment living, there are several effective ways to deal with them.
Don’t Let Them Forget About You
Since most supers receive a large amount of work orders on a daily basis, it’s easy for some orders to fall through the cracks. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re being ignored – just that your request was buried beneath a mountain of work orders. So if you go several days without hearing anything from your super, be proactive and let him or her that you’ve been waiting on them. This will show them that you’re serious about getting an issue resolved and increase your work order’s likelihood of being bumped up. If the super is too busy to personally address the issue, they may even call in some outside help.
Make Your Landlord Aware of the Issue
If speaking to your super doesn’t prompt him or her to take action, simply work your way up the chain of command and reach out to your landlord. When contacting them, take care to specify the number of times you spoke with the super and the ways in which the issue you’re experiencing has impacted your life. In many cases, this will spur the landlord to reach out to the super on your behalf. Since a landlord’s word tends to carry more weight with a super than a tenant’s, there’s a good chance that this will get your issue resolved.
People in the market for 1 bedroom apartments in Omaha, NE should review each building’s policies on maintenance. This will give them an idea of what they can expect from their superintendents and educate them on the steps to take when these expectations are not met.
Enlist the Services of an Outside Professional
If all else fails, enlist the aid of an outside handyman or maintenance professional. Not only will this show your super that his or her professionalism is lacking, it may also prompt other residents to follow your example. After paying thisperson, save a copy of the bill and deduct the cost from your next rent payment.
To call being actively ignored by your building’s super aggravating would be an understatement. Unfortunately, unaddressed maintenance issues are a fact of life for many apartment dwellers. However, this doesn’t mean you should resign yourself to lackluster superintendents. If the maintenance in your building has reached a fever pitch of unprofessionalism, the previously discussed pointers are sure to come in handy.
