Suck it Up

A year and a half ago, I was gifted these lovely rental clients who are everything one wants in rental clients. Except they live 45 miles away from me. And they have a snake. I have written about them here and here. A few months ago, they started looking for another place to live, and decided they were better off just staying where they were than trying to find a new rental for no other reason than they wanted the challenge of moving. Plus, they have to convince some new landlord that having a snake is a really great pet.

Tracy's heat has been out for weeks. The property management company, who is an affiliate of a very large and prominent brokerage, has been unresponsive. It turns out no technician will fix the unit--it is beyond repair. And the landlord is refusing to pay for a new HVAC system. Her house is so cold that the snake is now hibernating all the time. And to be fair, it has been a pretty chilly November.

Anyway, last week, the property management genius told her to, "Suck it up" when she called to complain that she was going on two weeks without heat. "It isn't like it is snowing," he wrote her. Yep, he put this in writing.

When Tracy called me last night and told me this story, I took in a breath of air and counted to ten before I replied. My Arizona Tenant-Landlord knowledge is purposely rusty, as I really don't want to ever do property management again. Besides, I already passed the broker test. So, I can safely let that information flee from my brain. What I do remember is that it is against the law in AZ for a tenant not to have heat or AC and the landlord/property management company not to remedy it by a certain number of days. I guarantee three weeks exceeds the number of days.

What I told Tracy was to call the Arizona Department of Real Estate. The government organization exists to protect the public, not the real estate agents. Also, the AZDRE happens to have a sadistic relationship of cat and mouse with property management companies. I then recommended calling the designated broker of the property management company in charge of her home. Let him know you have contacted the AZDRE. Forward him e-mails from the maintenance man (I provided her with the DB's contact info). And yes, do it in that order. Then, sit back, rent bleachers and sell popcorn for the upcoming fireworks.

My guess is she will have heat in the next few days.