Maintenance request form

A tenant calls about a leak under the sink. If the repair drags on, the day you heard about it is the date that counts, so write it down. None of the maintenance request form templates we read has a line for that date. This one does. Print two copies: one for your files, one for the tenant.

In several states, the repair clock starts at the tenant's notice

Some of them also care whether it was in writing.

Texas. A request has to be in writing only if the lease is in writing and says so (Property Code § 92.052). When a court asks whether you repaired in a reasonable time, seven days is presumed reasonable. It also weighs the date you received the notice, how serious the problem is and whether parts, labor and utilities were available (§ 92.056).

California. A tenant can give notice in writing or out loud. If a problem makes the home unlivable and isn't fixed, the tenant may repair it and take the cost, up to one month's rent, out of rent. Waiting more than 30 days is presumed long enough (Civil Code § 1942).

Florida. Before a tenant can end the lease, or hold back rent and use the repair as a defense, they must deliver written notice that names the problem and says what they plan to do, then wait 7 days. A lease can't waive the notice needed to end it (§ 83.56, § 83.60).

Other states and leases have their own rules, and this is general information, not legal advice.

Emergency, soon or routine

The urgency boxes are for sorting your own queue. In an emergency a tenant should call, not fill in a form, and the line at the top of the form says so. A gas smell, no heat or water, or a door that won't lock goes to the emergency number right away. Soon covers things that get worse with time, like the dripping pipe in the example. Routine is everything that can wait for the next vendor visit.

You'll see templates promise 24 hours for emergencies and 5 to 7 days for the rest. None of the ones we read named a law for those numbers. Set your own.

Permission to enter

The three choices tell your vendor what to do at the door: go in, call first, or book a time when the tenant is home. They don't replace the notice your state requires. In California, a landlord gives reasonable written notice with the date, approximate time and purpose of the visit, and 24 hours is presumed reasonable. No notice is needed in an emergency, or when the tenant is home and agrees at the time (Civil Code § 1954).

Handing out blank maintenance request forms

Clear the form, fill in only your company, office phone and emergency number, and print a stack to hand out at move-in. When a tenant brings one back, write the date received and your initials in the office box that day, and copy it for them. Tenants writing their own letter can use the same boxes as a checklist.

The form fits on one printed page, and any box you leave empty prints as a blank line. For a PDF, choose "Save as PDF" in your browser's print window.

When requests come in from fifty units

One form at a time works for a few units. Across a portfolio, the hard part is seeing which requests have waited longest. If your team runs on Microsoft Teams or Slack, our AI teammate Dash lists open maintenance requests oldest first and drafts the tenant update, using tenant and lease details from your property management system, such as Buildium. By default, nothing goes out until a person approves it. See how it works for property management teams. When you send someone to do the repair, the work order template lets you cap what they can spend. For rent, there's a rent receipt maker and a rent roll template.