Change the HVAC filter
Every one to three months. A blocked filter is the single most common cause of a summer air-conditioning failure, and a failure in July is a bad week for everyone.
Resident resources
Practical things worth knowing
Most of what goes wrong in a tenancy is preventable and cheap to prevent. This page covers moving in, moving out, and the handful of habits in between that keep repairs small.
Moving in
- Walk the condition report room by room and add anything we missed before you sign it — this document decides your deposit later
- Put the utilities in your name from the lease start date, not your move date
- Locate the water shut-off, the electrical panel, and the HVAC filter on day one
- Test every smoke and carbon-monoxide alarm and tell us immediately if any does not sound
- Get renters insurance; the owner policy covers the building, never your belongings
While you live there
Before the first freeze
Disconnect and drain garden hoses, and cover exterior spigots. A burst hose bib is a repair; a burst pipe behind a wall is a displacement.
Run bathroom fans
During and after every shower. Persistent bathroom moisture becomes a mould problem, and that is far easier to prevent than to remediate.
Report small leaks immediately
A slow drip under a sink is a cheap repair this week and a subfloor replacement next season. Reporting early is never held against you.
Moving out
Your move-out walkthrough is scored against the dated move-in report you signed, so ordinary wear is judged from a document rather than from memory.
- Give written notice by the deadline in your lease — a verbal conversation does not start the clock
- Return the property clean, with the yard in the condition your lease requires
- Repair anything beyond ordinary wear, or tell us so it is not a surprise deduction
- Return every key, remote, and access device; unreturned devices become a re-key charge
- Give us a forwarding address in writing so your deposit accounting can reach you
If you are struggling to pay
Tell us before the due date rather than after. We cannot waive a late fee for one resident and not another, but a short written payment arrangement is very often possible, and it is far easier to arrange before an account goes delinquent than once it has. Silence is the thing that limits our options.
Call (804) 555-0142 and ask for the account team.
Something needs fixing?
Written requests are timestamped and tracked. For no heat, no water, an active leak, or a gas smell, call the emergency line instead of submitting a request.