What to Tell a Tenant When Their Appliance Breaks

When a tenant's appliance breaks, tell them three things as soon as you can: that you've got the request, what happens next, and when they'll hear from you again. Then keep that promise, even if the only update is that there's no news yet. Most follow-up calls and complaints come from silence, not from the wait itself.

Below are five messages you can copy, adapt and send by text or email, with a note on why each one is worded the way it is.

Why the wording matters

Tenants don't expect a broken dishwasher to be fixed in an hour. What they want to know is that someone has it, roughly when it'll be dealt with, and that they won't have to chase it.

A vague reply like "we'll get someone out ASAP" feels fine to send but doesn't help. It has no time and no next step, so the tenant has nothing to plan around. When nothing happens by the next day, they call again, this time annoyed.

Every message below has the same core: a time, a next step, and when they'll hear from you next.

1. The first reply

Send this as soon as the request comes in, ideally within the hour during business hours. It doesn't need a repair date yet.

Hi [name], thanks for letting us know about the [appliance] in [unit]. We've opened a repair request and we're scheduling a technician now. You'll hear from us by [time or day] with an appointment window.

In the meantime, [safety or interim instruction, if any].

The last line depends on the problem. For a refrigerator, it's "keep the doors closed as much as possible, it'll keep food safe for about four hours." For a leak, it's "please keep the water valve under the sink turned off until the technician arrives." For a dead range, it might be "we can bring up a hot plate if that would help."

If the call sounds like an emergency, such as a gas smell, smoke or water coming through a ceiling, don't send this message. Make the call. Our note on which appliance breakdowns are emergencies covers how to sort them.

2. The appointment confirmation

Send this as soon as you have a confirmed window from the technician.

Hi [name], a technician from [company] is scheduled for [day, date] between [start] and [end] to look at the [appliance]. Someone needs to be home to let them in, or let us know today if you'd like the super to give access.

Please clear the area around the [appliance] so they can get to it, for example [under the sink / the front of the dishwasher / the space behind the fridge]. If you have pets, please keep them in another room during the visit.

The access line is the important one. A technician who arrives to a locked door is a wasted trip, a second service call, and another day for the tenant. Asking up front whether the super should provide access saves most of those.

Clearing the space sounds minor. It isn't. Ten minutes spent emptying a cabinet full of cleaning supplies before the tech can reach a dishwasher's water valve is ten minutes of labor that shows up on someone's bill.

3. The parts delay

This is the message most managers dread sending, and it's the one that matters most. Send it the same day the technician finds that a part has to be ordered.

Hi [name], the technician found the problem with the [appliance]: [plain-language fault, e.g. "the pump that drains the water has failed"]. The part has been ordered and is expected around [date]. We'll schedule the repair as soon as it arrives.

Until then, [interim option]. We'll check in with you on [day] with an update, even if the part hasn't come yet.

Three things make this work.

First, the plain-language fault. "The pump that drains the water has failed" tells the tenant the visit wasn't wasted and that the problem is real. A part number or a technical term tells them nothing.

Second, the word "expected." Don't promise a date you don't control. Parts arrive late, and a date you missed hurts more than a date you never gave.

Third, the check-in date. This is what stops the daily calls. If the tenant knows they'll hear from you Thursday, most of them will wait until Thursday.

The interim option depends on the appliance. For a refrigerator, it might be a loaner unit or a mini fridge. For a washer, access to the building's laundry room. If there's genuinely nothing to offer, say that you know it's an inconvenience, and keep the update promise.

4. Repair done

Send this after the technician confirms the job is finished.

Hi [name], the [appliance] in [unit] has been repaired. The technician [replaced the drain pump / replaced the igniter / etc.] and tested it.

If you notice the same problem again, let us know right away and include a photo or a short video if you can. Thanks for your patience.

Asking them to report a repeat quickly helps you. If a repair fails, you want to know while it's still under the vendor's warranty, not two months later when the tenant finally mentions it.

The photo request saves time too. A 10-second video of a dishwasher that won't drain tells a technician more than three sentences of description.

5. The missed appointment

Sometimes the visit doesn't happen. The tenant wasn't home, the technician ran late, or the building wouldn't allow access. Send this the same day, whatever the reason.

Hi [name], the technician wasn't able to get into [unit] today for the [appliance] repair. Can you let us know a few windows over the next two days when someone can be home, or whether you'd like the super to give access? We want to get this fixed as soon as we can.

Notice there's no blame in it, even if the tenant forgot. The goal is a new appointment, not an argument. If missed visits keep happening with the same tenant, deal with that separately.

What to leave out

A few phrases cause more trouble than they're worth.

"ASAP" promises nothing and invites a call tomorrow. Give a time, even if it's just "by tomorrow afternoon."

Don't guess the cause before the technician has seen it. Saying "it's probably just the filter" sets an expectation that the repair will be quick and cheap. If it turns out to be the motor, you've made the bad news worse.

Don't suggest the tenant broke it, even when you suspect they did. Let the technician document what they find, then deal with any damage question after the repair, with the evidence in hand.

Don't make promises about rent or reimbursement in a repair message. Those are separate conversations, and they should happen deliberately.

Make it easy to keep the promises

All of this depends on knowing what's happening on the repair side. You can't give a tenant an appointment window if your vendor won't give you one, and you can't send a parts update if nobody tells you the part was ordered.

When you work with us, each request is tied to the building and the unit, access is arranged with your super, and repairs are quoted for your approval before work starts. Our property managers page explains how work orders and updates are handled. When the next tenant reports a broken appliance, open a work order and send them message number one while you do.