As a small landlord who basically has to do everything myself, including mowing the lawns and doing 'house calls', I've been trying to make some adjustments to make the occupation livable.

I honestly have had no life whatsoever with these tenants texting and complaining at all hours, even late in the evenings, and even demanding responses. Many times even about things I have no control over, they just want someone handy to complain to.

I'm thinking about writing into future leases that unless it is a fire or gas/water break we take calls during business hours only (8-5 weekdays) and not on weekends.

Has anybody else done this? I would think a large operation would have staff and do this anyway.

They have time off from their own jobs, why can't we?

Besides writing it into future leases, add it to the current ones. Just call it additional rules, not a change in terms of the lease.

Do not allow them to call you.Ever! Text only! Inform them that all texts will be answered only once per day between , say 400PM and 600PM ONLY and then ONLY if you feel their text is important to you.Then do that. You can always check your texts when you want, but ONLY answer in the time block you say you will. If they text so much it interferes with your work, just shut the phone off till you feel like looking at it. If you allow them to expect an answer at all hours, that is what they will demand. You train them, not the other way around, which is what it looks like is happening.

I have told my tenants that the words FIRE, FLOOD or BLOOD better be in the sentence if you contact me at a Ridiculous hour.

As a handy person, a licensed contractor of several trades, I make my rentals idiot proof. I install quarter turn ball water turn off valves everywhere possible so tenants can shut off a problem fixture or run.

I also install clean out caps with spring loaded relief vents so instead of a backup into a unit, the water drain on an outside area (lawn, walkway, etc).

So when I a 911 call, the sewer line has backed up, I don't have to make a 2 AM house call. The relief clean-out will allow water to drain into the dirt.

Also I service my breakers with special lubrication contact cleaner that re-news the breakers ability to trip and be re-set easier.

I used to run a 24 hour service contraction/emergency service -- From age 28 to 45. Then I got smart and if clients and partners wouldn't up-grade their rental to provide for emergency situations, I wouldn't run to their aid at night -- only show up at 6am.

You don't need to write anything into your leases. Establishing set times for tenants to report problems isn't a good idea. What kind of customer service would that be? Assuming your tenants are employed they're busy too and shouldn't have to request service at a set time. But you don't have to respond to every request instantly. You can respond when it's convenient for you. Obviously if something urgent happens at a late hour you're going to deal with it as best you could. But non emergencies can wait. Silence your phone! Some retraining of existing tenants may be necessary, but they'll get the idea. I try to respond fairly quickly so I don't forget. But I do it on my terms.

Business hours are between 9-5. Emergency only, like stated above, are the only acceptable after hours calls. Think of a complex-they won't answer after a certain time. My phone is on 24/7-I just don't respond to certain people 24/7. They can leave a message or a text but you don't have to get back to them right away. Stick with it.

Duplexer,

Been there, done that. The ONLY word that I will immediately respond to is flood. Has only happen once. Fire is what the Fire Dept. is for and you can't do anything until they are done. Has happened twice. Blood is what the police are for and you can't do anything until they are done. Has happen twice.

Text only and wait until you are mentally and physically good and ready to respond. There was a great LL poster in the past named Aldo and his #1 rule was "I am in charge, the tenant is not!"

Duplexer ... I get what you are stating but what are they actually complaining about at all hours? If it is something that needs to be repaired, replaced, etc then that's something you need to take care of (heat, electric, water, pests, etc). Depending on what the issue really is with those (hey, my roof is leaking is a bigger issue than "hey, my one outlet in my room doesn't work" is another).

One I want to know and get repaired ASAP, the other ... yeah I want to know but not at 1am and it's not going to be something I'm going to pay an electrician to come out and trouble shoot over the weekend ... that's a M-F thing.

So the question to you is does your property need work even though it has tenants in it? Hot water tank is old/bad? Electric needs to be fixed, roof is bad, etc? Or are you allowing these tenants to run (ruin) your life?

Ken hit the nail on the head, and many others are giving his response and "Amen." I too wholeheartedly agree.

Every business in the world has "normal business hours". You should too. You are not any more important to the world than a mold restoration company or a grocery store. Sorry to bust your bubble, but it's a bubble worth busting because I used to feel the same as you. I used to think I had to be available 24/7. Then I realized I am a human and I have limitations. Why do I expect myself to be on call 24/7 when my employer, a Fortune 500 company that sells products my tenants need, closes down in the evening and opens in the morning? Am I somehow more critical to survival of my tenants than they are? And even if the answer is "yes" (it isn't, btw), what can I do at 1 AM?

So I set rules: My phone (Google voice) goes on "Do Not Disturb" mode at 6 pm and comes back on at 7 am.

Break in? Call the cops. File any loss with your renter's policy. I'm sending the tenant the bill for broken window glass/doors, per our lease because 99 time out of 100 it's someone the tenant knows breaking in for cash or drugs. Usually ex-boyfriend, etc.

Water flooding the house? Call the utility company and/or use the water shut off to stop it.

Roof caved in? We'll call the roofers tomorrow. They aren't getting up on a roof in the night, so what in the world can I do about it?

The bottom line to all these scenarios is I do not need to know "right now" even if the house is burning down during those hours. What can I do anyway other than worry? The tenants should be calling 9-1-1 to dispatch a fire truck, not me. I'll find out in the morning and file with insurance.

P.S. This fire situation actually happened to me. Tenant called at 10 pm to say house is on fire. The message on my voicemail says, "In case of emergency, call 911". He called the fire dept, who came and put out the fire and then called me and left a message. I found out the next morning. I got it all in the morning, got a copy of the fire marshal's report, filed a claim, and got my insurance check about 5 weeks later. Easy cheesy!

your tenants have done a good job training you to be subservient to their needs. Who is the boss? Who owns the property? Who sets the rules here?

After I repair something at my rentals, I often point out to my tenants that if they owned the place, they wouldn't get a contractor out for several more days than it took me to fix the problem.

You have a warped sense of what kind of service you need to provide. You should not be at their beck and call 24/7/365.

For me, the tenants who get the biggest rent raises are the ones who are a pain to deal with. If the big rent increase makes them leave, so much the better.

Duplexer,

You do not have to retrain the tenants, you have to retrain the landlord.

It is the landlord who is doing things at all hours, not the resident's fault.

My lease is clear: the contact page has our phone number email website etc. and office hours 8 to 5 Monday through Friday.

I don't expect them to memorize my office hours but I cannot recall anyone complaining when they texted in at night or on a weekend.All messages come in on Google Voice to a desktop computer, never never never to a phone that I would carry.

Stay in control of your business.

Take care of problem swiftly and curiouslyously and people will not mind that you did not respond on a Sunday afternoon. Another thing that helps with after hours problems is to make certain everything is repaired and in good condition before you handover the keys. Even with all our houses and all our residents I cannot recall the last time we had an after hours emergency that required my immediate attention.

And our new lease orientation session includes explaining the water shut off valve in the basement location of the main electrical breaker.

Back when I was a teacher's aide, one of my fellow aides had a brilliant phrase she would say to kids who ran up wanting to tattle, or otherwise seeking attention at recess. She'd simply say, 'Broken, burning, or bleeding?' The child knew, it had better be dire, if not, they'd hang their head and walk off.

HOWEVER, she ALWAYS wandered/ mosied over in the direction from whence the child came, just so as to eavesdrop, or otherwise discreetly investigate. Kids learned to solve their own troubles, yet she discreetly made sure nothing really was amiss. Not too quickly, mind, lest the child thought she was at their beck and call. As responsible aides, we circulated constantly anyway, so very little went on that we weren't already on top of.