Maintenance Emergencies & Requests

Maintenance Emergencies & Requests

What qualifies as an after-hours maintenance emergency and how do I report an emergency?

All Serv Properties is pleased to provide our tenants with 24-hour Emergency Service. Hopefully, you’ll never need this service, but if you do, you will certainly appreciate having our trained service staff just a phone call away. Before you pick up the phone to call us, though, we want you to know what to expect.



Emergency Service is just that: service we provide to you in the event of a true emergency. We have developed a response procedure for emergencies and other situations that arise during non-business hours. We believe that if you know what to expect from us, you’ll be better prepared to deal with an unexpected event.


Time to look it up on a website? Probably NOT an afterhours emergency…. Lack of AC, hot water, or a clogged drain are not emergencies at 9pm (or 3am). Report them to the office through your portal and they will be reviewed within 8 hours, regardless of the time or day.

What is Considered a Maintenance Emergency?

No Heat in your Property/Apartment

Having no heat in the property and the outside temperature has fallen below 50 degrees is definitely an emergency maintenance issue. These issues should have arisen from mechanical failures. It should not be because of overdue or non-payments of electricity and gas bills. If your gas or electric is shut off for non-payment of your bill, please call your electric or gas provider.

Gas Leaks or “Smell of Gas”

Please contact Vectren at 1-800-227-1376 from a phone NOT located in the apartment. Sparks from phones, even cell phones, can ignite gas. Natural gas has the unmistakable odor of rotten eggs. If you suspect an appliance is leaking gas, turn off the appliance and turn off the gas supply to that appliance (you should be able to find a shut-off handle somewhere on the supply line). And not everything that smells like natural gas, actually is.

Backed Up or Clogged Toilet 

The toilet which is backing up or has been clogged is a maintenance emergency if there is only one-bathroom present in the rental unit. If there is more than one bathroom, clogged up toilet doesn`t qualify as a maintenance emergency.

Fire

Call 911 first!! Then call us.

No Electricity in your Property/Apartment

Blown fuses/circuits are not considered after-hours emergencies. Please familiarize yourself with your fuse/breaker panel. In some instances, the fuse/ breaker panel may be located outside your unit, in an area that you cannot access.



If this is the case, please put in a maintenance request through your portal and it will be reviewed within 8 hours. If you do access to the breaker panel, you are responsible to understanding how to reset your circuit breaker. If you do have access to your fuse panel, you are responsible for keeping 15- or 20-amp fuses on hand just as you are responsible for your own light bulbs. 

Carbon Monoxide Presence

If you have gas heat or water, you should have a carbon monoxide detector installed. Carbon monoxide cannot be smelled. If your carbon monoxide detector sounds, take the following action:


  • If no one is exhibiting symptoms of CO2 poisoning, then check the detector. If it is a battery operated one, take it outside. If it continues to sound, it is defective (or the battery is low).
  • Otherwise, get all family members outdoors immediately
  • Call 911



It is preferred that you leave all windows and doors closed provided everyone has left the apartment. This will allow a more accurate reading of CO2 levels to be measured when the Fire Department responds. Any open doors or windows may allow CO2 gases to dissipate before the arrival of the Fire Department.

Electricity Outage

Electrical outage may be considered an emergency ONLY if there is NO ELECTRICITY THROUGHOUT the ENTIRE UNIT AND:

  • you have called DP&L and they indicate there is no outage in your area AND the electric is not shut off for non-payment of your bill.
  • you have checked all circuit breakers by flipping them hard to the OFF position and then hard to the ON position and have reset any and all GFI breakers (these are the little buttons sometimes found on outlets in bathrooms, kitchens, laundry rooms, and garages) OR any fuses have been checked and replaced if burned out.



Partial outages DO NOT constitute an emergency. If a wall switch or outlet begins to smoke or smell like it is burning, turn off the switch or unplug items from the outlet and turn off the circuit breaker or remove the fuse, then report the problem during normal business hours or by leaving a voice mail on the main office line, 937-236-7368

Flooding of your Apartment

There are 2 types of water leaks: those that can wait, and those that can’t. If the leak can be contained in a bucket until a maintenance person is available, it isn’t considered an emergency. (Small leaks underneath a kitchen sink, for example, can wait.)


A gushing broken pipe, or any other issue where there is risk of water damage to possessions or the property and you cannot contain the leak. Turn off the water valve to the broken pipe or to the water main, if you can locate it, until a maintenance technician arrives. Do everything within your power to contain any leaking or flooding and, if necessary, contact other residents who may be affected by the leak.

What is NOT Considered a Maintenance Emergency?

Noise Complaints or Security Issues

Please contact the Police @ 911. (If the problem is not serious enough to involve the Police, you still may wish to make us aware of it, so we can address the issue properly, by sending us a message through your online portal, describing the problem in detail.

Partial Electrical Outage

DO NOT constitute an emergency. If a wall switch or outlet begins to smoke or smell like it is burning, turn off the switch or unplug items from the outlet and turn off the circuit breaker or remove the fuse, then report the problem during normal business hours or by leaving a voice mail on the main office line, 937-236-7368.

No Hot Water in your Apartment

This may be considered an emergency ONLY if there has been no hot water for an extended period of time: days not hours. In the event of no hot water, and it is not during a contractor’s normal business hours, we may be unable to repair the problem in as timely a manner as we would like, so be resourceful in the meantime.

Air Conditioning

Failure of the AC system is NOT an emergency. Please report the problem on the web, via voice mail, or during regular office hours. But try these things too!

Locked Out of Your Apartment, or any problem involving your lock and/or key

Lock-outs are not after hour emergencies. If you lock yourself out of your apartment, you can call the emergency maintenance line and if someone is available, they will respond. If staff is available to open the Property, you will be required to pay a fee at the time the service is provided. Otherwise, you will need to call a locksmith. THE LOCK MAY NOT BE CHANGED unless absolutely necessary – and it is the Resident’s responsibility to ensure that any new lock is re-keyed to our masters.  If you are locked out during normal office hours, please stop by our office to sign out a spare key. This spare key must be returned to the office by the close of business the same day. If a key is lost or damaged, a replacement key may be obtained during working hours from our office during normal business hours for a fee. For Lockout, Key Replacement, or Lock Changes pricing, please reference your Tenant Handbook.

How to Contact Us

Non-Emergency Maintenance Requests

You may call the office at 937-236-7368 and leave a message or submit your request online through your portal.

Emergency Maintenance Requests

Call the office at 937-236-7368 to speak to someone directly during normal business hours, Monday through Friday 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. 


If it is an after-hours emergency, call the office at 937-236-7368 and follow the voice prompts to leave a message on our after-hours emergency line.  This will put you into the after-hours emergency queue. It will call ALL emergency numbers. It is very important you leave a detailed message.



Calls left on the after-hours emergency line or during normal business hours OR for non-emergencies, e.g. AC issues, clogged drains or anything else that can be handled during normal business hours may incur a minimum $50 after-hours misuse charge per call.



For the best response when you call the after-hours emergency service, please provide:

  • your name
  • your address
  • your apartment number (if applicable)
  • your telephone number(s)
  • and a description of the problem.



Once you have contacted the emergency service, you must remain at your property/apartment so the maintenance technician can reach you by phone. At this time, he or she will make arrangements for meeting you at your property/apartment to resolve the problem.



Please remember that you must leave your telephone number with the emergency service and you must be at home in order for the maintenance technician to respond.

Missed Appointments, Neglect and Unnecessary Service Calls

The resident is responsible for the payment of any invoice for which a repair was made for damage, etc., caused by their misuse or neglect. The resident is also responsible for the payment of any service call charged by a contractor for:

  1. a missed appointment
  2. for not providing access to the unit when requested
  3. for not leaving any keyless bolting devices unlocked and/or not following other instructions resulting in the contractor not being able to gain entry to the property
  4. in the event that there is a pet that the contractor feels is threatening in any way
  5. for other reasons that are clearly the fault of, and/or are under the control of, the resident that do not allow the contractor to complete the necessary work.



Residents may cancel an appointment by calling our office during regular office hours and speaking with a member of the management staff no less than 90 minutes prior to their scheduled appointment with the contractor.

  • Q: Who is responsible for changing smoke alarm or carbon monoxide batteries?

    A: Tenants are responsible for replacing batteries in smoke/carbon monoxide detectors within their unit. If you remove the batteries from your smoke and/or detectors in your apartment or take the detectors down completely, you could be charged with a simple misdemeanor.


  • Q: Who is responsible for changing light bulbs?

    A: Light bulbs shall be furnished at time of occupancy; thereafter, Tenant will promptly replace all bulbs with the same type of bulb intended for that fixture at Tenant’s expense; Tenant shall not “borrow” the Landlord’s bulbs in the halls, basement, laundry rooms, and porches, etc.; at check-out, Tenant will be responsible for all bulbs to be working and to be same type and wattage as originally provided. Most bulbs used are 60 watts.

  • Q: Who is responsible if there are bugs in my unit?

    A: Most of the time pest extermination is the tenant’s responsibility. If you live in a multi-unit building and there is an infestation throughout the entire building then the landlord would be responsible. Remember that at certain times of the year in this area it is common to sometimes have insects of some kind make their way into your home and would not be considered an infestation.

  • Q: What if power is out in PART of my house?

    A: Many circuits in a home (especially the kitchen, bathrooms, and outside outlets) have what’s called a GFCI (or GFI). It’s a “ground fault (circuit) interrupter”. The GFCI is a device that shuts off an electric power circuit when it detects that current is flowing along an unintended path, such as through water or a person. That’s a good thing! GFIs can trip for a variety of reasons and they kill the power to the circuit until the GFI is reset. To reset it, you have to find an outlet that has two buttons on it: test and reset. Push reset. If it immediately trips again, try unplugging stuff from the area and resetting it. If you find that it doesn’t trip after you unplug something, then there is likely something wrong with that device. If resetting doesn’t fix the issue check your circuit panel. Find your circuit breaker panel and look for a breaker that is either off, or partially off, then push it all the way off, then back on. It should reset the part of the house without power. If it trips again, then a couple things can be going on. Please put in a maintenance request and we will come out and take a look.

  • Q: What should I do if I will be gone for an extended absence?

    A: Make sure you have someone check on your place while you are gone, even if it’s for a short time, and especially during inclement weather. If something happens while you are away, such as a water leak, and you are not around to check it or report it, then the damage can be much worse than if you had been home and noted the problem right away. When being away remember - Do not turn heat, AC, or electricity off.  In the end, YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE for anything that happens to the home while you are a tenant and the home is in your possession, even if it happens while you are away.  Please check out this helpful guide: Steps to Protect Your Pipes From Freezing During Cold Weather.

  • Q: What if my Air Conditioning goes out?

    A: Failure of the AC system is NOT an emergency. Please report the problem by putting in a maintenance request. 

  • Q: I found a water leak, what should I do?

    A: Put in a maintenance request. Place something under the leak to catch the water. Clean up any sitting water to help mitigate the damage. 

  • Q: Will I be charged a Trip Fee for my maintenance request?

    A: Tenant will only be charged a trip fee if we have made prior arrangements with a tenant to access the Property and are denied or are not able to access the Property because of the tenant’s failure to make the Property accessible. It is the Tenant’s responsibility to notify our office immediately if a scheduled repair has to be rescheduled.

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