In the fast-paced world of property management, each day brings its own unique challenges. From handling maintenance requests to fielding tenant inquiries, property managers pride themselves on maintaining welcoming and well-kept spaces for residents and prospective tenants. Leaky faucet? No problem. Broken appliance? Consider it fixed!

But lately, there’s been a noticeable rise in requests that border on the absurd. Call it what you will – overkill, instant gratification, or my personal favorite: entitlement.

Take, for instance, recent gems we’ve received: one for removing fingerprints from a refrigerator handle that every tenant in a communal space uses, another for wiping coffee cup marks left on a countertop when a prospective tenant innocently placed their cup down, and most recently, a request to clean an egg (rotten it had been there so long) from a tenant’s garage wall. Maintaining a clean and inviting environment is one thing, but this? These requests stretch the boundaries of what property management should reasonably handle.

We have even received a pest control request for chirping birds. At this point, the only thing we haven’t been called to fix is the weather. (But give it time.)

Where does this leave us? Exhausted, for one. But more importantly, it leaves us asking: Where do we draw the line between legitimate concerns and the nitpicky demands of modern-day entitlement?

It’s critical to remember that our onsite property managers are not personal Butlers. Above all, the role of a property management company is to address legitimate concerns and uphold property standards – not to cater to every minor inconvenience or to run mid-size apartment building like an all-inclusive resort. Unreasonable demands like these don’t just drain resources, they steal time and energy away from addressing issues that actually matter. This is not to say that on-site managers are above wiping down counters or fingerprints off glass front doors or inside vacancies as any reasonable person would (or they should not be in this business).

Moreover, such entitlement can hinder a sense of shared responsibility within the community. In any living space, especially multi-tenant properties, respect for shared spaces and cooperation are key. Expecting management to take care of trivial matters chips away at this sense of community accountability. Honestly, we’re still trying to figure out how we got here. Was there a secret tenant meeting where it was unanimously decided, “Let’s treat property managers like personal valets”? If so, where was our invite?

The key to managing these entitled requests lies in education and communication. Setting clear guidelines about maintenance responsibilities and boundaries helps manage expectations, ensuring that tenants understand where their responsibilities end and ours begin. At one building, every summer tenants would move the furniture cushions, stain them with suntan lotion, and leave trash and wet towels as if their expectation was the on-site manager would or should clean it up. It was necessary to send out a reminder of the pool rules to keep the property looking its best for everyone’s enjoyment. Fostering a culture of respect for shared spaces can go a long way. A bit of cooperation and a quick wipe can solve more problems than you might think, faster than submitting a work order, at least. It is also important to set an example as a property manager and to make an effort to keep the standards high, so wipe fingerprints, pick up trash and pull out a weed once in a while – it will go a long way.

As we continue striving to deliver excellent service, let’s keep our eyes on the big picture. At the end of the day, these moments of entitlement may provide more laughs than frustration. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’ve got a work order for sunshine, and it is about to rain – I think we will pass on this one and let nature take its course.

Written by Kari Negri, Chief Executive Officer, SKY Property Management

Name any aspect of the complex world of property management and Kari Negri has been at the forefront, forging new ground, fighting for the rights of property owners and tenants alike, adding value, and making a significant difference. With a strong background in management, Kari founded SKY Properties, Inc. in 1997 to offer hands-on, boutique-level property management at a competitive price for multi-tenant property owners. Do you have a question for me? Please send your questions and comments to me at Kari@SKYprop.LA.