How to write a clear maintenance request

Start with what you noticed

A useful maintenance request answers four simple questions: Where is the problem? What happened? When did you notice it? How can management reach you? You do not need to know the cause or name a replacement part.

For example, “The kitchen faucet drips around the base while the water is running” is more useful than “The kitchen is broken.” Include the unit number so the request reaches the right home.

If there is immediate danger, use the appropriate emergency service and your property's emergency contact procedure first. Creating or downloading this form does not alert anyone.

1. Include the details needed to act

Rental address

Write the street, city, state and ZIP, plus the apartment or unit number.

Your name and contact

Give the name management knows and a phone number or email where you can receive a reply.

Problem and location

Name the room or fixture, describe what you can see or hear, and say when it started or when you first noticed it.

Practical impact

Explain what you cannot use or what is getting worse. Keep observations separate from guesses about the cause.

Preferred visit times

Suggest times if useful. A preference is not a confirmed appointment or permission to enter; arrange access separately with management.

Keep passwords, entry codes, account details and unrelated personal information out of the request. You can coordinate practical access details through the property's usual process.

2. Use a short, specific description

These are examples, not statements about your home. Replace the details with what actually happened.

Only include temperatures, dates or reference numbers you actually know. If the start date is uncertain, write “I first noticed it today” instead of guessing. You can describe what changed without deciding who caused it.

For unrelated problems in different places, separate the descriptions clearly. A separate request may be easier for management to assign and track; use the process your property asks you to follow.

3. Add photos that explain the location and detail

Start with one wider photo showing where the problem is, then a closer photo showing the detail. In the online tool, choose Photos, then Choose photos or Take photo when your device supports it. You can include up to eight images.

Review each image before exporting. Remove blurry duplicates and check for unrelated faces, mail, documents or other private information in the background. Do not put yourself at risk to take a photo.

A useful caption identifies the room or fixture, such as “Under the kitchen sink.” The description should still make sense without the photos. If you print a blank form, you can attach photos separately and mark the photos box.

4. Fill out the online request

1. Open Tenant Repair Request. The document is ready to edit without creating an account.
2. Tap a shaded area. Add the rental address, your contact details and the problem. The editor opens separately so you can see what you are typing.
3. Use Done or Done & next. Return to the document or continue to the next part. Review the text in its place on the page.
4. Add optional details. Include preferred visit times or photos if they help. Other fields are available through Edit & options.
5. Review and sign. Use the signature options to add your own signature, then confirm it after checking the document.
6. Read the acknowledgment and export. When the essentials and signature are complete, check the acknowledgment if you agree. Choose Download PDF or Print.

On a phone, the form keeps its paper layout. Swipe left or right inside the document frame to see more of the page, and scroll down within it for later sections. Tap a field to open the editor. Under Edit & options, Fit whole page shows the entire width; Easy reading offers a single-column view if you prefer it.

If Download PDF is unavailable, check the completion message. Continue editing takes you to the next missing essential. Photos and preferred visit times are optional; the tool tells you what remains before a completed request can be exported.

Keep your draft if you need to stop

Save draft stores progress on the device you are using. It is not an online account, and it does not put the request on your landlord's system. Use Drafts & backups for the available restore and backup options. A restored signature drawing must be reviewed and confirmed again.

An editable backup is different from a PDF. The backup lets you reopen the form in the tool; the PDF is the copy to read, print or share. Keep files containing your details, photos or signature somewhere private. Clearing browser data or using a private session can remove a locally saved draft.

5. Prefer handwriting? Download a blank form

At the top of the tool, choose Download blank PDF for US Letter paper, or choose the A4 version. Print the clean form and write in the address, contact details, problem, suggested visit times and signature.

The blank form has writing lines and no personal entries. Downloading it does not clear or replace anything you have already typed in the online tool. It is a printable form, not an editable backup.

6. Send the request and keep a useful record

Downloading the PDF does not send it. Send the finished request through the repair contact method your property uses, such as its maintenance portal, designated email or office process. Check whether the property requires its own form or portal.

1. Keep the final request and any attached photos together.
2. Record when, how and to whom you sent it.
3. Keep an actual acknowledgment, reference number or reply if you receive one.
4. Add a dated follow-up when there is a new appointment, update or continuing problem.

Record only what happened. A downloaded file does not prove that management received it, and a preferred visit time does not prove that a visit was booked. If a repair is still unresolved, describe the current condition when following up rather than changing the old record as though the repair was finished.

Managing the work as a landlord? Use the separate Landlord Repair Record to record work, updates and completion. The two tools do not automatically send information to each other.

Common maintenance request questions

Make the next step clear

A specific location, a plain description and a reliable way to contact you give management a useful starting point. Review the form, send it yourself and keep the request with its replies.