RENTER RESOURCES
Maintenance Emergencies and After-Hours Repairs
Some repairs cannot wait for the office to open. This page explains what counts as an emergency at an Eastern Properties Group rental, who to call and when, what to try before you call, and how quickly each kind of repair is handled. For anything that is not urgent, the maintenance request form is the fastest route.
Emergency? Do this
Danger, fire or a gas smell: leave the home and call 911.
Burst pipe, flooding, no heat in winter, no power, sewage backup, door that will not lock: call (240) 916-6008 and choose the emergency option, any hour.
Then send the maintenance request form with photos so the vendor arrives with the right parts.
THREE KINDS OF REPAIR
Emergency, urgent or routine: which is it?
Every request is sorted into one of three tiers, and the tier sets the target response. The question to ask is whether the problem is putting people at risk or actively damaging the home right now. If it is, it is an emergency and you should call.
Emergency
Same day, any hour
Examples. Fire, a gas smell, a burst pipe or flooding, a sewage backup, no heat in cold weather, no power to the whole home, an outside door that will not lock, or anything actively damaging the home or putting people at risk.
What to do. Fire or gas: leave and call 911 first. Everything else: call (240) 916-6008 and choose the emergency option, then send the maintenance request form with photos.
Urgent
Within 24 to 48 hours
Examples. A repair that is needed soon but is not damaging the home right now: no hot water, a refrigerator that has stopped, a toilet that will not flush when it is the only one, a leak you can contain with a bucket, or air conditioning out in a heat wave.
What to do. Send the maintenance request form and mark it urgent. Call during office hours if you have not heard from us by the next business day.
Routine
Within 5 business days
Examples. A dripping faucet, a slow drain, a torn screen, a closet door off its track, a light fixture, a loose handrail, or an appliance that works but not well.
What to do. Send the maintenance request form. We contact you to schedule and confirm a time before anyone enters.
AFTER HOURS
What happens when you call after hours
- Call (240) 916-6008 and choose the emergency option. The office is open 9:00 to 4:00, Monday to Friday; outside those hours the emergency option is how you reach us.
- Tell us the address, what is happening and whether anyone is in danger. If you have already called 911, say so.
- We dispatch the right vendor for the problem: a plumber for a burst pipe, an electrician for a dead panel, a heating contractor for a furnace that has quit in winter.
- Send the maintenance request form too, with photos, so there is a written record and the vendor knows what to bring.
- We follow up with you the next business day to confirm the repair is complete and nothing else is needed.
Please do not call the emergency line for a routine repair. A dripping faucet or a stuck window at 11 p.m. is a request for the form, not a call. Keeping the line clear is what lets us reach the neighbor with water coming through the ceiling.
BEFORE YOU CALL
Quick checks that solve the common ones
None of these replace a call for a real emergency. They are the things a vendor would check first, and they save you a visit when the fix is a tripped breaker or a thermostat battery.
No power
Check the breaker panel for a tripped breaker and reset it once. Look outside: if the neighbors are dark too, it is a utility outage. Report it to your electric company; their outage line is on your county’s Renter Resources page. Call us if power is out in only part of the home or a breaker trips again.
No heat
Check the thermostat is set to heat and above room temperature, replace its batteries, and check the furnace filter and the furnace switch, which looks like a light switch near the unit. If the home uses propane or oil, check the tank. In cold weather, no heat is an emergency: call us.
No hot water
Check whether cold water runs. If nothing runs, it may be a frozen or shut-off supply. If cold runs and hot does not, send an urgent request. Do not relight a gas water heater yourself if you smell gas.
A leak
Turn off the valve under the sink or behind the toilet if the leak is there, put a bucket under it, and move anything that could be damaged. Find the main water shutoff on move-in day so you know where it is. A leak you cannot stop is an emergency.
Locked out
Call (240) 916-6008. We coordinate a locksmith. A coordination fee applies (see our pricing page) and the locksmith charge is separate. Details on lockout coordination.
Smoke or carbon monoxide alarm
A chirp every minute or so means the battery is low; replace it. A continuous alarm with no fire or smoke could be carbon monoxide: get everyone outside, call 911, then call us. Never remove an alarm.
COLD WEATHER
Winter in Western Maryland: preventing the emergency
- Keep the heat on and set no lower than 55 degrees, even when you are away. A frozen pipe is the most common winter emergency we see.
- On the coldest nights, open the cabinet doors under kitchen and bathroom sinks on outside walls, and let a faucet on an outside wall drip.
- Disconnect garden hoses from outside spigots before the first freeze.
- Tell us if you will be away for more than a few days in winter so we can check the home.
- Test smoke and carbon monoxide alarms when the heat first comes on for the season.
Common questions
Anything that puts people or the building at risk right now: fire, a gas smell, flooding or a major leak, no heat in cold weather, no power, a sewage backup, or an outside door that will not lock. Call us for these. Do not wait for a reply to the form.
Usually it is urgent rather than an emergency, and we aim to have someone there within 24 to 48 hours. If someone in the home has a medical condition made worse by heat, tell us when you send the request and we will treat it as a priority.
Only in an emergency, or if you told us on the request form that we may enter. Otherwise we confirm a time with you first.
Repairs to the home are the owner’s responsibility, with two exceptions: damage caused by a resident or a guest, and lockouts, which carry a coordination fee (listed on our pricing page) plus the locksmith’s charge. Your lease has the details.
Call or email us with your address and we will give you an update. Office hours are 9:00 to 4:00, Monday to Friday. Email [email protected].
Call (240) 916-6008. We coordinate a locksmith. A coordination fee applies (see our pricing page) and the locksmith charge is separate. More on lockout coordination.
Something needs fixing?
Send the request with photos and we will contact you to schedule. For an emergency, call first.
Emergency: call (240) 916-6008 and choose the emergency option. Fire or gas: leave and call 911.