No cause for alarm…

So, your new tenants have just moved into one of your rental properties in another state. Around 8pm on Thursday you get a brief email from one of the tenants – the man, whom by now you have pegged as the less responsible one – asking:

Hi. Can you tell us where the water shutoff valve is located?

Five minutes later he follows up with this:

With the smoke alarms, do we need to verify that they’re green or is there more?

What do you make of these emails?

Here’s what my landlord replied:

These are questions that are leading me to believe there is an issue I need to be made aware of. Has something happened in the home?

What was happening was we were trying to complete the move-in checklist, which is due today, and finding the shut-off valve and checking the smoke detectors were the last two items on the list. Couldn’t find the valve and wasn’t sure about the detectors because they’re a little different from what I’m used to.

I didn’t really consider it at the time, but yeah, from her perspective those emails might have raised a red flag or two.

If I were trying to be an asshole (and wanted to get evicted three days in) I guess I could have followed up a couple minutes later with:

Sorry to bother you again, but is there a fire extinguisher here?