---
title: "How to File a Maintenance Request"
description: "Create a repair request yourself from the Maintenance list."
url: https://support.payrent.com/en/articles/11132590-how-to-file-a-maintenance-request
collection: "Maintenance"
updated: 2026-10-17
language: en
---

# How to File a Maintenance Request

Create a repair request yourself from the Maintenance list.

You can file a repair yourself from the Maintenance list. Residents can also file from their own Maintenance screen. This article covers the landlord side.

## Before you start

-   Sign in as a landlord.
    
-   Maintenance has to be on your plan.
    
-   The unit has to be occupied. Only occupied units show up in the list, and if none are occupied the field says **No occupied units**.
    

## Steps

1.  Go to **Maintenance**.
    
2.  Stay on the **Maintenance** tab.
    
3.  Select **ADD A REQUEST**.
    
4.  Fill in **What's wrong**. It's required and capped at 160 characters.
    
5.  Choose an occupied **Unit**.
    
6.  Set **Urgency** to **Routine**, **Urgent**, or **Emergency**.
    
7.  Set **Status**. New requests start as **Submitted**.
    
8.  Optional: choose a **Vendor**. Picking one sends that vendor an invite and moves a new or acknowledged request into dispatch.
    
9.  Optional: turn **Geni** off for just this request. The switch works when **Let Geni coordinate** is on in maintenance settings. If Geni is off in settings, the note says you're handling the request and the switch stays disabled.
    
10.  Optional: add **Photos**. WebP files aren't accepted.
     
11.  Select **Save**.
     

PayRent doesn't email the resident when you file a request. If you assigned a vendor, they get the job invite. That first invite leaves out the property address, which the vendor receives after accepting.

## Urgency

If the description matches a platform emergency (gas, fire, smoke, carbon monoxide, a medical emergency, an active leak or flood, sewage, no heat, no power, a lockout, or a break-in), the request is saved as **Emergency** even if you picked a lower urgency.

A request you file yourself won't page you. Paging is only for emergencies a resident files. See How to Handle a Maintenance Emergency.

## Related

-   How to Set Up Geni for Maintenance
    
-   How to Add a Maintenance Vendor
    
-   How to Update a Maintenance Request