Seasonal disconnect of natural gas service
So, they say the definition of insanity is expecting different results by doing the same thing. I'm looking for others' experience and advice with regard to my latest question.
A tenant has requested of the utility company that his gas service (his unit's heat, only - hot water and range are electric) be disconnected in the spring and reconnected in the fall in order to save the monthly "connect" charge when he uses zero therms. If it matters, this tenant is also on both Section 8/DSS, so I am assuming that one of those entities is paying for his heat. (The cynical side of me suspects he is getting funds to cover 12 months of heat, and he is pocketing the difference - just a thought without any proof.)
On the face, this looks financially prudent, but it has become a major PITA for me. His gas meter is in the basement (which is locked and off limits to tenants), so the utility needs me (or someone I trust) to let them in. They only schedule these service calls during 8-4pm weekdays (I work a full-time day job.) with an 8-hour window, so I am unable to provide access except when I have the day off. They cannot guarantee when the technician will show up during that 8 work day, so it's not practical that I can leave work early to meet them there on a particular day.
I've tried to make this a bit easier on myself by putting a combination lock on the basement door and when they call for the "we'll be there in 20 min" warning, someone can give them the combo, which I can later swap out after the service visit for security reasons if I choose.
The issue I have run into is that "technically" (citing company policy) I have to be present for them to gain access and do the connect/disconnect. So far (twice), I have run into techs that have given a bit of pushback, but I had the contact person provide some subterfuge about why they couldn't make and could they "just go in there without me? I am stuck in traffic/family emergency/car trouble/etc." and they relented. To me, this is not a good long-term plan.
So, here are my options as I see them. Please feel free to comment on my concerns or offer another solution. I assume I am not in a unique position amongst the BP populace. How do/would you handle this with your tenants? Thanks in advance!
Option #1: Tell the tenant that because of the utilities' service call inflexibility, I can no longer provide them access during business hours and therefore they must leave their account active all year. (This would probably require an amendment to the MTM lease, and might piss off the tenant.)
Option #2: Allow the tenant to provide access via the combination lock, with all of the liability and "potential for nonsense" (theft/vandalism/whatever) that it would expose me to. (I have avoided this option thusfar, because I think it would encourage the tenant to feel more entitled to this service that I am not completely comfortable with.)
Option #3: Continue with the status quo of the scheduling mess this creates for my life every 6 months. (Not practical, which I why I posted.)
Option #4: Hire a PM "a la carte" for this express purpose. (Not worth the cost, in my opinion.)