Posted by Rich-CA on September 05, 2007 at 16:56:07:
You can add the debt to their credit report without needing a judgment (at least in some states). My attorney in AZ tells me it costs $1500 to get a judgment, so in the trashing instance I’m dealing with I decided to see what my collections agency says.
I would say that you have to manage a PM the same way you do any other vendor, contractor or employee. If you don’t, even the good ones slip. I just had to fire my PM of 3 years because of issues on how they advertise units (they go the cheap route instead of the cost effective route) and the fact that they did not give me adequate pictures to file an insurance claim.
In my case, we also had cat urine. We had to strip the floors and put down a sealer on the concrete that makes it impossible for liquids to soak in. We had to neutralize the smell and seal the drywall. Then we could paint and refinish.
Posted by Scott on September 05, 2007 at 05:28:52:
I thought I had no worries when I hired a property mananger to watch my property. They advertise about the professional memberships they belong to and how they will treat my property like their own. They promised periodic inspections, etc.
My tenant moved out and guess what? My house was being used to raise cats. Basically it was a kennel. They had perhaps 10 cats in the house. Cat urine and feces everywhere destroying the carpet and everything else. The house is not rentable or saleable without major repairs.
I didn’t know the tenant had any animals, let alone a whole herd of them. I find this out AFTER they move out. What the heck was the property manager doing?
It’s law suit time for both the tenant and the property manager.
Re: Watch your Property manager - Posted by Rich-CA
Posted by Rich-CA on September 05, 2007 at 16:51:00:
Read your management agreement carefully. The ones I have signed specify the number and times of inspections (the industry norm is 2 - before move in, after move out - but the ones I signed with also do a mid tenancy inspection and talk to any service people who have been in the property about the condition - and my lease permits up to one inspection per month).
You have also got to understand that if the PM is around a lot (I am assuming single family houses - there is a big difference in apartment complexes) (1) you will be paying them for the additional time - way beyond the 7 - 12% that seems to be the industry norm and (2) they run the risk of being intrusive which none of the landlord/tenant laws I have looked at (CA, CO, TX, AZ) permit.
Finally, I would look at your insurance. My properties are all under a blanket commercial policy from Farmers that includes “tenant vandalism” coverage. I keep the coverage at “replacement cost” since it does me no good to get 1/2 a dishwasher or something. I had a tenant in TX who trashed the place. We paid out $800 of the $1000 deductible because their calculation of replacement cost exceeded our actual costs. oh, and they cover lost rents while the place is being repaired.
How did I stumble across this? Same way you did, except instead of wasting my money and energy on lawsuits, I changed how I was doing business to offset my risks.
Re: Watch your Property manager - Posted by Natalie-VA
Posted by Natalie-VA on September 05, 2007 at 15:35:42:
Scott,
I market to landlords and find that a lot of property managers really suck. The biggest issues that I see are under market rents and pets that are prohibited by the lease.
On the subject of cat urine, it’s tough to remove. Just changing out the carpet might not do it. Make sure that the urine did not seep through to the flooring underneath before you replace it, otherwise the smell will remain.
And yes, get a JM on record for that former tenant.