Property Management Co

[RonMexico]

Are property mgmt co liable for damages if they never check on the property and a renter trashes a house.
So far I have put $2200 in repair(carpet, paint, appliances.....) cost at my house not including my 100+ hr of labor, gas or mileage. I only got the $1300 deposit for compensation, they never even collected on the last months rent.
I am pissed bc I paid these people nearly 3k in commission over the past 18 months.

[cwripinz]

What does your contract say about it?

[Dave_L]

My guess is no but it may depend on the contract language. I had a bad situation with some tenants and from my understanding, prop management co's are not liable. They just serve as contact people, rent collector, etc. However, if the contract states they'll do monthly check ups and ensure that the house is in good shape, you may have a leg to stand on. Otherwise, they only go check on the house if they get a ton of complaints.

[Wulf202]

My guess is no but it may depend on the contract language.
+1
who'd you use?

[RonMexico]

Honestly, I haven't read too deep into the contract. The problem was they should have evicted these people earlier: they balanced checks, never paid late fees and my agent had to go to their store and collect the rent every month. After fixing my house the co told me not to feel bad because the were shorted 1k+ in late fees.
They said they will take them to small claims court, but don't know if we will see a dime so they asked if we could pretty much sweep it under the rug and just get new tenets

[UrbanWolf]

Honestly, I haven't read too deep into the contract. The problem was they should have evicted these people earlier: they balanced checks, never paid late fees and my agent had to go to their store and collect the rent every month. After fixing my house the co told me not to feel bad because the were shorted 1k+ in late fees.
They said they will take them to small claims court, but don't know if we will see a dime so they asked if we could pretty much sweep it under the rug and just get new tenets

They seem shitty enough that you are better off manage things yourself. Just find good renters.

[funkymonkey1111]

they are your agent--what did you tell them they could or couldn't do?

[Sparky]

Need a new tenant? [Coffee]

[Gman]

What does your contract say about it?
I couldn't improve on this statement.

[Dave_L]

Honestly, I haven't read too deep into the contract. The problem was they should have evicted these people earlier: they balanced checks, never paid late fees and my agent had to go to their store and collect the rent every month. After fixing my house the co told me not to feel bad because the were shorted 1k+ in late fees.
They said they will take them to small claims court, but don't know if we will see a dime so they asked if we could pretty much sweep it under the rug and just get new tenets

Read the contract/lease. Why should they have evicted them earlier? Because bad signs were starting to appear? Or because they didn't live up to their end of the lease but the management co let them slide for a few more months? If, by contract/lease, they should have evicted them a long time ago, I think you may have some ground to stand on but how much, I dont know. If it was just a "The tenants were being shitty and the management co shouldn't have put up with it as long as they did", that's a different ballgame. The management company sounds like a POS if they were letting the tenants walk all over them like it sounds like they were. But, it all boils down to what was legally required by each party. I got stuck paying the unpaid water bill of $250 after my last tenants because as owner of the house, water rights are ultimately my responsibility. Good tenants are hard to find but when you do, do everything you can to keep them in your house.

[RonMexico]

Thanks for the info Dave. Sorry about your $250 water bill, I was only stuck with a $136 dollar water bill.

[RonMexico]

Need a new tenant? [Coffee]
I only rent to non gun owners... All kidding aside, the market went crazy and I have already had 4 offers on my property even with my $450 price increase over my last lease agreement.

[Sparky]

I only rent to non gun owners... All kidding aside, the market went crazy and I have already had 4 offers on my property even with my $450 price increase over my last lease agreement.

Yes I know the market is crazy. Sucks for me. Good for you.

[BigDee]

More than likely the property management company has language that protects them and screws you in this type of situation. Despite the contract language anything can be contested in court if you can prove that they failed to act in good faith.

How much is your time and effort worth to you? If it were me and I was out $2K I'd called it a lesson learned and move on.

Going forward you are better off managing the property by yourself. Find a good handyman that will do basic repairs for you at a reasonable price. You can do credit and background checks on people through the Internet for a small fee which you pass on to the tenant. You can get a lease off the Internet however I would recommend spending a $500+ to have a lawyer draft a lease agreement specific to you and your property. Each state has certain loopholes and you need an attorney familiar with real estate law in your state to make sure those loopholes are covered in the lease agreement. The same attorney being familiar with the lease will be able to help you evict a bad tenant in a heart beat.

If you're worried about people paying their rent on time you should offer an incentive. On my rental my rent price is X (slightly higher than the going rental rate) but if you pay your rent before the 1st of the month your rent is Y ($50 a month less than the going rental rate) if you pay your rent after the 7th there is a $75 late fee in addition to your rent. My tenant NEVER pays rent late and I wouldn't mind if they did once or twice because it would mean extra $$ in my wallet. I also have a performance clause in my lease. If the tenant fails to pay their rent on time more than 4 times during the term of their twelve month lease I reserve the right to terminate the lease and give the tenant 30 days notice to vacate the property.

I've heard a lot of horror stories about people having rentals. They all stem around either dead beat renters or dead beat property managers. Get a good attorney that's familiar with rentals and they'll help you eliminate 80% of the dead beat risk.

Also... Don't be afraid of section 8. Section 8 renters are often the most reliable and will stay in your property the longest. The state pays most of the section 8 renters rent and the state ALWAYS pays on time. If your tenant isn't following the rules or pays their portion late the state will kick their ass for you.

[HoneyBadger]

Just find good renters.
^LOL^ easier said than done!

[Irving]

We had zero issues evicting a tenant recently. I've heard horror stories, but have yet to experience any concerning an eviction.
Agreed about Section 8 type stuff. We recently had an employee tell us the max they'd pay for rent, then encourage us to raise the rent to that level. This was for ALL the units they were in, not just where we were getting a new tenant.

[T-Giv]

I have been contemplating getting into rental properties for a while now but somehow always get scared...threads like this don't help!

[BigDee]

I have been contemplating getting into rental properties for a while now but somehow always get scared...threads like this don't help!

Getting into rentals is no different than getting into any other business. Your success is all based on how you stack the deck. If you do things without doing your homework and do nothing to minimize your risk you've stacked the deck against yourself and you've likely lost your ass before you even gotten into the game. If you do your homework, learn from the mistakes made by countless others who got in the game long before you and do your due diligence to minimize your risk you'll likely be successful.

[Irving]

I have been contemplating getting into rental properties for a while now but somehow always get scared...threads like this don't help!

Find a mentor. A mentor is priceless.

[RonMexico]

Thanks for the advice BigDee.
T-Giv : out of the 5 renters I have had, 3 were great an 2 have been shitty dirtbags.
it does suck paying 2k and spend 100hr in labor bringing the house up to par but when you have a good renter for 18 months with no issues it makes up for the dirtbags out there.
The only reason I don't manage it myself is bc I am frequently out of the state and I don't want my family dealing with my problems.

[mtnrider]

out of the 5 renters I have had, 3 were great an 2 have been shitty dirtbags.
it does suck paying 2k and spend 100hr in labor bringing the house up to par but when you have a good renter for 18 months with no issues it makes up for the dirtbags out there.
The only reason I don't manage it myself is bc I am frequently out of the state and I don't want my family dealing with my problems.

I have a rental property in NM and out of 3 renters have had one bad apple that I had to kick out. Strangely enough that was the only one I had a property manager running it for us and they were useless. They did nothing but collect there share of the rent. We parted ways half way through the contract after I had to get the renters kick out myself. (military couple and had to go to there first shirt)

Have been extremely lucky since then. Have a German family in there for the past 4 years over here on a military assignment and they have been great! No property manager, they take care of any issues and just send me a bill if there is one, Dream renters. I'm going to dread when they leave after the first of the year.

[Irving]

My dad recently had an issue with a renter in his house. Wasn't paying the rent, then told him that she wasn't planning on leaving because she spent a small fortune landscaping the backyard. WTF?

[T-Giv]

Lmao I wouldn't know what to say to that. Hence why I need a good mentor......Irving? ;)

[Irving]

Heh, I couldn't be anyone's mentor now. What I can tell you though is to always keep sight of the cashflow. Don't invest in something that you think will payoff later, if it won't even cashflow now. I'm talking about real estate property.

[Wulf202]

my 2 pieces of advice. Don't ever get over extended and don't get personally attached to your investment property.