Agent issues and tennant eviction

[giraffez]

I have a property that is in the outer surburbs from where I live (around 3 hour drive). Obviously i have an agent to manage it for me. I'm having some difficulties with the management at the moment and was hoping to get some advice.

My tennants have defaulted and has been evicted 2 months ago. My property to date is still not ready to be rented out as there are still fixes to be made from tennant damage. There is actually some tennant damage which I wasn't even made aware until recently, I thought most were standard wear and tear until i started enquiring about all the expenses that were coming through.

I have just learnt today (after 2 months) that there are fixes in excess of $5000 (quotes only not done yet). If my property is in that bad of a shape, should I not be notified (or at least make obvious) from the inspection reports? I've had inspection reports from the past that look like the same report with changed the dates (some items that were fixed were carried to the next report).

The agent has received the bond and is insisting on deducting their management fees from it. This is for rent they failed to collect! Can they do this? I'm okay for them to deduct the amount in proportion so if I get back 2 weeks of rent from the bond, then they get 2 weeks.... shouldn't be the full X number of weeks right?

There are conflicting quotation advice, one quotation came back saying it needs to fix something and another came back saying that thing does not need to be fixed. This is not the agents fault but they have asked me to ring the supplier and sort it out myself.

I'm so frustrated with how this is being managed.

I want to know whether the agent can collect their management fee from the bond without my consent and how I can go about rectifying all the damage.

 

[Sez]

With regards to the bond it depends on whether the money is receipted as rent or as maintenance. Sounds like your PM plans on receipting it as rent so they can collect their money. Not very ethical.

Work should be WELL AND TRUELY complete by now regardless of the extent of the damage. A handyman should have attended and repaired the obvious and immediately required while quoting on the remaining works, if needed carpet repairs or quote for replacement should have been sought etc. etc. These quotes should have been requested within 24 hours of the final inspection and they should have been received within 2 weeks, a quick phone call to you and the work should be going ahead. meanwhile your agent should have made an application to Tribunal for compensation beyond the bond for works required and referred the debt to a debt collector.

Do they really need you to ring the supplier? The agent should be able to do this and also liase with your insurance company to sort out any claim and have your property back on the market ready for rent ASAP.

Change agents - from the information you have given me this is really poor performance & time management on their behalf which is costly for you.

 

[Macca]

Well it does sound like they are being a bit slack, but to be honest I would have been there the first week and had a look myself.

I realise driving a 6 hours round trip is a pain but so is an empty rental and I believe the less attentive you are the less attentive the agent is.

 

[giraffez]

With regards to the bond it depends on whether the money is receipted as rent or as maintenance. Sounds like your PM plans on receipting it as rent so they can collect their money. Not very ethical.

Work should be WELL AND TRUELY complete by now regardless of the extent of the damage. A handyman should have attended and repaired the obvious and immediately required while quoting on the remaining works, if needed carpet repairs or quote for replacement should have been sought etc. etc. These quotes should have been requested within 24 hours of the final inspection and they should have been received within 2 weeks, a quick phone call to you and the work should be going ahead. meanwhile your agent should have made an application to Tribunal for compensation beyond the bond for works required and referred the debt to a debt collector.

Do they really need you to ring the supplier? The agent should be able to do this and also liase with your insurance company to sort out any claim and have your property back on the market ready for rent ASAP.

Can the bond be claimed for maintainence if filed for rent?

This is the second time I had to ring the supplier for two different matters to have the quotes clarified. I usually have to spoonfeed the agent to get them to do stuff, ask for something and they give you just enough, never get that extra care and attention or go the extra step to find out more.

The thing is i totally agree that the agent is less attentive if i'm not there but even if i do go and inspect myself, i wouldn't be able to do very much, all i can see is the extent of the damage but to get things fixed will still need to be coordinated via them.

 

[Sez]

When a claim is made for the bond really at the end of the day the agent gets to do the accounting so they will credit it where they see fit. I, personally, always pay the creditors first in an attempt to minimise the landlords immediate out of pocket expenses.

A good agent isn't going to be more attentive if you are there or away, I would really start looking around for a new agent as what you have said about the situation is really concerning!