Agent misspent rent money

[woohoo]

I got a property just let this new agent manage.

They said they found a tenant at $210 pw rent. And I quickly paid the garderner $50 to mow the lawn before tenant moved in. But he missed a strip next to the garage which was quite long, and I told him to come back to fix it up.

2 months later, i check my statement from agent, they have paid the garderner $200 claiming it is for the lawn and throwing out some garbage?????
Now the agent says i instructed them to pay the man but I honestly didn't, simply because i already paid him $50 myself.

Doesn't the agent think $200 is robbery for mowing the freaking lawn????

What can i do in this case? It seems like the agent doenst want to take action, instead they keep arguiing with me.

 

[Alabex]

are their receipt/invoices in either of these transactions - that would help.

The Real Estate agent wouldn't have paid money without an invoice and the invoice hopefully says exactly what happened.

If the guy mowed the lawn and then also cleared up items and had to do a tip run then it could get a bit more expensive.

I do agree that $200 sounds steep if it was just a mowing job... thats why i am wondering what the invoice says...

 

[neK]

If the agent cant get a receipt then demand the agent pay you back.

If the agent does get a receipt, look at the particulars and determine whether its worth it to threaten the agent with you leaving if they dont cover some of the cost.

 

[csc2]

i know its common for agents to charge owners say 50 bucks to mow a lawn yet they only give the mowerman 30 bucks...

i know three agents who have full time mowermen they pay wages to..they rip owners blind...some charge for 2/3 mows a mth when they are flat out turning up once....they target especially out of town investors who cant easily check how many times the place was mowed.

the whole rental industry needs shake up..been saying it for years.

theres heaps of other things as well.....bit like builders adding 20% onto tiles just because they are put on his account when he builds your home..

agents are no different with urgent electrical call outs, plumbing, etc etc...many markup the services because they can get away with it.

always ask for original receipts and verify with the person who did the work in person.

 

[chris01]

Hahaha.....too similar

My ex-PM wanted me to pay $300 (quoted by their handyman) for the repair of a vanity drawer damaged by tenants. I said no. I said to them it would cost me about $20 to get it fixed. Why should I pay $300?

On the other hand, a brand new vanity costs $300. Their handyman should have said that it would be worth to buy a new one and swap the drawers and we LL keep the rest of the new vanity for the future damage replacement. He didn't do this way because he wanted to rip me off for sure.

 

[woohoo]

it seems like handymen love it when agents contact them to do work for landlords. They know landlords leave it to the agent and the agent is too lazy and doesnt care to inform the landlord whether they should buy one or just get it fixed.
Its the same when they do repair work when they know the work is covered by insurance, they jack up the price like robbing a bank.

Same with how my dentist try to rip off medibank by insisting I go for a checkup eventhough I dont need one, and charging me $150 for 10 minutes in the dentist chair.

 

[kathryn d]

You better be careful what you say about PM's.
There are some members here that believe PMs can do no wrong.

 

[chris01]

Thanks, kathryn d.

I've noticed that.

 

[Lil Skater]

i know its common for agents to charge owners say 50 bucks to mow a lawn yet they only give the mowerman 30 bucks...

Seriously? Not cool!

 

[shanh]

Same with how my dentist try to rip off medibank by insisting I go for a checkup eventhough I dont need one, and charging me $150 for 10 minutes in the dentist chair.

Off topic but, by check-up probably includes cleaning as well? In which case $150 is justified. Recommendation for dental visit has always been every 6 months, but may be changing to once a year now. But once a year minimum is fair maintenance, compared to rocking up huge bills down the track cos of decays and gum probs. But if your dentist's making you go 4 times a year even though you've got no probs, then there's an issue lol

 

[Ausprop]

never met a good PM and I have been on this earth for a decent time now. There's not enough money in the pie to feed everyone and that's the whole problem with resi IP.

 

[Ausprop]

Seriously? Not cool!

not cool and illegal to boot. Would love to stick said boot to some of these PMs

 

[Ausprop]

theres heaps of other things as well.....bit like builders adding 20% onto tiles just because they are put on his account when he builds your home..

building... now here is another overprotected and messed up industry.

 

[Lil Skater]

not cool and illegal to boot. Would love to stick said boot to some of these PMs

Haha, yes, a lot of PMs do need a good kick up the bum!