PM from hell

[firstmillion]

Following my thread http://somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=82205, I want o share my experience with a PM in Adelaide, SA.

I signed a PM agreement with this agency in July to rent my 2 brand new properties 82 and 82A. I am not happy with the agency services and have serve them a termination notice.

1. The agency is not a REISA member. They have used REISA agreement and as per the agency this is plagiarism.
2. She made us sign a 2 year agreement, norm is maximum of 1 yr.
3. No response on weekends / after 5 PM
4. She has refused to pay our rent and held back $1,000 saying that she wants us to pay break fees and this money is held in abeyance. I checked with consumer affairs and REISA and legally she can't do this.

She could could not rent one property in 10 weeks (loss of rent $3,800) while the other agency did it in 48 hrs. I am thinking of sending her a bill for loss of rent.

Just want out of the PM agreement. This PM agency is from hell. Any suggestions welcome.

Cheers

 

[jim1964]

Following my thread http://somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=82205, I want o share my experience with a PM in Adelaide, SA.

I signed a PM agreement with this agency in July to rent my 2 brand new properties 82 and 82A. I am not happy with the agency services and have serve them a termination notice.

1. The agency is not a REISA member. They have used REISA agreement and as per the agency this is plagiarism.
2. She made us sign a 2 year agreement, norm is maximum of 1 yr.
3. No response on weekends / after 5 PM
4. She has refused to pay our rent and held back $1,000 saying that she wants us to pay break fees and this money is held in abeyance. I checked with consumer affairs and REISA and legally she can't do this.
She could could not rent one property in 10 weeks (loss of rent $3,800) while the other agency did it in 48 hrs. I am thinking of sending her a bill for loss of rent.

Just want out of the PM agreement. This PM agency is from hell. Any suggestions welcome.

Cheers

Spend a few dollars and get a property lawyer to pick holes in the agreement.PM me,i know just the bloke,i have got out of some very unpleasant situations.

 

[DEC]

She made us sign a 2 year agreement, norm is maximum of 1 yr.

With a gun to your head or a knife to your throat?

No response on weekends / after 5 PM

Sounds like she has a life.

 

[firstmillion]

Spend a few dollars and get a property lawyer to pick holes in the agreement.PM me,i know just the bloke,i have got out of some very unpleasant situations.

Hi Jim1964,

Sent u a PM. Thanks mate.

 

[firstmillion]

With a gun to your head or a knife to your throat?

I hv used a PM for the first time. The person who signed us up is known to us for last 5 years and she convinced us that this 2 years mean 'nothing' if we plan to get out of the contract. Needless to say, she left the business very same day.

Sounds like she has a life.

We all do mate and i love my weekends.
The tenants could not use the toilets for 2 days and we were trying to organize the builder's plumber (the houses are brand new).

 

[Scott No Mates]

First Mill, there are very few PMs that are contactable outside of M-F 9.00-17.00, they use an answering machine with emergency contacts for plumber/sparky etc.

As the properties are new, then it would be pretty rare that the PM would be contacting the builder to rectify defects - how did you get involved with the plumbing situation?

Why did it take so long to lease one of the properties? Was it price (hence little enquiry)? Why did the other agency manage to lease the property so quickly?

There is no harm in the agent using the REISA management agreement, all they do is pay the REISA to purchase a pad of forms, no different to a member of REISA using the same form (unless of course they have photocopied a form and breached REISA's copyright but that is for REISA to determine).

If the agency is so bad,

• What due diligence did you do prior to selecting them?
• Did you get any recommendations from others?
• Are they the local that you just ran with?
• Were they the selling agent?
• Were they substantially cheaper than the others?

As you have signed a management agreement with the agency for a period of two years, there is the expectation that they will collect their management fee for a period of 2 years ie $380 x X% 104 weeks approx. The break fee will be whatever the balance of the management term happens to be unless there are break clauses in the agency agreement (eg if they haven't leased the property, then their loss is $0 but if it was covered under the agreement when you got another agent on the case, then they have the expectation to get the letting fee and commission for the balance of the period).

 

[firstmillion]

First Mill, there are very few PMs that are contactable outside of M-F 9.00-17.00, they use an answering machine with emergency contacts for plumber/sparky etc.

As the properties are new, then it would be pretty rare that the PM would be contacting the builder to rectify defects - how did you get involved with the plumbing situation?

Why did it take so long to lease one of the properties? Was it price (hence little enquiry)? Why did the other agency manage to lease the property so quickly?

There is no harm in the agent using the REISA management agreement, all they do is pay the REISA to purchase a pad of forms, no different to a member of REISA using the same form (unless of course they have photocopied a form and breached REISA's copyright but that is for REISA to determine).

If the agency is so bad,

• What due diligence did you do prior to selecting them?
• Did you get any recommendations from others?
• Are they the local that you just ran with?
• Were they the selling agent?
• Were they substantially cheaper than the others?

As you have signed a management agreement with the agency for a period of two years, there is the expectation that they will collect their management fee for a period of 2 years ie $380 x X% 104 weeks approx. The break fee will be whatever the balance of the management term happens to be unless there are break clauses in the agency agreement (eg if they haven't leased the property, then their loss is $0 but if it was covered under the agreement when you got another agent on the case, then they have the expectation to get the letting fee and commission for the balance of the period).

Good points SNM.

While signing the PM agreement it was one of the conditions that the agency will felicitate any builder issues.

The PM is known to me for last 5 years. I met her in a property seminar (She was a speaker there). She was definitely not the cheapest, i paid premium for her service. I got better prices from the other agent who rented the house within 48 hrs.

The other house was exactly the same as the other one which was rented 7 weeks earlier. She just could not even get an application for the other house. In 8 weeks 2 PMs left and the 3rd one was an admin person promoted as a PM

I guess, the other agent is solely focused on property management and had a list of pre-qualified tenants.

Thanks

 

[weg]

fm, just curious, was the person who signed you up a woman that regularly posted here some time ago?

 

[firstmillion]

fm, just curious, was the person who signed you up a woman that regularly posted here some time ago?

Nope. That person sold off that business to the other partner.