Tenant just handed keys in!

J

JCM

Hi all,

I have just been informed that the tenant in my rental property has handed the key in. Apparently she gave notice to the Managing Agent but since the woman incharge of the rentals was on leave for a month she was made unaware.
And so today i received a call from her as she just got back from holidays telling me that the tenant from my rental has just walked in and handed the keys in.
Could anyone enlighten me on how i should handle this situation and how can the Agents compensate me for this miscommunication.

Input much appreciated

JCM
 
If they charge a reletting fee you should ask them to waive it. Unless they have someone lined up, there's going to be a period of vacancy that could possibly have been avoided if the miscommunication hadn't occured.

Have they been good PM's to date or do these types of events frequently occur?
 
They have been reasonable PM's

I have only just found out all this so i have not had the time to chat with them today. I informed them i would come into the office tomorrow and work something out.

Yes I will definitely suggest that the letting fee be waivered.
As far as being compensated for how long it remains vacant, well Im not sure how to go about that. Guess it will all depend on how long it remains without tenants!

Thanks for the replies so far!

JCM
 
Focus on the relet but place your agent on notice (and that means a letter to the licensee of the agency) that you may be seeking compensation.

That is if you feel that this is a one off problem.

However, if you are not comfortable with the PM, find another quickly and walk away.

Because the keys were accepted by the agency, the tenancy has ended.
 
JCM said:
As far as being compensated....guess it will all depend on...
Click to expand...

The exact wording and accepted interpretation of the contract between Landlord and Agent. :)

Seeing as though the Agent's collective industry body's solicitor wrote the document for the Agent member to fully protect the Agent against any and all such claims from Landlords, I'd hazard a guess you won't be getting much at all. :)
 
Dazz....us mere mortals...don't have fancy lawyer worded contracts for Commercial properties which obviously you are king!! :)

Unfortunately, you are absolutely correct very little can be done due the agents incompetence.

Now be a good boy, collect your bat & ball and play in another sand pit...ther is one over the road for Commercial property where you are btter suited. Failing that...perhaps another dummy spit and disappearing might be appropriate?? ;)

Dazz said:
The exact wording and accepted interpretation of the contract between Landlord and Agent. :)

Seeing as though the Agent's collective industry body's solicitor wrote the document for the Agent member to fully protect the Agent against any and all such claims from Landlords, I'd hazard a guess you won't be getting much at all. :)
Click to expand...
 
I for one, respect dazz's opinion.
He may be a bit rough in his deliverence of information, but he is almost always correct (I won't say always, cause I don't really know).
 
Does anyone have any advice about what simple clause could have been used/added to the standard Property Management Agreement to allow appropriate compensation in a similar situation?
 
I have found that no matter how water tight and legally binding a contract is (or how unfavourable), if you approach the negotiation with a certain attitude, you can usually negotiate a fair position. Your PM / PM agency is run by people and I am sure they are aware they didn't have the appropriate processes in place to cover stop this happening so will not 'hide' behind their PM agreement.

I am not a lawyer but I negotiate everyday and deal on the basis of those negotiated contracts and still find it depends on the attitude of the other party as to how I approach it - it they are an absolute a***hole then they get no flex from my side; if they are reasonable then i'll be reasonable back.

Good luck and hopefully they already have another tenant lined up before you get to their office tomorrow (although that may be too much utopia dreaming on my part).
 
TheShuffler said:
I have found that no matter how water tight and legally binding a contract is (or how unfavourable), if you approach the negotiation with a certain attitude, you can usually negotiate a fair position. Your PM / PM agency is run by people and I am sure they are aware they didn't have the appropriate processes in place to cover stop this happening so will not 'hide' behind their PM agreement.

I am not a lawyer but I negotiate everyday and deal on the basis of those negotiated contracts and still find it depends on the attitude of the other party as to how I approach it - it they are an absolute a***hole then they get no flex from my side; if they are reasonable then i'll be reasonable back.

Good luck and hopefully they already have another tenant lined up before you get to their office tomorrow (although that may be too much utopia dreaming on my part).
Click to expand...

I agree.
MY daughter used to work at a call center, in a dept where she fielded customer complaints. If the customer acted nicely and didn't start screaming, she would help as much as she was authorized, which usually meant she was permitted to waive some of the charges.
 
sash said:
Dazz....us mere mortals...don't have fancy lawyer worded contracts for Commercial properties which obviously you are king!! :)

Unfortunately, you are absolutely correct very little can be done due the agents incompetence.

Now be a good boy, collect your bat & ball and play in another sand pit...ther is one over the road for Commercial property where you are btter suited. Failing that...perhaps another dummy spit and disappearing might be appropriate?? ;)
Click to expand...

What the heck?
 
You guys can't handle the truth. Dazz is correct.

Sometimes you are the pigeon but 90% of the time we, at the bottom of the food chain, are the statue being pooped upon.

The OP can huff and puff and depending the number of properties on the PM's rent roll may get some concession. Don't bet on it.

I at least got 5 days notice and an apology when my last lease wasn't renewed. The apology offered was meaningless. Like the good catholic boy who decides it is easier to steal a bike and then ask for forgiveness than to get it legitimately. We are in a world of meaningless words.
 
I would have them resolve this in your favour and then change agencies - informing your new agent of the problem with this pm...

While dazz is right, the wording is king...business needs to cater for periods of absence, in this scenario your pm's emails should have been diverted to someone else - especially as the period was one month - at the very least, someone else should have been monitoring their emails!
 
I see a bigger problem here. Agent turnover. As LL's i am sure you have seen plenty of agents in your time. Everytime i jump on here there seems to be stories about Property A been looked after by agent A, then Agent B as so forth.

At the risk of causing a stir (or stating an obvious fact) is the problem that given the pretty poor pay that PM's receive (in general) and the fact that most PM's who stick around do so to move up the ladder to the juicier part of the RE tree means that LL's will forever be getting into situations like this? Is this the level of service you can expect given what you pay? Just thoughts of someone who once tried to get into Real Estate and was shocked at the starting wage of an Agent.

Worst thing is i dont see a solution either.
 
Sunfish said:
Was it Sash who can't handle the truth?
Click to expand...

AFewGoodMen.jpg


sash can't handle the truth!
 
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