Trouble with PM

Hello all, We rented out IP out at the end of feb. We hired a PM from a well know company. The last rent we received from the tenants was the 23rd of march, so we havent received anything for a month and a bit. We got a letter from the pm saying that they have issued the tenants a form 2 2 weeks ago. We called her and she said that she was on holidays and was unaware that the tenants were that far behind in rent. We were not happy with this, considering we have to put in for the mortgage repayments on this property.
Anyhow she has tried calling, door knocking, smsing, ect and has no response. So issued a form 7 and was waiting to hear about a tribunal date. We rang the tribunal and they told us the date was set for May 6th. We still talk with our old neighbor and she said the tenants were packing up all their stuff the other day. We went by there yesterday and the place is now vacant. At least there is no hearing now. My wife spoke to the PM yesterday and she said the place would be advertised on the net monday and we stated that we wanted to have an open next sat and get tenants in asap. She said that she couldnt hold an open on the saturday, as she doesnt work saturdays WTF? She continued on said that if we wanted to have the house open, we could hold an open ourselves, we said that would be no problem and we wouldnt be paying another 2.2 wks rent considering the house was only rented for 2 months., she said that was fine.
That just got us thinking, what the hell are paying this lady for? We are seriously considering dumping this pm, as we are only on a "ongoing contract with them", and doing it ourselves. It cant be that much work, I think it may be advantageous to actually meet the future tenants and choose the "right ones". The only thing we would have to do is pay the PM for the advertising this week right? Is there anything else I have missed? I found a pdf on this site for applications forms. Ron has posted a link to the OCBA, regarding all the forms for residential tenacies.
Can anyone else offer any advice opinions on this situation?

Thanks alot
whippee

BTW, this is our first and only IP ATM
 
If you are going to hold the open, then why not take it on yourselves?

I have never paid a PM, but perhaps you can bypass any notice period by saying "you didn't fulfil you end of the contract, so we would like to be released from the PM agreement immediately" and either go with another agent or try it yourself.

I have self-managed for over 30 years, watching and learning as my parents did the same. The RTA in Queensland is a fantastic resource with everything you need on the net, and super service at the end of the phone line. Other states may differ in the level of help, but in Queensland this assistance makes everything easy.

Most will be shocked, but we have NEVER asked for payslips, references or anything else. We always go on gut feeling, and have rarely been let down. Those times we have had trouble have been times when we have gone against our gut feeling and needed to find a tenant fast to get the money flowing. Even with those handful of trouble tenants over the years, we have never had any real trouble with getting them out, or with damage (one insurance claim only - small amount of damage).

I am NOT suggesting that anybody else be this casual about checking references etc, but it has worked well for us.

In January just gone, we had three houses empty while we had a family illness unfolding and we had a local agent (old school friend) find us tenants for all three. We paid one week's rent plus GST for each house, and the tenants are fantastic.

We have another tenant about to leave, and I am thinking that I will do the same again. It was getting harder to get people through the opens because we had only the newspaper to get them, but now there is a site that we can use to get onto re.com I had thought of using them, but for not too much more, the agent will find a tenant, check references, check the TICA database etc. More importantly, I have faith in this particular PM agency and they have not let us down.

With my brother and I now managing our parents' properties, finding tenants will be a much more regular thing, so handing over the sourcing of tenants is something I am happy to pay for, but we will certainly take over once a tenant is found.
 
thanks for replies. If we decide to do it ourselves, is it worth while purchasing one of those rental agreement packages? What about forms for pretenancy inspection? do you all give receipts on rental payment? If they pay via direct deposit, do you post a receipt out each week or month or what? I have downloaded a rental property application form, have found the fixed term agreement forms. What other form(s) should I look into?

Thanks
 
I thought this post was going to be one of those political hatchet jobs, with a Liberal party spruiker reeling off all of the bad things about Rudd.

What a let-down. :(
 
thanks for replies. If we decide to do it ourselves, is it worth while purchasing one of those rental agreement packages? What about forms for pretenancy inspection? do you all give receipts on rental payment? If they pay via direct deposit, do you post a receipt out each week or month or what? I have downloaded a rental property application form, have found the fixed term agreement forms. What other form(s) should I look into?

Thanks

Whippee, try SA's Consumer Affairs/Fair Trading Office. If they're anything like Victoria's they'll have heaps of free forms and information, including on their website. The Tenancy Union in SA is also a good stop for general information.

"She said that she couldnt hold an open on the saturday, as she doesnt work saturdays WTF?"

This alone is a sackable offence in my book. Any serious agent will hold inspections on Saturday mornings, because most prospective tenants work during the week and can't come to an inspection at 2:15-2:30pm on Tuesday! Agents and PMs are supposed to work for landlords, they are supposed to be providing a service. If they can't meet your reasonable and standard requirements, ditch 'em! Plenty of fish in the PM sea.
 
My answers below are for Queensland, so check for your own state, but just to give you an idea of the rules here....

What about forms for pretenancy inspection?

Do you mean an "entry condition report"? This must be done and given to the new tenants within a certain number of days. They must fill in their part, add any comments or notes, sign it and return it to you within a certain number of days. It is important to make sure that you do the right forms within the right time frames.

do you all give receipts on rental payment? If they pay via direct deposit, do you post a receipt out each week or month or what?

In Queensland, if the rent is transferred by internet banking, which is how ours is, we don't have to write a receipt out for each payment (but I do.... to help me when tax time comes). Some people put the payments into a spreadsheet.

RTA have told me that the important thing is that if the tenant asks for a record, I must be able to produce something within a certain time frame. I cannot remember whether that is a ledger record/receipt (either/or from memory). If I am ever asked, I would immediately call the RTA, check exactly what I need to send them, and do it. I generally send over receipts every few months or so, but these days the tenants' own bank records show clearly what was paid to whom.

Check the rules for your state and you will know exactly what you need, which forms to use etc.

I certainly don't know all the "ins and outs" for renting in Queensland, because we rarely have any questions or issues. When I am asked something that I don't know, I call the RTA, who are so helpful.

But, do make yourself aware of the basics, the things that need to be done at the start and finish (and during) a tenancy. You'll soon get the hang of it.

Good luck!
 
This alone is a sackable offence in my book. Any serious agent will hold inspections on Saturday mornings, because most prospective tenants work during the week and can't come to an inspection at 2:15-2:30pm on Tuesday! Agents and PMs are supposed to work for landlords, they are supposed to be providing a service. If they can't meet your reasonable and standard requirements, ditch 'em! Plenty of fish in the PM sea.[/QUOTE]


that is exactly what i was thinking. thanks for all the replies. Ill continue to research.
 
We called her and she said that she was on holidays and was unaware that the tenants were that far behind in rent.

My wife spoke to the PM yesterday and she said the place would be advertised on the net monday and we stated that we wanted to have an open next sat and get tenants in asap. She said that she couldnt hold an open on the saturday, as she doesnt work saturdays WTF? She continued on said that if we wanted to have the house open, we could hold an open ourselves, we said that would be no problem and we wouldnt be paying another 2.2 wks rent considering the house was only rented for 2 months., she said that was fine.

That just got us thinking, what the hell are paying this lady for? We are seriously considering dumping this pm, as we are only on a "ongoing contract with them", and doing it ourselves. It cant be that much work, I think it may be advantageous to actually meet the future tenants and choose the "right ones".

Your PM should've informed you that they were going on holidays and told you the person she was putting in charge of the property whilst she was away - If i were the PM that's what i would've done anyway and i know the ones i worked with did.

Not all PM's work Saturday's, but again, surely she could've put another PM in charge of the open's. What many agents do here is, hold opens in the evening during the week - pain in the a*** for those of us that work full time, but when you call they basically say find a way or get someone else to go through it for you, annoying, but their not working for the tenant.

If i were you, i wouldn't be doing your own open - you shouldn't have to! Although if you do an open and get a tenant and don't have to pay a re-letting fee it may be worthwhile.

Have you gotten all the bond back? If not, you can apply to get the unpaid (or most of it) rent out of the bond.

And LOL!!! Trust me, being a PM is not a fun job when dealing with some tenants, admittedly your PM is doing a bad job, so look for another, but i don't plan on self managing any properties!!

Also, it's extremely easy to fake that you're a good person face to face with someone, make them believe you are the "right" tenant. Plus, i'm assuming you don't know all the legislation like the back of your hand, whereas many PM's would so if you have a problem tenant it may be easier to get them out.
 
Sorry!!!! But why even talk about it - sack them immediately - they are not doing what the customer wants.

They have already let you down in the management of the property are there any other reasons.

Cheers
 
just found out that the roller door is no longer working properly and it was fine when they moved in. My question is, this should be covered from the bond money right? What about last five weeks of lost rent, can this come out of the bond money or do I have to make an insurance claim?

thanks again
 
another question, can the bond cover the loss of rent. We will be getting all of the bond back as the tenants have vacated our property. We think it will cost a few hundred dollars to clean the place up ect. What about the rest of the bond money, can that be used to cover the last six weeks of rent loss? What about our landlord insurance with terry shearer, they will cover up to six weeks rent as well. Would i be better claiming more damages, cleaning ect to use more of the bond money on things like as opposed to using the bond for the rent loss?

thanks
whippee
 
another question, can the bond cover the loss of rent. We will be getting all of the bond back as the tenants have vacated our property. We think it will cost a few hundred dollars to clean the place up ect. What about the rest of the bond money, can that be used to cover the last six weeks of rent loss? What about our landlord insurance with terry shearer, they will cover up to six weeks rent as well. Would i be better claiming more damages, cleaning ect to use more of the bond money on things like as opposed to using the bond for the rent loss?

thanks
whippee

You should be able to claim for unpaid rent out of a bond, which would include rent unpaid due to a broken lease. If you re-rented the property though before the end of the broken period and the previous tenant challenged the bond deduction, the Tribunal would probably only allow you to deduct the amount covering the broken, un-rented period (= no double dipping).

You can generally only claim on landlord's insurance policies once the full bond amount has been exhausted, but check the details of your policy regarding this. The policy should state how many weeks of lost rent is covered and in what circumstances. If you're using a broker, they can do this work for you.
 
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