Notary for lease extension?

[Blair Colsey]

Hi All!

I own a few properties but have always used a property manager for finding tenants, signing leases, etc. I'm fairly busy with my day job and I really like the help of the PM to get my places rented even though I don't feel I need them for day-to-day/month-to-month management. My current situation is this: I have a property where my PM placed the tenant. Fast forward a year, the tenant wants to extend the lease a year which is fine by me and since I've fulfilled my contractual 1 year obligation with the PM, I'm going to have them roll off from managing the property so I can take over and save some money. I've downloaded the BP property management forms and can see that there is a residential lease extension agreement in there. So the question is: Are there any issues with me extending the lease via this form considering the original lease was between the PM and the tenant? On the extension form, I have the ability to put my name as the landlord so I'm thinking that might be ok. 

Also, this is probably silly but what is the least awkward way to get the actual lease signed? Do I just go to the property and we sign it together? Do I need to have it notarized? Is there an electronic way to do it? Since I've always had the PM, I've never had to think about these logistics. 

Thanks in advance for any advice!

- Blair

[Blair Poelman]

You may want to go back and read the PM agreement.  Chances are there's a clause in there that allows the current PM to continue to the management of that tenant as long as the tenant remains in place and is performing.

The lease extension form is to extend the existing lease - which is likely a lease between the landlord and the tenant - not between the owner(you) and the tenant.  So if you are able to get out of the current PM agreement, you should do a new lease that is directly between you and the tenant - putting you in as the landlord.

Also, I've had the need to fire property managers in the past - 7 times out of 8 the tenant leaves when management changes, so be careful on this.