Urgent Property management and tenant issue - help appreciated

[Abdul Azeez]

I have a property under management in Tenessee with Reedy and company where I have had the following issues. Who can I escalate to in company management to help with these? The person I have escalate to has not responded to even a single escalation email.

1. Several repairs have been asked for by the property management company in the past. When I persisted the last few times, they identified the tenant was at fault for the damages and said they will charge the tenant ledger. They still asked me to pay the amount upfront for the repairs to happen which I did in Dec 2021. In early Jan 2021 the property management company confirmed to me that the repairs were done. Today, after persisting for photos of the repaid, the PM says that repairs were not done and they gave me erroneous information.

2. While I noticed the issues with the tenant in the past, their lease was coming to an end in Dec 2021. I gave written direction to the PM to not renew the lease. However, this was ignored and the tenant lease was extended for 6 months.

3. I put the property under sale in Dec 2021 and three offers have fallen through. When I persisted with the PM to take detailed photos of the state of the property along with the rehab costs if any, they promised the same early this week but after repeated follow ups I am now being told that the tenant was not available at the time they went for the inspection and tenant is not giving access.

I don't live in Tennessee. I would like these issues to be immediately addressed. How do I solve this situation?

[Nathan Gesner]

Well, your PM is an absolute waste. The law requires us to give notice of entry; it does not require tenant's permission. Your PM should notify them they WILL inspect at [TIME / DATE] and then show up with keys in hand and go in. If the tenant blocks them or becomes threatening, they should schedule it again for the following day and show up with the police and a locksmith.

Since the house is for sale, I would hire a REALTOR (pay them for their time) to schedule a showing, then walk through and take pictures documenting the condition. Have them specifically document whatever repairs were supposed to take place at the Tenant's expense. You'll need this later.

As for the PM, you should send them a written notice and mail it via Certified Mail with signature receipt. I would demand they communicate with you immediately or you will file an ethics complaint with the state board. If they don't respond, or don't respond to your satisfaction, then you should file a complaint. A phone call from the state board is often enough to motivate them to fix the situation before the state gets involved in an investigation. If that doesn't work, hire an attorney.

Sorry for your troubles, but the only way to fix this is to play hardball.