Contacting a Tenant as an Owner - NEED FEEDBACK

[Justin Joseph]

Hi Everyone,

I have what may or may not be an odd issue and idea.  My former property management company recently sold their portfolio to another company and went out of business.  Before the sale my portfolio was well managed, I had (what I thought were) good tenants in place, and life was easy.  The company they sold their portfolio to is headquartered in Michigan and had no current operation in the City (Indianapolis) of the portfolio they bought.

Since the switch, my portfolio has gone from easy and successful to a disaster.  One tenant was evicted less than two months after the new company took over, and another was almost evicted, but paid to get current.  Now another tenant is late on their rent and has put in a couple of maintenance requests.  

What I am wanting to do is contact the tenants and get feedback on their experience with the new property manager.  My experience has been downright AWFUL.  I cannot get a hold of anyone to answer any questions, and there is supposed to be some coordination with the remnants of the old company (to honor previous agreements through their completion) that has been a disaster as well.  I am beginning to wonder and suspect if all of the problems with my once docile portfolio is related to this change that was forced upon me and I'd like to find out how it has been for the tenants.

Does this sound like a bad idea to anyone?  I have copies of leases on all my properties so I have contact information for the tenants.  Would calling them directly be inappropriate or potentially harmful to me?  Any suggestions on a better way to get feedback?

With my old PM I had considered sending out an invitation to do a feedback/satisfaction survey with a small prize, but this seems more urgent and pressing than that.

Any thoughts and ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Justin