Bad Property Manager, Help Needed

[Andrew Dorazio]

Back in 2010 I deployed out of country with the Army and had to find a good property manager to watch over my 5 units while I was gone. By all standards the managers I found and hired did a great job and overall there were very few problems, and really gave me piece of mind while away. I continued to use this company since then and had very few issues in 5 years. I recently added to my portfolio and bought an 11 unit property in the same market, and since I now live out of state, asked this same team to take over the management of the property.

Since acquiring the 11 unit building, this team has done an awful job of keeping it rented, and has not filled a single empty unit. Its been 6 months since owning it, and we have gone from 9 units rented to 3 units rented! They have yet to put in a single new tenant yet. On top of this, it takes days or weeks for them to respond to me, and when they do they give me vague answers and completely beat around the bush. I have called to talk through strategy on how to get these units rented but they won't do a thing that we talk about. They refuse to lower rents or offer any other incentives. I have been direct in my communication, but can not seem to get across to them. What surprises me is that these things NEVER came up with the other units in the past with the same managers.

I have come to the conclusion that I need to fire these individuals, but am stuck in a year long contract which doesn't end until January of 2016 for this property. I am looking for any advice on what could work best on how to handle this. Should I just tell them that I want out of the contract because of performance? Should I consult a lawyer? Or do I have to ride it out until the end? I physically will run out of money if this property keeps going at this rate. I know this market extremely well and there is no logical reason why these units are not rented (units are updated, new appliances, decent area etc.)

Please help, thanks!

Andrew