Bad Start or Bad PM?

[Amie D.]

Hi All,

I had posted about a year ago about tenants brought in by a new property manager. It seemed to take them a long time to rent the property and I had a bad feeling about these tenants from the start. This was because the first weekend, the tenants claimed the front door picture glass window “fell out”, but according to multiple neighbors they had held a wild party and someone drunk fell through the window. I went to see the house and could tell the window was shattered as such, it did not “fall out”. 

I also felt the repair done was shoddy as well. After discussions, the property manager said it was a temporary repair and sided with me and charged the renters for the damages. I’d wondered why after it took so long for them to find renters if this was the best they could do?

Probably 7-8 city code violation notices later, multiple complaints from the neighbors that the place looked a mess, and getting disconnect calls from the utilities as the renters were not paying and trying to pass off the bills on “new tenants” that did not exist, the tenants stopped paying rent. The property managers then started the eviction process. I found it odd that I had to find this out through a neighbor as well.

Also, I was told a while ago that too many people were living there and that someone parents actually moved in. I told the property manager but nothing was done. I get that it’s a hard thing to prove so though it bothered me I didn’t make a big deal of it. However a neighbor called me about something unrelated today and said the actual tenants had moved out a while back and the house was left vacant and unlocked. He also said two mattresses were left around the property and a former tenant was telling people the house is now infested with bed bugs.  

I reported this to the property manager who said they were not allowed by law to enter the property before the eviction went through and that one of the tenant’s mom was still living there as of last week.

The issue I have with this is that she is not on the lease. It seems that this leaves me open to liability for her to just be squatting there with the original tenants having moved out. I’m waiting to hear a response back from the manager about this. From his casual mention, he didn’t seem too bothered by it; unless he just blows it off to her having to be out when they go there to get possession with the sheriff in a couple of weeks. 

I’ve previously talked to the property manager about how this could happen. In my 20+ years of renting different properties, maybe I’ve been lucky but I’ve not had tenants this bad. One thing I noticed was that the managers only call the current landlord when doing a background check. He said that person gave them stellar references. I said could they call the previous because sometimes the current just wants to be rid of them. He then got semi defensive and said they manage many area properties and their system for vetting tenants has been good. He said sometimes one does slip through but it’s not often. 

As much as the tenants are bad the property managers are the ones who brought them in. These managers were actually recommended by a friend who is a real estate agent that also rents property. I’ve asked about them from other agents as I was considering selling that house and the other agents were familiar with them and also didn’t have anything negative to say. They had good references as well from several owners whom I spoke with prior to hiring. And on the plus side at least he’s been mostly decent in getting back to me on the issues. 

So I’m not sure at this point if I should again find a new property manager? Is it possible this could be a bad one off tenant for them? Or if I continue with them is it more a situation of, “fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice ...”

I have another property manager that I almost fired at a different property. I had a discussion with him and since then he’s been much better. Maybe the same could happen here, but I clearly do NOT want another set of tenants like this. 

Thanks for any opinions!