Manager ignoring me, holding money... next step?

Question

So it goes like this.

I am out of state. I got a manager to manage my property on 1 May 2012 off of craigslist after background check and all. She did pretty good the first two months and she has experience but she is lower income and seems to be having personal issues that MAY be conflicting with my business. The bottom line is this months deposits are late and not rent roll clarity at all. No leases as far as I know for three new people. Its outrageous but she will not answer my calls. She is clearly violating our contract but I am not there to enforce it myself.

She has not stolen money (money orders) as far as I can tell but I do have family in the city and one of my relatives does maintenance on the place and said an A/C unit was missing from storage where only he and she had the keys. Things are going waaay foul and I want to get rid of her. Haven't talked to her for over 2 weeks now...

Advice!!!!! Can I just call the police or who do I call if she refuses to return keys, deposit money, and relinquish the position.

Looking for experienced answers guys, thanks in advance

J

Lynn McGeein · Answer

I actually had this happen to me, only she was working for me for almost 2 years, then I got no rent for several months.  Turned out she had a family emergency and just stopped working.  Learned the hard way to hire a firm with several PMs that cover the duties when yours is not there, not just one PM with assistants, especially if you are out of town and can't get there quickly.

How I finally resolved it was hiring a PM (large firm), then sending my old PM a certified letter and email terminating our contract due to her lack of management, giving her the name of my new PM, telling her that I won't argue about commissions on any funds she has already received or report her to the state board if all funds due me are turned over to the new PM asap.  My new manager agreed to do all she could to get the escrow and rents from my last one and said she would report her to the state board if she didn't comply.   Apparently, this isn't uncommon.  It took almost 2 weeks to get the old PM to actually meet and turnover keys, paperwork, deposits and rent owed.  I believe having the new manager putting pressure on the old was a critical step as it was very hard for the old one to ignore demands of another licensed agent where it was easy to ignore an out of town owner.

J Salter · Answer

Update - Basically, she started to email again and went on about how people are saying this and that. I told her I don't care about any of that, the facts are the facts. I have seen no leases, money hasn't been deposited, no rent roll, and non-responsiveness.

I remained kind as possible all the way through and managed to get most of the money orders rent for this month. She has handed over all of the associated paperwork and property. And I have paid her for past months but not this month yet because I need to make sure everything is there for this month.

Before we started communicating and before I attempted to contact an attorney, I called the sheriff's financial fraud division who did not answer at the time but has called back and left a msg. I should just have to tell them we are resolving it but you never know if she is indeed keeping some money orders - I must verify with tenants.

So all in all I think I will have it settled soon. Lesson learned. Still reviewing resumes on craigslist again but letting family run it for now util confidence builds in an ASSISTANT manager (no hands on rent money!)

Chris Clothier · Answer

J Salter- this may have been said already ( i didn't see it), but you need to retain a local attorney and have them terminate your contract now on your behalf.  It may cost a few more dollars, but they have the ability to move quickly and forcefully in case you need to file suit to recover any money.  Doesn't sound like she is going to be a licensed manager, so legal remedy may be your best recourse if you're missing money.

Michael D. · Answer

And remember that property managers are not people - they are businesses. Property managers employ people, and not just one. If a prospective property manager cannot name at least 4-5 employees with titles like "accountant," keep looking.

Uwe S. · Answer

I know that but most or maybe all of the other poster saw your Louisiana so they think you only 100 miles away or so.

If you have some relatives in this area you should do what you wrote in last post its your best choice I guess. Good luck!

-Uwe

J Salter · Answer

She responded yesterday by email. An email than hinted that she got my call to check on one property. It was VERY short and somewhat incoherent email because what she was saying was vague. I'm sending a [abrogating] PoA to relatives as we speak and once it arrives we are going to bring down the hammer.

Note guys, I am VERY out of state, I'm overseas....

Eric Blackford · Answer

It is imperative that you get control of your properties back as quickly as possible. Fire her immediately. Send her a certified letter return receipt and fire her. Go to the properties immediately, talk to the tenants, letting them know that there has been a change made and you are hiring a new PM company or you will be taking care of things for awhile and then a new company will be coming in, collect tenants personal information from them (an application if you can get them to fill it out), let them know that you'll want a new lease signed and also change the locks on each property. In my opinion, control of the property is the first and most important thing.

Next, file a police report on the stolen A/C unit. Let her know that you are doing that as well. If she is holding any deposits, request them back in the certified letter you are sending to her. If she balks one iota, have your attorney begin legal proceedings to recover the deposits, otherwise they'll come out of your pocket. Recap everything and write it down as if you'll be presenting it to a judge, because you may well be doing just that with this loser PM person.

I would say be as aggressive as possible with this person. You've tried it the "soft shoe" way, now, slam her head in the door and get your property back. This aint no time to play Mr. NiceGuy.

J Salter · Answer

@Rob K, that would be the plan but she has money orders that the tenants have given her and I'd rather not go through that mess if I don't have to. I have yet to use forceful or harsh language besides saying initially that no providing of leases is unacceptable. Seems like things kind of fell apart shortly after that.

I will take your advice on securing everything ASAP though for sure.

J Salter · Answer

@Joshua Dorkin and all, Regarding termination

5. To employ best judgment and maintain qualifying documents for prospective tenants. (Pay stub, proof of income, credit check, and ability checks shall be applied when necessary to ensure quality tenants. In this regard, Manager shall treat all personal information collected with the utmost confidentially and security. Violation of this principle shall result in contract termination and possible legal action in the interest of the Owner and Tenant.

Term of Agreement.

This Agreement shall be effective as of the 1st day of May, 2012, and shall expire on the 1st day of Jan, 2013.

Upon expiration of the above initial term, this Agreement shall automatically be renewed and extended for a like period of time (one year) unless either terminated in writing by either party by providing written or emailed notice _30_ days prior to the date for such renewal. This agreement may be prematurely abrogated and invalidated by a newer contract with similar effect or may be terminated by mutual agreement of the parties at any time. Upon termination Owner shall pay to Manager any fees, commissions and/or expenses due Manager under terms of this Agreement, which are owing to Manager.

Rob K. · Answer

You state that the tenants don't have a lease, but they want one. Couldn't you talk to the tenants and tell them that you fired that PM, sign a lease with them, and then change all the locks? That way, all future payments will go to you and you can deal with the PM afterward.

Have you talked to anyone at the office, or just gotten their message? The PM could be dead, in jail, rehab, etc.

I would want to secure everything with your property and tenants asap.

Manager ignoring me, holding money... next step?

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