PM not collecting utilities from tenant

[Andre' Arceneaux]

Good Evening,

On a SFH I have as an out of state owner, I have noticed that PM has not collected utilities from tenant since they've moved in (going on 4 mos now).

I pay from my account on an auto deduction and expect reimbursement .. yet the only item paid has been rent. I recently communicated with them about the issue and they responded, showing the payments (which are mine), and the payments on the ledger show them being deducted .. FROM RENT!

I explained this nonsense in detail as to what the tenant is paying, and how the books appear in relation to that. I stated, either the rent is being paid and the utilities aren't, or the utilities are, and the rent has never been paid in full.

They didn't respond to the most recent email as it contained details as to how this accounting is being broken down via PDF, and tenant has only paid rent amount every month, and PM is not reimbursing me for prepaid utilities.

How should I handle this?? I want to fire them immediately, yet I have no idea if this constitutes a breach in the landlord broker agreement on their behalf.

Plus, I cannot self manage with the distance.

I am in California, the property is in Ohio. If I were required to give 30 days as contract states, I'd wonder if it's feasible to wait to month 7, even at this pattern, that way I will not be on the hook for any fees in breaking the agreement, if that's the case (bound by the agreement, even if not collecting utilities to reimburse to me).

They've had some other mild gaffes (communication, errant charge for landscaping I never authorized, never reimbursed me the small charge, large lapses in communication response - most recent was 12 days, and they only responded when I mentioned this fact) ... many things are gradually adding up and overall it doesn't look too good on their end.

Any suggestions as to how to go about this???