Property Manager Issue

[Tyler Dix]

Hello everyone,

We own a SFH rental that has been leased since March of this year. I handed keys over to property management at the end of last year and they got to work advertising, got a tenant in there, everything went well. It's been pretty smooth sailing thus far, I pay them 10% of monthly rent and I've had no headaches, but now the first major issue has popped up and I feel like they aren't handling it correctly:

On Tuesday, September 8th I receive a text from my property manager that the A/C isn't working on the ground floor of the property. They ask if I have any preference for repairs and I say no, just please get someone out there to find out the problem. They say "will do," no more contact the rest of the day.

I text the next morning, Wednesday, September 9th, ask what we found out, they say "nothing yet, I'll call today and let you know." No more contact the rest of the day.

I text Thursday morning, September 10th, ask for an update. They say that some zone control board got wet, he'll email a quote shortly and they'll let me know when they get it. They do text me a couple hours later saying it will cost around $1,500 for the repair, and ask if I would like a 2nd opinion even though it would likely result in another service call fee. I say no, just please have them fix it and send me the invoice when it's done. They don't even respond to that text.

I text Friday morning, September 11th, they say, "tech got the go ahead 2 repair yesterday. Will check w/ him on part availability & scheduling when I get back to the office." They text again later saying the tech somehow bypassed the system to work until Monday when the tech will return and do the repair. Cool, the tenants at least have A/C, (it's in North Carolina, A/C is pretty much required). I figure the repair is happening Monday so no reason to bug PM on Monday.

I text Tuesday, September 15th asking for an update. No response all day.

I text this morning, Wednesday, September 16th. The A/C has now been reported broken for 8 days. PM responds with "Give me a few minutes & I'll get w/ the vendor" then shortly later, "He said the tenant is meeting him @ 11 & work would take 1 - 1.5 (hours). Not sure what happened between Monday & today. Outside temp was 64 this morning, so that's a good thing." I'm sorry, what? The repair was supposed to happen Monday but you, as the Property Manager, don't know what's going on with it for 2 days?

Am I over reacting here? Because it feels like there is a lack of quality assurance, and my main concern as a landlord is to ensure comfortable living conditions for my tenants. If I hadn't constantly texted them, how long would they have gone before checking on the repair? I discussed it with my mentor who has his own Property Management company and he says that that's unacceptable. I never want to go behing my PM's back and contact the tenant directly, but at the end of the day, they are the ones paying the rent and PM is the one dropping the ball.

I plan to have a discussion with my PM after the repairs are complete and find out why there was such a disconnect, but I wanted to seek advice before doing that. How does BP think I should handle this? If the conversation goes south and we don't feel like we should continue business, how should I go about switching PM companies while making the transition as painless as possible for the tenant?

Thank you for any and all advice! 

[Tracy Streich]

Yes you are over reacting.   Your LL Tenant law probably gives you 10-14 days.  That means 10-14 days of doing nothing.  They were obviously working towards a resolution.   As a PM you cannot hand hold every vendor.   That vendor is likely an independent contractor.   Maybe they had 25 other work orders.  I often find that when it needs some sort of electronic repair that the part has to be ordered.   Maybe that took 24 hours.   If they could have fixed it when they were there the first time it would have been done right then.   I think wha they were saying about the outside temp was the tenant was not complaining about the delay.   As a PM that is often the biggest hurdle to overcome.   Had it been the middle of July the tenant would call everyday.   That does not mean it could have been done more quickly.   Sometimes the PM is just waiting on the vendor or parts to arrive just like you.  Covid had effect many things and parts and supplies are one of them.   Try to go to Home Depot and buy supplies to put up a fence or the local appliance store for appliances.   Everything is on back order.   They solved the problem without any tenant upset.   That is what was need.  Maybe they need another vendor on their list?  That is another issue but who knows if they could have done it faster.