Dishonest property management company

[Pete Meadowssmith]

Hi, I am from the UK and I am assisting my daughter, Jessica who has a property in Rochester, NY that she rents out.

We are desperately looking for some advice and direction in finding a bona fide property management company in Rochester. Jessica has had this Property around 2.5 years but yet to make any return on it despite it being rented out twice now for about 15 months to two different tenants through two different property management companies.

I have a background in the military and police, have my own business still connected with law and security so i’m up to speed with British law but I’m aware this is likely to be different in the US.

I believe that one property management company, our current one may have committed fraud against us.
Long and short of it I have gone through 3 months of accounts with the current property management company any found discrepancies where there are several duplications of invoices for the same work done within a few days of each other, invoice totals slightly varying. ie. End of July 2018 and beginning of August 2018 the property had minor electrical work, deep clean throughout and large amount vegetation cut in the yard, twice, within 8 days of each other. One bill was $540 and the other $594. This type of duplication was repeated for a three month period bringing our outgoings to around $3000! There was only around $1600 in the pot when they took over the property in June. The last email i had from the management company was over two weeks ago. They stated the sewerage pipe in the basement was damaged and needed immediate repair that would cost $2000. I had several emails from the management company over a few days period and when I questioned the urgency or what had caused this damage I was informed unless I transferred $2000 that same day into the account they would immediately terminate our agreement.
I was left with no choice but to borrow money and transfer the $2000 but had no idea of the damage, any documentation or pictures indicating this serious and grave situation to the current tenants and the conditions they were living in.
This was all over two weeks ago. I have since sent two emails to the Director and his office manager for an update to the repair work and my queries over the duplicated invoices. I have not had any reply whatsoever.


I am still hopeful there is a perfectly plausible reason and explanation for all of this. I researched this company fairly well on the internet and they have a lot of positive feedback though I know this could be fabricated but had little else to go on to ensure we found a property management company who would look after our interests.

Is anyone able  a/ provide property management services for our 3 bedroomed detached house in Rochester and b/ assist in directing us to an official, the police, Rochester City or how would I file a crime report?

[Charlie MacPherson]

@Pete Meadowssmith  Attorneys will be expensive, but we have a system called "Small Claims Court".  Here's some data for NY:

http://www.rurallawcenter.org/docs/Guide%20to%20Sm...

In this court, plaintiffs are able to represent themselves without an attorney.  I've done it in Massachusetts, though each state will have different laws.  

It appears that NY has a limit of $5,000, though if the total is above that amount, I wonder whether you could bring a small claims action for each of the duplicate charges under the theory that each was a separate act.  

It might be worth paying a local attorney for a consult to see whether that would work or not.  The other thing the attorney cold do is to write a letter demanding reimbursement of the fraudulent charges and threaten to sue them if payment is not made promptly.

You don't mention whether Jessica lives in Rochester, but if she does, it might be time for her to get hands on - at least to the point that she personally looks at each repair and hires contractors directly.  www.homeadvisor.com and www.angieslist.com are good sources for contractors and both sites offer feedback from the public on the contractor's performance.

That and I would terminate the PM company instantly and make sure that they don't have access to another cent of your money.

Good luck!