All Forum Posts by: Drew Clayton

Quote from @Trey Maclin:

You can contact the Division of Real Estate and Professional Licensing at 614-466-4100. You can also file a complaint here.

 Thank you, @Trey Maclin. The attorney I've been talking with made the same recommendation. I want to be sure the authorities get after him. 

Quote from @Aja Sellers:

@Drew Clayton I am so sorry you are going through this and hope you found a way to remediate this situation. I am actually under contract on a property in Columbus, OH and weighing the pros and cons of self-managing vs. property PM because I cannot seem to find a PM that seems reliable and worth the costs. If you don't mind, I would like to send you a message about who your current PM is, who you are switching to, and how you are navigating this situation? Thanks in advance!

 Thanks, @Aja Sellers. It's a learning experience for certain. In short, the current PM ended up not having a valid broker's license to be operating as a property manager in the first place, so that's on me for not verifying ahead of time. 

It's been hard to find good property managers—I think that's true anywhere. I have one company for another property that does ok so long as I don't expect rapid responses. What I've observed is that most management companies are operating on slim margins with minimal staff. They only want to do the bare minimum to keep places occupied, collect and distribute payments, and send out their preferred repair people. The customer service side for owners is fairly lax. 

Feel free to message me.

Quote from @James Wise:

Quote from @Drew Clayton:

I need advice on how to handle the transition my long-term rentals to a new property manager when my current one won't return calls, emails, or texts. 

After a year+ of unreliable management, I finally decided to switch to a new company. The current PM had delayed two months of rent payments with all kinds of excuses (that is when he did reply, which was rare). Per our signed agreement, I gave him 30 days notice of termination of his services via email and asked him to remit all outstanding payments and documentation (he hasn't delivered an owner's statement since June of '24) and assist with the transition to the new PM company.

He responded to one text a couple weeks ago when I asked for an update on the transition saying he hadn't received notice from me or heard from the new PM. The new PM has repeatedly tried to contact him with no response. He's also contacted the tenants with notice of management change, but they say they won't work with him without notice from the current PM to confirm it's legitimate. 

I only have the lease and contact info for one of my two properties. The PM never sent me the other, despite numerous promises to do so, so I don't know the name or contact info of that tenant. 

I'm an out-of-state owner. The properties are in Columbus, Ohio. 

The 30 days of notice ends on Feb 27. I need to get this existing company out of my life. 

Open to all suggestions.

 No reason to waste your time chasing the former PM around. Notify all tenants of the new management company they are supposed to pay rent to. File an eviction against any tenant who doesn't get with the new program. Simple.

 I don't have the contact info for the tenants from one of the houses because the PM never sent me a copy of the lease despite multiple requests. I can send something blind to the address, but how do I prove I'm the owner, especially if I don't know the tenants' names?

Quote from @Bill B.:

I don’t know what was involved. The new PM simply asked/told the existing PM what they needed to do in order to process the transfer. They were “earning my business” by doing an hour or two of extra work. I signed a form “giving them the power” but I don’t remember if it was even notarized, probably just docusigned. 

I was suggesting you simply ask the new PM if they’d be willing to do it for you. 

The new PM did initiate the transfer of service and reached out to the tenants, but since the existing PM hasn't confirmed the transfer to them, they're understandably suspicious. 

I'm wondering if there's a way for me to reach out to them and prove I'm the owner if they've never heard of me.

Quote from @Vince Scipione:

Lawyer up. Hopefully your agreement was in writing. 

 Yes, I have a written agreement, bank records, plus phone records & email and text threads showing he routinely failed the SLAs outlined in the contract. 

Quote from @Bill B.:

When I switched I simply gave my new PM the power to get me out of my current PM’s agreement. I made no calls and signed no other paperwork. It was done in a day. 

 @Bill B. can you explain more what you mean by giving your new PM power? My agreement with the old PM outlines the process for terminating the relationship based on written notice. 

One of the big issues is that the new PM reached out to the tenants with notice of management change, but without confirmation from the current PM they didn't trust that the new guy was legitimate. 

Quote from @David Spurlock:

Who is your current PM?

 I'll message you privately

I need advice on how to handle the transition my long-term rentals to a new property manager when my current one won't return calls, emails, or texts. 

After a year+ of unreliable management, I finally decided to switch to a new company. The current PM had delayed two months of rent payments with all kinds of excuses (that is when he did reply, which was rare). Per our signed agreement, I gave him 30 days notice of termination of his services via email and asked him to remit all outstanding payments and documentation (he hasn't delivered an owner's statement since June of '24) and assist with the transition to the new PM company.

He responded to one text a couple weeks ago when I asked for an update on the transition saying he hadn't received notice from me or heard from the new PM. The new PM has repeatedly tried to contact him with no response. He's also contacted the tenants with notice of management change, but they say they won't work with him without notice from the current PM to confirm it's legitimate. 

I only have the lease and contact info for one of my two properties. The PM never sent me the other, despite numerous promises to do so, so I don't know the name or contact info of that tenant. 

I'm an out-of-state owner. The properties are in Columbus, Ohio. 

The 30 days of notice ends on Feb 27. I need to get this existing company out of my life. 

Open to all suggestions.

What part of Kentucky?

 @James Wilcox Covington, Louisville, and Lexington

Quote from @Rob Bergeron:

I'm a killer plug in Louisville. 

 @Rob Bergeron, awesome, that's one of our markets. Let's connect.