Hi there,
We have just recently experienced the same things with our pm company, only we have been through two companies so far, and now are finally selling these awful properties.....we have lost $26,000 in 8 months of ownership, about $10K in lost rents and $10K in repairs plus our pm expense. They were doing the same to us, and I repeatedly called them & left messages and told them direct they better honor the contract-one companies contract read the anything over $300 in repairs had to be authorized-but charged us in 3 parts on one bill-$40 & $165 for two companies to do the same repair, and then a bill of over $800-pertaining to the water heater...well, they sent the bill to us like two months after the work was done-we had no idea, as they never ok'd it with us....I threatened to turn them into the BBB, and the Dept. of Real Estate-(they don't want any marks against their R.E. License), they reimbursed me the $800, since I really paid $40 twice-it was billed two months in a row-I did not catch it until later, and $165. Also, they have over charged on legal fees to do evictions, they have "forgot" to collect the additional rent when it increased, supposedly for 3-4 months, then suddenly found the additional rent they had collected when I was ready to file a complaint. It has been the worst experience of my life!!!!! We have been double and triple charged for everything-I have paid my own repair guys to go fix something, and the PM goes out & fixes it too, even though we said not to fix anything anymore-then they claim it was never done by my guy-or they will charge me $100 to move a washer & dryer out of a unit, and then suddenly the tenant it was moved for does not want it anymore, and I have to pay my guy $75 to move to back out of the unit the PM moved it in to-it is so rediculous..........I could go on for hours!!!
Well, my best advise to you is to tell them you want everything in writing-if they recommend repairs they are to email you first, so that you can give your written permission prior to the repairs-then you can do what I do-email them back that you are handling it-they are to do NOTHING to the property!!!! If you have a REALTOR you used to purchase-ask them for a handyman that would do repairs for you that is honest & good, and contract your own repairs out-also BY LAW-AND THE CONTRACT-they can only do repairs above the limitation if it is an emergency, such as to damage the property or if it is a necessity to the tenants-ie; water/plumbing, a/c & heating, things like that-Maintenance is not a neccesity-I would threaten to do a dateline investigation on them-I think all PM's deserve it-and that might work too! LOL......hope this helps!
