All Forum Posts by: Jenny Keffer

Question about screening a tenant. I'm definitely not well versed in this-one property, this will be our 3rd tenant. 

Potential Tenant has clean criminal background, credit not so great (560)

Recently divorced, single mother of 4. 

Her income meets our minimum BUT she works as independent contractor for a family owned business. I asked for copies of pay stubs but she said she doesn't get them because she's a subcontractor. She offered to show bank statements with deposit information to verify amounts and/or discuss with boss about what he can produce to prove income. 

She is moving from another town back here to be near family. She hasn't seen the house in person (only pictures.) She wanted to complete application right away since she wouldn't be in town to see the house until next week.

I need some advice. I see a lot of red flags here. Previous landlord reference is the father of one of her personal references, etc. Just seems like a lot of staging of info to me. 

Any thoughts? 

My next question is this-I have never met the tenants. I have no idea what the communication has been between the PM and the tenants. So, as far as the deposit and notifying the tenants, what would be an appropriate way to do so? Without speaking with the PM, how do I know what has been said, or if the deposit was returned, etc? 

I have no problem communicating an itemized deduction of the deposit deductions but I have never had contact with the tenant.

I want to clarify above...when I said the "tenants were poor", I meant a poor choice/not good tenants.

Well, the tenants were poor. Always paying rent late (at one point, rent had not been paid in 2 months, the PMC didn't even know until I called and brought it to their attention.) They have left us with a $200 unpaid water bill and some damage to the property. The deposit would not be returned to them, rather it would come back to us. Because I cannot get in touch with the PMC and I am not willing to let my house sit, my husband and I simply changed the locks, took pictures, and are moving forward with preparing the property for lease. The PMC does have an office. I will send a certified letter Tuesday.

Thanks for the information. I knew that the PMC needed to be licensed in PA but wasn't sure where to look for further information.

I have one property, a house. my husband and I hired a property management company last year. From day one, they have been awful, irresponsible, etc. Long story short, the lease is up, the renters are moving. The PMC will not return my calls. My husband and I went to the property, changed the locks, took pictures of the damage and need to get the place ready to rent. We will never use a PMC again. At this point, how do I go about recovering the deposit from the PMC and is there a place to report them?  Any other tips/advice would be great. We rented the property once ourselves (great tenant) and then when they left, we thought the PMC would free up our time. As I said, it's been a nightmare. I have never dealt with such a lack of integrity, honesty and professionalism in any business I have dealt with.

 Yes, the contract stipulates all of the above...runs for a year, owner penalized for termination, etc.

My husband and I own one property which we hired a property management company to manage. From the beginning, it has been problems with the management company. We decided to wait until after the first of the year to take steps to eliminate the company.

The company selected the tenant and the lease began in July. Rent is due the 1st of each month and the property management company then mails us a rent check towards the end of the month (in case of repairs throughout the month.)

At the end of November, the rent (due Nov. 1) never came. Two weeks into December, I asked where the rent check was? The company said the check must be lost in the mail and mailed another check.

At the end of December, same thing...no rent check. A week into January, I ask where is the rent for December?

The property management company ignored me for two days then said the renter never paid December's rent...or January's. They had not noticed that December was not paid until I called them.

They said they would go to the magistrate. For several days, she kept saying she would go to the magistrate (it is in the contract for them to do so.) Then she received a check from the tenant for December (but none for January) with a letter promising that January's rent would come the following week.

The next week comes...no rent Friday. I ask...did you go to the magistrate? No, we had another property emergency. Monday...I ask, did you go to the magistrate? No, it's a holiday but we're going first thing in the morning. Tuesday, did you go to the magistrate? They ignored me. Wednesday...did you go to the magistrate? No, we were busy Tuesday. And today we thought we'd wait until the mail came and see if they send the rent. Meanwhile, the rent is 3 weeks late, $200 in late fees, and February's rent almost due. I asked them to forward the copy of the tenant's lease to me for my lawyer. They agreed but have not done so.

First of all, I do have a call into my lawyer. What are my options for proceeding at this point? I want to fire the property management company and proceed to the magistrate myself and take over the handling of the property myself. The property management company has exhibited negligence and is in violation of their contract multiple times over.

All advice appreciated!

My primary concern at this point with firing the PMC and taking over is dealing with the tenant that they have allowed to move in. We did not choose this person and already there are issues with the tenant. Perhaps not, but I am already anticipating the headaches moving forward having to deal with the tenants.

I spoke with the PMC. The person I spoke to last week who was looking into things went on vacation...unbelievable. He told me to speak with someone else. I did. They said for me to go fix the issues that were holding up the permits. I said, isn't that why we're paying you? We don't even know the tenant or their contact information yet they want me to make arrangements to have an electrician come out. I told them it was completely unacceptable. They said it would be fixed 3 weeks ago. It wasn't. In order to ditch the PMC, I'm going to need to have my lawyer review the contract and see what steps need to be taken with the tenant and getting the security deposit, etc. What a mess.

the lease does stipulate that the tenant is responsible for the grass. Self-managing would be our only option. I know of only one other PMC and we heard horror stories about them. This company was supposed to be really good..what a joke.