All Forum Posts by: Susan Shen

Does anyone have experience in investing in singles or multis in Philly with PHA (section 8) rentals?

What are the pros and cons, major risks and headaches?

Thanks for sharing

Susan

I know, it is ridiculous. In our contract, there is a limit of $350 when they have to get approval.... But they do not need approval for turnover due to time constraints, that is why they claim the $6100 is used for tenant damages to apartment..

The approval does not mean anything,  without any approval or communication, they just take and charge whatever from the collected rent and disburse the left overs to me, because they collect and control the rent and the rent becomes their money, and I have to beg to get paid ......

I have been in the rental business for over a year with a PM company in Philadelphia. They have literally stolen thousands of dollars from me, overcharged me hundred of dollars in management fees, refused to disburse collected rents to me. 

I have been talking to them for 4 months now. In one month, they charged back to tenant for $6100 of damages to the apartment. The tenants already moved out, and it is very difficult to collect any of that money from them. So they deducted that money from the rent collected from my account. In addition, they did not have any receipts or invoices on the actual cost of repairing the damages. As I demanded, they fabricated two very crude invoices saying they actually spent that much money cleaning and repairing the apartment. Then the next month, they charged another $4200 for cleaning and turning over a six bedroom apartment.

They just do not acknowledge that they screwed up on the accounting and overcharged me on 3 months' management fees.

Why is it that I am the landlord and I have to beg to get my money from the management company, and they can take and charge whatever to my account as they please? I am at the mercy of these crooks! This is so unfair!

What options do you think I have in order to get the money that belongs to me? Are there any legal actions I can take?

They are currently holding thousands of dollars of security deposit and last month's rent. I am afraid that if I cancel the contract with them, not only will I not be  able to get the overcharges and stolen money back, I won't be able to get these monies they are holding.

What can I do? I am looking for a good attorney, please recommend. 

Thank you

Susan

Thank you so much for your input.

Greg:

Thanks for your input.

Do you have any honest and competent PMs you would recommend since you are from the area?

This is our first PM and  we are trying to work with them and give them the benefit of the doubt, but if they can't resolve the billing issues, we will have to find another PM.

Susan

Thanks to all who contributed to the discussion.

Here is the situation, the lease does not ban smoking in the apartment, it only states that tenants are responsible for cleaning and repair smoke related damages when moving out, and if other tenants complain, land lord may enforce non smoking policy. This is the PM's lease, we did not demand any changes at the signing.

And the tenants already moved in, it is too late to ban smoking at this point, correct?

I do have a photo of the device. But what if the PM did not notify the tenants, then we were not allowed to enter, let alone take photos, correct? (I can confirm with PM).

As for prepaid rents, my understanding is that by law, owner can only charge/demand the maximum of 2 months rent for escrow purpose with a new lease, but it does not say that the PM has to hold it. The PM is a representative of the owner.

We do have a case that one of the tenants has paid in full the entire year's rent voluntarily, not from the demand of PM or owner. Seems like the article by James L. Goldsmith, Esq. only discusses the legality of landlord requiring/demanding tenants to pay more than two months rent for escrow purposes. It does not address the issue of PM holding last month's rent from owner, nor does it address advance rent payments volunteered by tenants.

If tenants elect to pay in advance in full, the owner should get paid in full minus PM's management fees. How does the  PM have the right to hold all the rent and pay out to owner every month? Which statute can I find to support that? What if I do not have a PM? Then I would collect all the rent when it is paid to me, current or in advance. The contract between PM and me does not stipulate the PM shall hold such money.

What do you guys think?

Susan

Wayne and Tracy:

Thanks for your input. Good to know. I am still kind of new in the business.

Our PM charged a huge fee ($6100) for turning over a 6 bed room apartment. It seemed really high... They have not provided any detailed reports or receipts of any materials of labor. We have asked for them. But it is already after the fact. They are probably not going to admit over billing and refund us any money.

In the future, how do we make sure their bills are reasonable and honest? I guess we can do a walk through and discuss the price in advance, what are the rules of thumb for figuring out a fair price for repairs, cleaning, maintenance etc. ?  We do not have reliable contractors or handymen that we can rely on. 

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks

Susan

We have a duplex rented out as student housing on a yearly lease in Philadelphia. 

Before move in, tenants are required to pay 1st, last months' rent and one month rent as security deposit. Based on contract we have with property management company, they hold the security deposit. It was vague regarding the last month's rent. My position is that the PM company has no right to hold the last month's rent, since it is rent, it belongs to the owner and owner should get paid as it is collected. What do you guys think?

The is my second question. We (the landlord) did a walk through of our property a couple of weeks ago. We notified the PM in advance and before we entered the property, the PM told us that tenants had been notified. But when we went to the first apartment, tenants told us that nobody notified them. We went into the 2nd apartment, there were no tenants there at the time. We found a device for smoking pot. 

Is it illegal to smoke pot in the apartment, is it also a fire hazard? If indeed the PM did not notify the tenants, can we complain about their use of weed? What is the legal and right thing for us to do as the landlord?

Thank you all for your input

Susan