Some of our owners have accidentally thought they were handing a situation "right", and because Chicago is a very tenant friendly city, the laws tend to lean in their favor, and it can cost you a lot if you are simply just not up to date on what is proper protocol (for example, what to say, what not to say, what to have in writing, and what not to put in writing, etc)... can be worth the management fees. 

However I do have a few other ideas but I would need to know a bit more about your situation, timeframe, overall financial objectives.

An owner can challenge the number of hours their PMC bills them for a project though.2) Contracting every job out, but the bids aren't shared and owner just gets a bill on PMC letterhead covering labor & materials, with little detail.This is a pretty difficult situation to understand the charges, so you can monitor them. - The smaller the job, the easier to understand using the material & labor steps above.- Larger jobs may require requests for more detail, so the above steps can be applied.Be sure to check your management contract for what you agreed to.

She has a charge off that expirian will not delete everywhere else deleted it so that blocked her from getting a heloc no 401k my dti is high because we used my cards What would u do in this situation?

Will they finance 100% of the purchase and renovation or will they want skin in the game (you putting money in).Most do not do 100% funding so beore going down more rabbit holes, make sure you have the $ aspect situated first.

You might consider other strategies, like taking a home equity loan or refinancing to fund repairs, but consulting with a tax professional or CPA would be the best next step for your specific situation. 

Here’s the “skinny” on almost all subject to situations.  

Paulette, it is good to call out these bad contractors and unfortunately you are caught in a bad situation on what to do, start by a small threat that you will contact the BBB and report a claim if he does not show some progress, or if you know an attorney, maybe a simple letter from one may get him worried and he may start showing up.

@Rosmery ThenMy partner and I are in the same situation, just he has 20 years of construction and development experience.

Evaluate the situation to see if you could have done anything differently to mitigate the loss and implement changes to your processes, but know that this happens and hoepfully just not too close together.