This little story, as bad as it is, is why I have a job at Classic Property Management. If you are a realtor and you are "dabbling" in leasing or management, you may want to think again. It might not be worth it.

SHE CAME INTO MY OFFICE WITH A FRANTIC LOOK ON HER FACE. She said to me, "I accidentally opened this" and hands me a letter. As I read it, I knew that I shouldn't have. It said, "Mr. _______, we have not received any payments since you first purchased your home. Your 3rd mortgage payment is due on Feb. 1. We need to hear from you to avoid FURTHER ACTION."

Ok, let's back up a little bit. This owner contracted us to find a renter for his house and manage the property while they lived there. The house is a great house. 2 bedrooms in a very exclusive area. Rents for $2000.00 a month. Not bad for a 2 bedroom house. SO, we went out and found some very qualified renters and moved them in. 2 weeks after she moved in, her first full rent payment was due, so she brought it in when she brought me the letter.

Fast forward. "ARE WE GOING TO GET EVICTED?", she asked with a nervous giggle. I told her that I would check into it and let her know what the outcome was. Inside, I felt a strong urge to puke. This was bad. So, I did what I could. I called the owner. No answer. I e-mailed. No answer. The nice tenant called back to find out what was going on. I told her that I didn't have any answer for her yet. She told me she wasn't going to pay her next rent payment unless this was resolved.

SO, I CALLED THE ATTORNEY. "Your best course of action is to back of the deal. Do you have anything in your contract with the owner that allows you cancel the agreement?" I did. I had a requirement that he had not fulfilled and allowed me cancel without notice. But how do I cancel with this guy if I can't get a hold of him? I did the next best thing. I sent him the cancellation, along with the security deposit we were holding, via FedEx, signature required. I went online 3 days later and printed the proof of delivery.

Next, I had to call the tenants and have them come into the office. "Why do you want us to come in?" she asked my assistant. "He didn't give me the details, just said that he needs to talk to you." I really wanted to do this in person and get their signatures. So, they came in. "I'm really sorry", I told them, "but not only are we not going to manage the property anymore, I also cannot discuss the situation in any detail with you. Please understand, I have a legal duty to the owner and I do not have an agency relationship with you." Needless to say, she and her husband were not pleased. At least they knew where to direct their frustration. "I understand where you are coming from", her husband said, "but I still need you to know that we have to protect ourselves. I am going to talk to an attorney." Can you blame them? They have know idea what is going to happen, and frankly, neither do I.

"I NEED YOU TO CALL ME BACK IMMEDIATELY", the message on my voicemail said, "My name is ______ and I work for the owner of <property name>. We have not received any of the rent money yet." What the heck? I called him back, "who is this?". "I am the agent for the owner". What? I was the agent for the owner. Ok, this is just weird now.

SUMMARY: We don't know what is going on. We told the guy who called that we could not have any dealings with him. He wanted us to stop payment on the checks we had issued and re-issue them under a corporate name we had never heard of and deposit them directly into a bank account we had never heard of. We told him that if the owner (who is out of the country, evidently), came in and signed an agreement stating that we were to follow those instructions, we would. According to this caller, he is a real estate agent who sold the owner the house. Well, after some discussion with him, he used to own the house and sold it to the current owner. At a VERY inflated price. My guess is he told the new owner that he could definitely find him a renter and cover the mortgage. Well, they are about $1500.00/mo. negative. We don't know if we have a skimming operation on our hands, or a fraud case, or what.

That is where we currently stand. After telling the guy we needed something in writing from the owner, we have heard nothing. As ugly as this is, it is a part of the reason I have a job. I am fairly confident that our contracts our good if it ends up in court. And, of course, we have the proper E and O coverage. If you are practicing property management and hang your license with a company who does not have property management E and O, you are walking a scary line.

If you have any comments, I welcome them, nay, I desire them.