Some people are unhappy with their experiences with management companies they rent from or apply to rent from. Our company has been very successful in protecting our clients by doing our due diligence in screening applicants. Not everybody can qualify to rent. We have written qualification guidelines that are upheld by the Department of Real Estate. If we bend the rules for some but not others we are guilty of discrimination. We also would be in violation of our management contract with our owner clients.
Once applicants become tenants, other points of contention between the tenant and property management company can arise that are mostly out of the control of the manager. A property manager acts as a buffer for the owner. The owner does not want to do the hard work in telling a tenant "no, I do not want to sod the grass or install dual pane windows or pull up the carpet and refinish the existing hardwood floors." These are only a fraction of the situations that come up daily for managers to address.
Since the tenat cannot get the instant gratification from speaking directly to the owner--they use the manager as the whipping post for their frustration. Even worse, some are going online to anonymously bad mouth a company for issues that are completely out of their control. We as managers understand they are upset; however, we are not responsible for the frustration. A year ago our broker, who has been hired nationally to teach property management and has grown our company to one of the largest management companies in the nation wrote:
March 30, 2008
I am the broker at HomePointe. We serve many clients and have many satifsfied clients, both residents and owners. There are some obvious and not so obvious reasons why some people do not have a great experience with our company. First, we work for the rental property owner and have a responsibility to try and make sure we rent to only qualifed residents. This means we have to turn down a large number of people that want a rental from us. We hate to do that, but it is our duty. We are proud of our record when it comes to locating great tenants and we aim to maintain it. We even have a program to pay for our owner clients evictions, so we know we pick good tenants. Second, we cannot approve all repair requests made by our residents without our clients approval. Some tenants would love to spend all of the rental income to make their home perfect. But, our clients depend on us to be reasonable. We will take care of all habitability issues, but maybe turn down a request to paint a room that does not really need it. Third, some of our owner clients may have high mortgage payments and think they are entitled to a certain rent to cover it. It is not a renters responsibility to pay for an owners mistake. Renters are smart and will find the best deal. Some owner clients are disappointed when we tell them what the market rent is. We do not control rent rates, we just try to know the market so we can rent a property within 30 days.
We do address every single complaint and get them all resolved or at least answered. We always address complaints. We employ over 50 members of our community and make every effort to be a good neighbor.
The company donates both time and money to local and national non profit agencies. Again, we want to be a good neighbor and be your property manager. Contact me any time at HomePointe.
I believe his message is worthy of mention.
James Safonov
www.homepointe.com
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