Contacting tenants when you have a property management company

General Landlording & Rental Properties
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Contacting tenants when you have a property management company

Chris Troutner
Lender · Olney, MD · Member since 2016 · 37 posts · 7 votes

Hi,

I have a SFR rented out since October and I used and am currently using a PM. I was wondering about pros/cons of sending a note to the tenant, basically a "thank you" for renting and a contact number should the PM not provide excellent service. Cons being I don't really want calls from the tenant unless the PM is doing a poor job, but I won't know that if the tenant has no way to contact me. Contact would be to a business number and company name, not my personal info. I want the tenant to be happy in the home so they hopefully renew their lease later in the year.

Thanks,

Chris

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Christian Wathne
Investor · San Jose, CA, Bellevue, WA · Member since 2016 · 327 posts · 257 votes
9y
Everyone has their own style, but in my opinion... I understand where your going; but to me the whole point of a pm is to not deal with tenants. By doing this your setting a bad example and will cause tenants to go around the pm. No need to thank anybody. You may be setting yourself up for getting walked on. If you want to talk to tenants why not just fire the pm and save money?
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  • Christian Wathne
    Investor · San Jose, CA, Bellevue, WA · Member since 2016 · 327 posts · 257 votes
    9y
    Everyone has their own style, but in my opinion... I understand where your going; but to me the whole point of a pm is to not deal with tenants. By doing this your setting a bad example and will cause tenants to go around the pm. No need to thank anybody. You may be setting yourself up for getting walked on. If you want to talk to tenants why not just fire the pm and save money?
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  • Kim Meredith HamptonBusiness Member
    Real Estate Broker · St Petersburg · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    9y

    @Chris Troutner Unfortunatly I have seen some unfortunate things happen when tenants contact the owner directly. Its like going to mom and she tells you no, then going around her to dad because she didnt tell you what you wanted to hear. If you arent confident in your property manager, you should look for another. They are there for you as your eyes and ears and to handle in a professional manner.

    Heres just one short story about an owner contacting the tenant directly. This was the last incident that caused our attorney to change our management agreement that owners are to NOT contact the owners: An owner went to the house to have a chat with the tenant, the tenant told them where their new restaurant was and stop by anytime, they proceeded to also make a visit to the restuaraunt, where they talked horribly about the neighbor and what a "nutcase:" she was. The tenant proceeded to tell the neighbor and ended up in a defamtation lawsuit

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  • Colleen F.Pro Member
    Investor · Narragansett, RI · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    9y

    The one thing I have done is have a survey on the property manger. it asked how often they had contact and for what. For example did they drop off the rent or was it a maintenance call? How happy they were on a scale of  1-7 and if there was any comment in general they wanted to make about individuals (there were 3 in the office).  It gave me a sense of how little they actually spoke to the PM and a few points about availability that were important. I don't use that  PM any more but it was an eye opener.  If you frame it as your annual survey it may give you a sense if there is anything more you need from your PM or anything about the house that they want to make them happy. Of course you  need to understand the source when you get something from the tenant. People often complain about the rule enforcers so if the tenant paid 3 late fees and complains about the PM the tenant is the one to get rid of..

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  • Ryan MurdockPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Austin, TX · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    Nobody wins when the owner circumvents the PM and corresponds directly with the tenants and vice versa. Don't do it.

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  • Jeff B.
    Buy & Hold Owner · Redlands, CA · Member since 2015 · 5k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    9y

    @Ryan Murdock is correct - - once you usurp the PM, you are allowing the tenants to act like children - - solicit the other parent and get a different response.

    If the PM is already ineffective, start interviewing for another and fire the first asap.

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  • Ryan MurdockPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Austin, TX · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    I will add to what @Jeff B. said:

    If your PM is doing a good job tenant/owner interaction only undercuts their work and very likely upsets any systems and methods they have in place. Nothing messes up an effective PM/Tenant relationship like an owner getting involved. 

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  • Chris Troutner
    OP
    Lender · Olney, MD · Member since 2016 · 37 posts · 7 votes
    9y

    Thanks @Kim Meredith Hampton, @Christian Wathne, @Colleen F., @Ryan Murdock, and @Jeff B.!  I like the survey idea. That's why I asked the question. I didn't want to interrupt the tenant PM connection or appear to diminish the PM's authority.  Everything seems to working fine, but I wanted to keep tabs on the PM. I have experienced some poor communication from the PM to me on some issues, that's why I started wondering about the PM's communication with the tenant.  So far everything seems ok.  No need to rock the boat.  Thanks to all this was really very helpful.

    Chris

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  • Robert GilstrapPro Member
    Residential Real Estate Broker · Cartersville, GA · Member since 2015 · 575 posts · 581 votes
    9y

    Our management agreement forbids owner/tenant communication for a multitude of reasons. I have too many horror stories I could tell but the main point is that when a PM is involved communication must flow in one direction; throwing the owner in the mix destroys that and opens both owner and PM to significant liability. We have terminated owners for breaking this provision of our agreement. 

    BTW, tenants don't want their landlord to be their friend or their buddy, it just doesn't work like that. 

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  • Mike CumbieBusiness Member
    REALTOR® · Brockport, NY · Member since 2015 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    9y

    Hi @Chris Troutner,

    I'll pretty much echo everyone else. Unless you really suspect something wrong, it just causes problems. The tenants will start calling because they will be late on rent or the PM didn't return their call from 10 minutes ago when they left a message about a wall molding coming loose. Then you will start asking yourself why you even have a PM.

    Now if you suspect you are being charged incorrectly or for repairs not done etc, then that is a different animal. But just to call and let them know to call you if they have any problems, I would not recommend it.

    Best of luck in your business!

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