Do We Fire this Property Manager

[Jane H.]

We have managed one SFR property, about 50 miles away, for 20 years. Got burned by one hoarding Tenant, who illegally was running a business. When he broke the Lease early (turns out he made a fortune and drove away with 2 nice BMW's, but was our worse Tenant ever), we decided to use a Property Manger for the 1st time. Believe it or not, this next Tenant, though very neat and nice, snuck in a Day Care Business w/o notifying us. (Turns out in CA they are allowed to, but are supposed to inform us). We found the PM has been burning through our money (almost $2,000 for 2019 plumbing bills, due to hiring people on weekends for simple things), not calling us in a timely manner when we had an unrelated issue cause water damage! Seems obvious we should fire them. Our dilemma: the Tenants are on month-month, which we would keep, and write our own Lease, if we take over. But they did lie to us, and are a bit melodramatic (have not done our own background check, since we wanted a PM to do all this). Question: In our shoes. 1) Would people advise firing the PM (we have to do so 30-days before March 5th). 2) Do we have the Tenants (who we will keep, but with a lot of stipulations) fill out new application and run a background check? (They are a bit whiny, possibly litigious, as were the ones before them!). One advantage we note for PM's is the (potential) legal advice included (not sure they all do that). Appreciate any thoughts or advise. Thanks

[Terrell Garren]

@Jane H. I followed an adage in the Army saying "if you think you need a haircut, then you need a haircut".  I've found the same advice applies to tenants and PMs "if you think you need to end the relationship, then you need to end the relationship".  I think you already know the right answer but something is holding you back - compassion, avoidance of conflict, etc.  You should be able to easily manage a property 50 miles away.  Find a new, great tenant and enjoy the income. Best, Terrell