Investor · Detroit · Member since 2017 · 12 posts · 1 vote
Hi,
I had RPM Wichita manage my single family in Andover KS for about two years until recently. RPM started missing owner payments in OCT of 2016 and I had to call them to send payment. They payed but now owe me two months rent. I have switched property mangers in the mean time but have been pursuing my missed owner payments and security deposit plus 200 dollar emergency fund. Every time I called they told me only the owner Phil can pay. I was about to take them to court but I received a letter from their attorney stating the closure of RPM Wichita and that the owner was liquidating properties to pay his debts. The letter instructed me to send an invoice of money owed and to hold litigation.
I am debating whether to wait a few weeks to see how it plays out and possible save myself some lawyer fees and possibly get payed. Or to pull the trigger and go after them in court now. Any advice would be appreciated. Also if anyone reading this is also affected by RPM Wichita what's your plan?
I worked for RPM Wichita from May 2015 to November 2015 to help me prepare and learn more about property management before my fiancé and I opened our own company. However, what I learned there was how NOT to run a PM company. Honestly, I'm not surprised they are closing.
Here in Kansas there are no regulations for a property management company. We aren't required to have any property management training or heck, even real estate training. Its kind of just a free-for-all and it seems like every Joe-blow who thinks they can make a quick profit has a new PM company every week.
Send a notarized invoice along with a letter from your attorney, he may draft one up for you for few bucks. this way they know you have already started the process and are not fooling around. send it certified mail
Sorry to hear about your troubles. What a bummer you have to put up with that. I believe every state should have a Property Management license and severely punish PM's who do not abide by the simple services we are supposed to provide. I would love to see that here in Texas. All you need here is to be a Broker, or under a Broker to conduct Property Management. We have been pushing for more licensing to remove the one time realtor / managers from screwing up our industry and profession of choice.
Ask your lawyer what to do. If the owner is liquidating to pay debts, it is entirely possible that there will not be enough money to go around. The lawyer can tell you whether filing will move you to the front of the line or someplace close.
I spoke with my attorney. He advised me to send another email to RPM's attorney and copy him in the e-mail and ask for acknowledgement. I have sent the email and received acknowledgment of receipt from the attorney but no timeline. Not sure how long I am going to wait before proceeding further.
Duane who did you end up going with for property management? Sorry about your negative experience. There are some honest people here but like everywhere there are a few bad apples.
I missed your reply Duane -- I manage my properties myself and have for over 10 yrs now. I do and have managed properties for others if the opportunity arises. It just depends if the property/myself/owner etc would be a good fit.
I've heard of Premier, hope you have better luck with them than your last experience and get some of your money back!
I worked for RPM Wichita from May 2015 to November 2015 to help me prepare and learn more about property management before my fiancé and I opened our own company. However, what I learned there was how NOT to run a PM company. Honestly, I'm not surprised they are closing.
Here in Kansas there are no regulations for a property management company. We aren't required to have any property management training or heck, even real estate training. Its kind of just a free-for-all and it seems like every Joe-blow who thinks they can make a quick profit has a new PM company every week.
Recieved a notice of Chapter 7 Bankruptcy from Real Property Management, Wichita's owner today. I navigated thru the Kansas court systems website and filed my claim as a creditor along with attaching my supporting docs. I checked out his list of creditors and it is long. Hope there is some left for me when its all done. The deadline for submission is July so I'm not counting on getting any money soon. As far as getting any money I'm not holding my breath either, but I'm going trying.
@Duane Symanietz I know this is an old thread, but I am wondering if I could get an update on your experience with Premier Property Management. Also, curious how your situation played out. It sucks that you lost that money and hope that you were able to get restitution on your claim. @Shane H.@Carol Otis Are either of you able to provide a recommendation on a quality property management company in Wichita? Looking for a PM for a SFH in NW Wichita.
@Ted Klein you might try and give Tyson at Wichita Rentals a call. I know a few people that have used them for single family and have been pretty happy with them.
@Ted Klein You may give cedar mills property mgmt a call - my brother rented from them for a couple years and was really happy - I stayed the night at his house as I live 2 hrs out of Wichita now - anyways back in March on a Saturday about 4-5pm there was a broken water pipe from a sprinkler system that my brother discovered - it was a freak accident on how it broke - but would have flooded the basement - we got the water shutoff.
Anyways to get to my point they had a plumber over in a couple hours to fix it. I was pretty surprised.
I manage mainly my own (6 now at this point and 2 for others) I do so remotely and with partnerships I have. I'd only take on a property that is similar to what I work with - (rents above $600 and in what I term a decent area and a well maintained house)
Also there is Granite Leasing/Property Mgmt - Kristen used to be active on here but not sure she is anymore - Im actually going to be working with her to lease my vacant property - her specialty is finding tenants and doing all the work on the front end then either managing on the back end or passing off back to the owner or someone else for the day to day.
Here in Kansas there are no regulations for a property management company. We aren't required to have any property management training or heck, even real estate training. Its kind of just a free-for-all and it seems like every Joe-blow who thinks they can make a quick profit has a new PM company every week.
That's not entirely correct. Anyone can manage residential property, but to manage commercial property, the manager has to either work for the company that owns the property or has to have a real estate agent's license.