Experience with Evernest?
Hi everyone!
Our PM sold their business to Evernest this past week, and my husband and I are looking for any owners/out of state investors who have experience working with them.
Thank you in advance!!
Tina
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Evernest's model is to rip you off on all maintenance. I get they need to make money, but charging double of what the contractor would charge? I am referring to Evernest of Denver. They quoted me $2500 for move out rehab. I took the same list to the contractor who would ultimately do the work. The contractor quoted me $1350. For anything significant, I don't use Evernest maintenance. They are just outright ripping property owners off. I hire my own handyman, he does great work and charge me 50% less than Evernest.
@Chris Turner completely agree with ALL of the above and everything you've said. I'm going to DM you if that's ok!
"Hope." That's the key word @Chris Turner. It's like the company was so energetic and hopeful when I interviewed them. They said all the right things. The onboarding went well, but it wasn't long before things started to go downhill. And the two most important things a management company is supposed to do is make the Owner money, and take the burden of day-to-day management off the hands of the Owner.
Every day became a struggle. I was spending so much time on the properties that they managed, I should have been paid a management salary. And hope quickly disappeared when I started loosing money. It should never be this way. It's one thing to make a bad investment decision, it's another to hold out hope for a management company on a good investment that goes terribly wrong and costs thousands over the course of just 6 months. I cancelled my contract. Of course when I did, utilities got shut off at one vacant property without notice and they pulled it from marketing even though I still had to go through the end of the 30 day notice period. They quit managing it even though I was still tied to them for another 30 days. Come on guys! But why am I surprised?
Oh, as far as communication, you can reach out to the sales rep who helped on-board you. It helped me for a little bit, but it was only a temporary bump in their quality for about one week then went back to all the same problems.
@Brooks Harrington Thanks for sharing. It seems to be the common thread with Evernest. It's kind of crazy that all it took was firing them to give me the hope back. But at that, I am uneasy today.
I reached out to my PM to follow up and see if the tenant has responded to the 7-day notice and was told she hadn't. I was also informed that they were preparing my final invoice and thought they'd be done on the 1st. I reminded them that my 30 day notice to terminate doesn't end until May 17th and that I expect them to follow through with starting the eviction process. I guess they are going to do a occupancy check. I'm not even sure what that means, but I'm hopeful the tenant moved and I get possession soon. I don't want to turn this mess over to the new management company, but I think they are up to the task.
I guess blogging about my experience with Evernest is my new thing. It's actually pretty therapeutic and everyone's advice has been so valuable.
The new company I hired took over on Friday and has uncovered so many things! The tenant claims she put the rent money into an escrow account in April due to issues with the home. I don't believe she really put the money into an escrow account. They told her she needs to give them information about the account and reissued her a 7-day notice. I wish she would have done it the legal way but after what the new company has discovered, I don't blame her for not paying rent. Here's why:
Evernest had been billing me for some crazy non-essential things ever since the tenant moved in and has been wiping out my reserve every month. It got a little heated between me and the PM after I told them a few times that I don't want any work done on the house without my permission. I even told them numerous times that I'll fix what's needed, but I was sick of the surprises. Instead of contacting me with the tenant's maintenance requests they instead passive aggressively let everything go to hell and just kept telling her that I declined the maintenance requests.
I don't have a full report yet but in the first 2 business days the new management company has discovered:
1. The tenant has been frustrated because she was also billed for the flooding, but it has since been reversed.
2. The tenant reported that the handles snapped off the shower and was told that I declined to fix it.
3. She hasn't been able to use the washer and dryer because of power and plumbing issues with the washer (I was billed to make sure they were functioning and told they were working.)
The new company did a walk through of the property today and I don't have a complete report yet, but so far:
1. There's a leak in the roof (I don't know if she reported it to Evernest)
2. The tenant doesn't have power in the living room and one of the bedrooms. I assume she reported this but that's news to me
3. Misc. issues like the tub needs resurfaced, but can probably wait
4. Evernest never made recommendations on the 2 floods, obviously there's something going on there.
The new company is doing a great job. They even told the tenant that I've been in the dark too. She seems reassured that at least now she feels heard and that there will be a plan shortly to address the problems.
I feel like when it's all said and done that I need to make an effort to make it right with her. I just am worried that I don't have the funds to fix everything, but I'm going to have to figure it out.
Has anyone else experienced anything like this? I don't know if it's an option, but I am inclined to forgive April and possibly May's rent if she'd sign a new lease after the issues are fixed. The problem is I don't even know if she can afford the house because I think they just let her move in and most likely would end up evicting her anyway. But at least the 2 months relief might give her what she needs to find something she can afford. I also can't shake the feeling that she's retaliating against me by causing damage, but who knows.
I also want to reach out to her personally and apologize, but I like the idea of her not being able to contact me, but we see where that got me. Does anyone else give their tenant their phone number when you have a management company?
Well I finally bit the bullet and sent in my 30 day termination letter on May 1 ending service on May 31. Now they tell me my account will be closed out and I should receive my final balance due no later than July 1, I told them they can zero out the account for the remaining maintenance reserve but I need to be paid May rents in May cause I have a mortgage payment in June!!! I told my PM to escalate it up to Josh Long or Gray Hall, this wasn't mentioned in the management agreement at all!
Now I definitely can't wait to rid myself of this horrible company...
After you give them your termination notice, how long did it take for you to get your rental payment(s)? I was basically told 60 days after giving notice even though the management agreement never mentioned this, they said this was policy. I told them this wasn't acceptable. Plus they also gave the tenants my email and possibly my phone number too!
Hi Jay! If I remember correctly, rents still went out on the 20th as normal, but they keep reserve and securities for a few extra weeks just to zero out the account. You should be ok. In fact at this point focus on getting your new PM in place and enjoying a stress-free future :)
While I believe every word, I will add - we've changed PMs now 3 times and every time the tenants come forward with how poorly they'd been treated. That the old PM was horrible and blamed us for not fixing things, etc. The new PM relishes in the fact that the "former management" didn't do their job. I think for this tenant, have the PM fix the critical issues and move on. No need to personally reach out. The PM will form the relationship for you. But do not be surprised if she's one of those who continues complaining well after things get fixed! If she can't afford the space it's as much on her as Evernest - she will need to move out.
I have new management in place, it's so nice to deal with a single human being vs Evernest's bots and multiple virtual assistants. I'm sure the tenants will feel the exact same way!!
We terminated from Columbus.
I contacted you. I'd LOVE to hear your thoughts via DM.
Just a quick update, doesn't look like I'll be getting May rents anytime soon. My new PM can't even get security deposits right away, we're told perhaps within 30 days of transfer and not to mention they lost some keys. Evernest is treating all owners like institutional owners, let this be a warning to those who are thinking about using them. I have June mortgages payments coming up but they don't seem to care at all. At this point, I cannot wait til they are wrapped up with my portfolio - I'm sure my tenants feel the exact same way!
So another update on my ever worsening off-boarding experience with Ever-mess, my new property manager went through one of the tenant ledgers (not made available to owners) and noticed they've been collecting all of the 10% late fees! First of all, 10% is a bit excessive and it was never disclosed to me that they are keeping all of the late fees as opposed to just 8% of it. I went through the management agreement and found this:
Agent shall collect revenue from tenants and prospective tenants for
items such as, but not limited to: application fees, notice posted fees, late fees, lease renewal
fees, pet fees, document preparation fees, administration fees, and maintenance services.
It never said they collect a portion but it also doesn't say they collect all of it either. What are everyone else's experience?
The truth of Ever-mess' business model is coming out, have the best SEO and slickest marketing to lure unexperienced landlords with low monthly and tenant placement fees then over charge for maintenance whether it actually gets done or not then nickle and dime tenants with junk fees. Let's see how long this house of cards can stay standing!!
Forgot to mention, I'm still waiting for May rents.... :(
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#3 Classifieds Contributor
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@Jay Y. so you're saying you fell for their SEO and slick marketing and hired them without understanding what they'd be charging you for?
The language you posted is from the wrong section of the contract. You want to look under the fee area to see the Late Fee split.
- Michael Smythe
This is no other section of the contract with fee splits, they are using their own contracts instead of the state's association of Realtors contract...
#3 Classifieds Contributor
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#3 Classifieds Contributor
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@Jay Y. you can send it to us for our review.
Find it hard to believe a large org like them wouldn't cover this correctly!
PM us for our email.
- Michael Smythe
@Michael Smythe I’m having similar issues and am happy to send my contract to you for review. In fact, I’d love to get your feedback. Pls message me with the email!
@Jay Y., the clause you quoted says the management company shall "collect" those fees. That is similar to saying they "collect" rent. It does not mean they get to keep all the fees. Check the compensation section of the management agreement. It is not unusual for the management company to keep all of the late fees plus other fees that are attributable to increased management work/oversight. On the other hand, it is also common to split the late fees 50/50, but the management company keeps the other fees. Every company is different.
There is nothing magic about the AAR management contract or any other forms they provide as a convenience for members. I do not use their forms, for example, and provide my own forms for my classes and videos.
A 10% late fee is common, but might be considered excessive if there were litigation. Late fees are supposed to be liquidated damages to cover the landlord's damages due to the breach of the lease agreement (timely payment of rent) but are too general to calculate mathematically. When payments are late, the landlord suffers loss of use of money and might have to pay their own mortgage late. That might result in mortgage late fees. If it happens often enough, the landlord's credit score might drop and result in higher credit card interest rates, higher car lease rates, higher insurance premiums. Lots of waterfall damages. So, the parties say they will agree on a sum for liquidated damages, which might be 5% of the rent.
We know 5% is safe because the Alabama Mini-Code, a consumer protection chapter for small loans, specifically allows a 5% late fee. With a 10% late fee, a court MIGHT rule that 5% is allowable liquidated damages and 5% is a penalty. Penalties are illegal. So, if you are charging penalties, you can be forced to refund them, plus legal fees. There is no statute or appellate decision in Alabama that says what is a "safe" late fee for landlords.
@Michael Smythe @Denise Evans
Here's the management agreement if you're interested in reading through it...
Thanks!