All Forum Posts by: John Myers

Thanks to everyone for your advice. I greatly appreciate it. 

I called the power company and they told me the power was still on. I asked if any power was being used, but they just repeated that there is power (electricity) at the property.

So, it seems someone is occupying the house.

I recently had a chimney inspection and they found a crack in the firebox. They suggested I turn off the gas main that leads to the fireplace until the crack can be repaired.

I'll ask the management company to send a repair person to turn off a gas line that leads to the fireplace.

I'll also request that the repair person verify if the tenant is still at the property.

In addition, I've asked the management company to send a letter requesting the tenant pay rent immediately and if they are not able to do so, they should contact the office asap.

As you can see, I need to find a better management company who'll work with me, not nickle and dime me.

If anyone knows of a good source to get a referral for excellent property management in the south Atlanta area, I'd appreciate the info. This has been going on for months and needs to be changed for the better.

Thanks again!

I have a property in Riverdale, GA.

A tenant has been in the property for one year. To renew the lease, they wanted some repairs and improvements which I agreed to do.

We did run into some difficulty with installing new kitchen cabinets and the tenant could not use the kitchen from Friday to the next Tuesday morning. But all the work was completed and done very well.

Now the tenant has not paid rent for ten days.

I'm afraid they may have vacated the property. 

I am not on site and live out of state. So I can't drive over there and knock on the door. 

My management company has called numerous times but the tenant does not respond.  My management company says in order for them to drive out to the property to check if the tenant is still there, I'll need to order an onsite inspection for $100.

Has anyone had this same problem?

Is there a way an owner can remotely check if the tenant is still at the property? 

Is there a service that can visit the property and take photos in order to verify that the tenant is still occupying the house?

I feel a bit troubled asking this because it borders on spying and invasion of privacy issues, which I dislike. But knowing if the tenant has vacated unexpectedly would save me time in getting a new tenant and taking early precautions against vandalism which can plague unoccupied properties.

Thanks in advance.

John