Maintenance cost communication
Question from Parvez updated on 31st May 2017:
I am a landlord. I have a property manager who is not performing: he sides with tenant as he wants to look good and sends lot on maintenance work . Lately he has been sending me some very huge bills to fix maintenance problems. When I use my my handyman to fix problems the bills are in the hundreds, but when I've asked my property manager for quotes he has provided me with invoices from his handyman which are in the thousands. I think he is taking a cut and commission from this. How do i deal with the problem?
Our expert Bernard Parker responded:
It sounds like you and your property manager are not communicating very well about the level of authority that he has to carry out maintenance. You need to come to an understanding with him about how much authority he has for carrying out maintenance and at what level he must refer to you for a decision. I suggest you meet with your property manager and sort out who has the authority to do what.
Bernard is principal of Quinovic – Kapiti-Mana. Quinovic's outstanding people and systems provide the most professional, effective and reliable residential property management service in the NZ market for over 30 years.Search the Ask an Expert archive
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