We talk to prospective owners all the time about what we do for our clients and how we expertly manage their properties. If you’re thinking about working with us, we want to begin letting you hear directly from the people that work on our talented and experienced team.
This is the first from the Field series, and we hope you’ll find it interesting. Our first story will come from Diane, and we hope you enjoy hearing directly from one of our San Jose property managers. As her story will demonstrate, tenant screening and frequent inspections are important.
Diane and Her Experiences with Birds
Hi, I’m Diane, and I have over 23 years of experience working with owners and investors in the property management field. My story is a cautionary tale about knowing who you’re moving into your property.
I began managing a property for an owner who I knew. This owner had already placed a tenant, and wanted me to begin taking care of the lease enforcement, rent collection, and maintenance. I did what I always do when we begin managing a home – I scheduled a visit and a walk-through with the tenants.
This was not an unusual thing and the tenants worked with me to find a day and time where I could visit. As I walked through the property, I was impressed with how nice it was. The tenants seemed to be keeping it maintained and were following the terms of the lease agreement.
But, as I was walking through the bedrooms, there was one bedroom that they didn’t want me to go into.
In insisted, of course, and when I was finally granted access to this room, I couldn’t believe what I saw. The tenants were keeping birds in there, and these were not caged pet birds. They were flying around everywhere and leaving quite a mess.
I could not believe what I was seeing. The birds had been leaving their poop all over, and there was damage to the vents in the room because the birds had chewed away at them.
Removing Tenants with Compliance Issues
Ultimately, the only possible conclusion to this situation was to have the tenants move out. I asked them to cage their birds, but they refused, so I told them that they would have to leave. It was important that they complied with their lease, and there was nothing in the lease that allowed for free-flying birds.
After the tenants moved out, we had to call in some professional cleaners to scrub out that room and repair the damage to the vents. It was a mess. The tenants also neglected to take their personal belongings when they moved out, and even left behind two dogs and some of the birds. We had to get animal control involved.
This is just one example of what we do to protect your property from bad tenants.
Please let me know if you are interested in using our property management company, and we’d be happy to tell you more. Contact us at Real Estate Connection.
