NSW Landlord Agent Ignoring Landlord

Inviting practical suggestions on how to deal with an agent that was managing the tenancy on our property in inner-west Sydney.

After doing a not overly-impressive job for around 2 years (yes we could have moved them along but weren't proactive), we decided to sell the property. I contacted 3 x agents including the managing agent and asked for their proposal/outline on how they would go about selling it.

The managing agent was aggressive/unhappy that we were speaking to other agents, felt entitled to get the sales listing automatically since they had managed the lease, and said it would be "embarrassing" to them and their family if they did not get the listing. Needless to say we weren't convinced the agent's embarrassment was a factor in choosing the most appropriate agent to handle one of the most significant financial transactions in our lives and ultimately we agreed to utilise another agent for the sale.

When I informed the managing agent of our decision, they responded that they no longer wished to manage the tenancy and were terminating the management agreement effective immediately and dumped our file at their front desk for collection. Very petty behaviour and clearly in breach of the agreement's 90 day notice period to terminate. Anyway we arranged for a new managing agent the same day to take over and collected the file so that aspect is sorted.

What we are concerned about is that the former agent never provided copies of council rates, water rates, other invoices etc that were being deducted from the rental proceeds. We asked for these to be provided last year as thought it was unusual they were not included in the monthly statements when the different agents managing our other investment properties always included the invoices. This agent responded with "we normally provide a summary at the end of the year". They didn't in fact provide an annual statement, I had to request this separately, and when it came it did not include any copies of the rates/invoices etc.

We reminded the agent that they haven't provided the invoices as previously requested and can they send them through. After a week of no response I sent 3 x follow-ups including a timeline for when they will be provided. These have all been ignored. It seems the agent will go on not responding.

Does anyone know if there is a legal requirement for managing agents to provide copies of the invoices for which deductions are made from the rental income? It may be easier for us to simply contact Sydney Water & the council to obtain copies of the previous bills and then check whether the deductions were correct.

 

Hi Parkzilla,

Hopefully it's nothing, and they have been doing the right thing, but to check if they hadn't, and had been stealing money, you'd probably no doubt be hearing from the providers about outstanding rates, water bills, etc given the amount of time this involves. Have you contacted each of those entities and requested a statement to cross check with your Owner's Ledger from the PM?

 

You have to contact all the utilities anyway to change the address so just ask for copies of the statements via email. My 2c.

 

Of course there is a legal requirement to provide you with a copy of all invoices they paid at the end of each month (or when they issue a statement) as a proof of how trust money was handled. The money that gets collected in the trust account, is your money and they need to account to you for every cent and prove what it was for. This is 101 for property management and if they are not doing it, then something is not right... send them an email today telling them to have in your inbox by COB Monday copies of all bills they haven't provided you with for your tax records or on Tuesday you will be lodging a formal complaint with the NSW department of fair trading. That'll get their attention and if it doesn't... go online and lodge a complain...

Good luck

 

Thanks everyone, good to see I’m not overreacting!

As the replies have pointed out, there are a few ways to go about checking this but will continue to keep up the pressure on the agent. I’ve adopted similar suggested language set out by @ChrisDim and will keep you updated if interested!

 

tell them its "embarassing" to your family if you use them as the selling agent

 

Had this happen to my brother, when he chose to list his house for sale with someone other than the managing agent, they relocated the tenants to another property they managed 'as soon as humanly possible'
Rather petty I feel as you have been paying them for multiple years only for them to stab you in the back for not giving them more money.

 

Dear Parkzilla,
Have a look at NSW Fair Trading website.
as your property is in NSW
You will find a Code of Conduct for Managing Agents.
Chris Dim has directed you there already!!
Perhaps you will see some discrepancies?
I hope this helps,

 

Are they a member if REINSW? You can also Lodge a complaint through them and fair trading. Even if you can access the past records through the suppliers I would still encourage you to lodge formal complaints. Too often the case where people threaten it and not follow through on genuine complaints. It might help other investors which is important in the bigger scheme of things.

- Luke

 

REINSW is an employer organisation & lobby group, they have no regulatory power.

 

Yes that is why the rest of the quote was "and fair trading".

They do have a code of ethics and practice and a formal complaints procedure. I'm sure if the agency in question is a member and displaying the REINSW logo they would want to know about this.

- Luke

 

I've got my popcorn ready

 

Its even more embarrassing for them when you name the practice and their suburb on propertychat. Its not illegal to name the agent and the licensed firm and its suburb. They made their bed and now must sleep in it. I would tell everyone you know. But dont embellish. You dont have to.

Lack of professional conduct really. Professional bullies. You dodged a bullet.