Questions & Answers

If you’re looking for a property manager to help rent and manage your property, here are a few tips for preventing problems and protecting yourself from fraudsters.

ASK!

• Get the full name and contact information of the person or company. 
• Ask the property manager for professional affiliations or certifications with property management organizations, and then verify those on the organization’s website. 
• Find out how long the company has been in business. 
• Ask how many properties are being managed and by how many employees. Make sure the answer is reasonable. 
• Get information on how tenants are screened, to include employment verification, prior rental and eviction history, etc. 
• See how many tenants have been evicted in the last year. This can also help you find out if tenants are being properly screened. 
• Ask how long it takes to fill a vacancy. Make sure the answer is reasonable. 
• Find out what insurance or bond the company may have. 
• Make sure the property manager has a legally compliant and audited trust account for security deposits and rents.

READ!

• Study California Tenants: A Guide to Residential Tenants’ and Landlords’ Rights and Responsibilities, a Department of Consumer Affairs publication available at www.dca.ca.gov. 
• Read the property management agreement carefully; there may be clauses that may not be agreeable to you. 
• Make sure the agreement explains any additional fees charged for markups, accounting, etc. 
• Confirm that the contract clearly identifies how repairs are handled and expensed. 
• Be sure that the contract requires monthly accounting reports and has a clear termination date. 
• Ask for an example of the monthly accounting that you will receive from the property manager. 

After signing the Property Management Agreement, we'll need to take care of the following items for each property:

• Proof of insurance with Rentor listed as co-insured
• Keys: We must have the keys to the property, whether it's vacant or tenanted.

If occupied, 

• Tenants' contact information: We need a phone number or email address so that we have a way to reach out to the current tenants and welcome them to Rentor.
• Copy of current lease: We need a copy of the tenants' current lease. If the lease is valid, we're obligated to continue enforcing it until it expires, even if ownership or management changes.
• Information about the security deposit: We need to know who has the security deposit. If you have it, you'll need to transfer it to us. If your previous manager has it, we can work with them to receive it, although we may need you to authorize the transfer from them to us.

Please see your Rentor Property Management Agreement (PMA) for a schedule of fees.

Management Fees - What’s included for fees paid? 

At Rentor, we believe that “Value for Money = Service”. Our service is called “Property Management” however, it could just as easily be called “People Management,” as much of our work is centered around our staff successfully communicating with property owners, tenants, contractors, creditors, insurers, attorneys, code enforcement, planning and zoning and home owner associations, just to name a few.

Management Fees

Management fees are charged on a percentage basis as the rent is collected. The amount charged per calendar month will depend upon the actual amount of rent collected. NOTE: Your Property Management Agreement will provide the exact services provided, but below are example services in connection with Management fees :

• Attending to daily telephone, email, text, and in person inquires.
• Timely rent collection.
• A manager on call 24hrs a day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year.
• Organizing keys for viewings, inspections and repair vendors.
• Attending to payment of various property expenses.
• Collection of late rent through various legal means.
• Lease enforcement with tenants.
• Hand deliveries of notices to tenants as necessary.
• Attending to correspondence.
• Organizing maintenance repairs and quotes.
• Administering rent through the trust account.
• Electronic funds transfer to your account.
• Copying/Scanning of invoices.
• Starting eviction process “if” necessary.
• Preparing calendar monthly statements for property owners and collating supporting information for the owner’s statement.
• Liaison with home owner or condo associations if applicable.
• Organizing utilities to be turned on and off when required.
• Conducting annual rent reviews.
• Regular follow up with maintenance contractors.
• Periodic visual inspections of the property to ensure lease compliance.
• Processing notices to vacate or to renew a lease term.
• Liaison with insurance companies, when authorized.
• Conducting the video recorded and written move-in/move-out inspections.
• Lodging security deposit claims, (when necessary) in accordance with the California Landlord Tenant Laws.
• Liaison with and assisting with sales brokerage firms.
• Maintaining a staff of highly skilled and trained professional property managers who answer the phones to conduct business during normal business hours.
• Maintaining a professional office with the latest in technology and property management tools in our industry.
• Constant ongoing training and cutting edge knowledge of our industry.
• Direct supervision by company managers who belong to the National Association of Residential Property Managers and hold the prestigious designation of (PRM) Professional Residential Manager.

Leasing Fees:

The leasing fees are for our services in connection with:

• Arranging, taking, and saving photos and videos of your property.
• Creation and placement of property flyers.
• Access to dozens of marketing venues with the highest traffic to get your property seen and rented faster.
• Uploading photos, video, and property information the various internet marketing sites.
• Arranging and conducting showing appointments with prospective tenants.
• Keeping property owner informed of the showings and rental activity.
• Administrating lease applications and processing applications for tenancy.
• Tenant screening via credit reports, eviction searches, criminal background check, sex offender checks, verification of former landlord references, and employment verification of applicant.
• Negotiating the terms of the lease with prospective renters.
• Organizing the new lease agreement and conducting items necessary for new residency in accordance with California Landlord Tenant Laws.
• Attending the lease closing with tenants, processing of lease including general information and rules and regulations for new tenants.

The Leasing fee covers Rental Advertising & Setup, Leasing Process, and Lease Signing as outlined below.  

A - Advertising & Setup - Fee covers the time it takes to setup and build the marketing strategy and advertising for a property. This includes researching and including the average utility cost, school zoning, marketing photography using watermarked pictures to avoid scams, writing the marketing description, and organizing and preparing the property file.  Manager will submit property advertisement to multiple websites, (including some paid website advertising) as well as manual-entry websites. Examples of manual websites can include Social Media, Craigslist or any other special manual-entry websites.  The websites posted to are chosen at the discretion of the Manager, and are based upon market intelligence indicating which websites are providing the highest number of inquiries at the time.  Manager will perform a rental comparative market analysis to determine proper pricing. Additionally, fee includes providing a video walkthrough to give you an “edge” over your competition. Other possible items included at the discretion of the manager are special self-show lockboxes designed for rentals and a For-Rent yard sign. Lastly, weekly communication to the owner regarding on-market status updates so the Owner and Manager can make informed decisions on pricing strategies.  Manager reserves the right change advertising methods and services based upon technology constraints and individual property characteristics.

B - Leasing Process - In addition to the rental advertising and marketing strategy, manager will show the property by appointment and/or scheduled through an online scheduling system. This fee covers scheduling showings electronically and by phone, and processing credit/background/eviction checks.  

C - Lease Signing - The manager can provide an updated lease prepared by an attorney in accordance with California State Law.  Lease signing will be performed by a California Real Estate Licensee.