Why Property Managers Look Like The Bad Guy

Property management can feel like a constant stream of hard conversations, and we’re naming the uncomfortable truth: property managers often get cast as the bad guy because we’re the ones who have to enforce the lease and deliver the “no.” When a tenant wants a pet, adds a surprise roommate, or pushes back on a new process, we’re the face of the boundary. When an owner wants to change rules mid-lease, raise rent with months left in the term, or ignore a required repair, we’re still the ones who have to hold the line.

We break down what listeners rarely see: the behind-the-scenes work inside a property management company, the research and risk-checking that happens before we ever call anyone back, and the neutral role we have to maintain to protect both landlords and tenants. We also dig into the big pressure points that trigger conflict fast, including maintenance decisions, renewals, deferred maintenance, and how rent increases land when the property condition hasn’t kept up. If you’re a real estate investor, landlord, or tenant who wants to understand why certain policies exist, this conversation helps connect the dots.

We also explain why compliance is non-negotiable. Fair housing laws and city code inspections aren’t suggestions, and “my last manager allowed it” isn’t a defense when things go sideways. Finally, we share why documentation matters so much, why we often follow phone calls with email recaps, and how clear written communication protects everyone months down the road. Subscribe for more straight talk, share this with a landlord who needs it, and leave a review. What’s the toughest property management rule you’ve had to enforce or accept?

Transcript

Why Managers Get Cast As Bad

SPEAKER_01 0:26

Welcome back to the Rick and Shauna Show, Property Management Unfiltered. And we're going to have a discussion today that uh comes up quite often, and it really doesn't come up so much with owners, it comes up actually between us.

SPEAKER_00 0:43

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

And it's that sometimes um property managers can be looked at as the bad guy.

SPEAKER_00 0:50

Yes. Um very candid conversation today about how we appear as the bad guys in the situation. The bad cops.

SPEAKER_01 1:04

Yeah, and there's a there's a number of of reasons why this happens.

SPEAKER_00 1:09

Yeah, yeah. Um all jokes aside, you know, as property managers, we actually have a really um big responsibility to take care of people's properties and tenants. And and the tenants. You know, there's that healthy balance between keeping the tenants happy and keeping the property owners happy. And that comes with a lot of juggling, and you know, somebody's gotta do it.

SPEAKER_01 1:36

Yeah, and that really that's really that's really between everyone when you think about it. That's between inspectors, section inspectors, it's you know, it's all of these things. It's it's um just kind of making it all work, making all the the pieces fit together.

SPEAKER_00 1:52

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:52

And amicably.

SPEAKER_00 1:54

And so everyone is happy.

SPEAKER_01 1:55

Everyone's happy, and you know, traditionally, you know, sometimes that doesn't just work out. And it's not because we're not doing the right thing, it's because we are.

SPEAKER_00 2:03

Yes, and that that is the that is it right there. It's because we are. We are the ones who are making those uncomfortable calls, protecting the properties, keeping the tenants happy, making sure the owners get their money or they they stay profitable and and inspections and section eight and so on and so on. So we're just we're gonna talk about that a little bit, right?

SPEAKER_01 2:28

Yeah, absolutely. So where do you

The Middleman Role Behind The Scenes

SPEAKER_01 2:30

want to start?

SPEAKER_00 2:31

Well, uh, we might as well just keep going with that particular topic there and being the middle person. We are the middleman for everything. So, you know, there is a lot of behind the scenes things that happen when you have a property management company, and thank God you do. Let me just tell you that. As a property owner with a property management company, um, you know, it's not just Rick and I working, right? We have a whole team sitting out here in the hallway, you know, and every single day there's something different. And I know I've been doing this for 20 years, and you about 12, and there are things that still amaze us that we have to sit down and go through and figure out before we even get to a point where we're informing anyone of what's going on.

SPEAKER_01 3:20

All the background stuff, you know, you the stuff that happens behind the scenes, and and and what I mean by that is that sometimes the scenarios that come up we actually have to do some research.

SPEAKER_00 3:31

Oh, I'll be able to do that.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

I mean, most of the stuff we just know, but it seems like there's always that thing that comes up. We're like, well, wait a second, you know, if we do this, then that could happen.

SPEAKER_00 3:42

Well, we get a tenant phone call and then we have to make the phone call to the owner that the tenant called and said they need to do this or they're they're requesting to do this. You know, somebody is um somebody wants to come off the lease and somebody else wants to take their place. Right. It's not just that easy. Right.

SPEAKER_01 3:57

And we're playing, we're playing that middleman between every single one of these scenarios. And traditionally, when you know playing that middleman, there's gonna be somebody on the receiving end of it that doesn't hear what they want.

SPEAKER_00 4:12

Oh, there's always going to be that. Right.

SPEAKER_01 4:15

It's very seldom that both parties go, oh yeah, that's great.

SPEAKER_00 4:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:19

That's great. I mean, it does happen, but the you know, the biggest thing is that there's certain things that you know we have to enforce. You know, we have to enforce, you know, uh there's spare housing laws, there's the lease that's in place, um, and there's a lot of information that's in those those things. The lease, there's a ton of information in there, and and to be honest, owners and tenants truly don't understand about all of it.

SPEAKER_00 4:49

Right.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

Well, and they're counting on us. Well, to be honest.

SPEAKER_00 4:53

I hired you as my property manager, figure it out, right? Right, right. And and being that middle person means that you know, you you really honestly you can't take anyone's side. You have to completely stay neutral because that's the professional way of doing things, right? Yeah. And you still have to figure things out, you still have to do all the research, and you have to come out with an answer that, you know, is is right for everyone. Doesn't mean everyone's gonna be happy, but it's right, right? The least, we have to enforce the least, right?

SPEAKER_01 5:26

You have to enforce all the policies. There's such a big list on there, and and by doing that, by enforcing those things, um there's gonna be somebody that's upset. You know, somebody thinks they should be able to have a pet,

Enforcing Leases And Handling Pushback

SPEAKER_01 5:40

you know, uh, you know, unauthorized occupants. They think that they could just, hey, I can just bring somebody in, right?

SPEAKER_00 5:47

Oh, we just we just ran across that, right? Oh, I just had somebody move in. It was a property we just took over. And we get there to do the walkthrough, and there's a roommate. Oh, oh yeah, by the way, I need to add him because he just moved in. We're like, wait a minute, that's not how it works.

SPEAKER_01 6:00

You can't just do that. Right. So then you have a tenant upset. Yes, and that and who knows what that could result in.

SPEAKER_00 6:06

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 6:07

That depends if they're if are they under terms. If they're not under terms, they can say, well, that makes me mad that they wouldn't let me have the pet or they wouldn't let somebody else be on the lease, or whatever that whatever hoops they have to jump through.

SPEAKER_00 6:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:18

And they may just decide that I don't like that.

SPEAKER_00 6:21

Yeah, I don't like that. I'm gonna go.

SPEAKER_01 6:22

I'm gonna go.

SPEAKER_00 6:22

I'm leaving.

SPEAKER_01 6:23

Yeah, so that's that dance that you play because we're enforcing these uh policies for a reason. Yeah, but it could create another situation.

SPEAKER_00 6:34

Right. Well, I mean, it's in the lease, so you know it's like enforcing a lease isn't just collecting rent. It isn't just saying, oh well, your rent's due, and your rent, your your lease says that your rent is due. It's all of the other things that we get on a daily basis, you know, phone calls from these tenants or property owners. We have property owners also that would like to, you know, modify a lease, and you can't do that when they're in a term. Some property owners don't like that, or they don't understand that, or you know, they bought the property and now they want to raise the rent, but they still have six months on a lease, and they don't understand why they can't do that.

SPEAKER_01 7:07

Or they just want to change some type of policy at the property, like, hey, you know, you have to park in these spots. It's like, well, when I signed that lease, it said they were open, I could park anywhere I wanted.

SPEAKER_00 7:17

Now you're changing that's a big one that we get when we take on somebody else's lease and uh uh you know, when when we represent a property owner that buys a property where it was different with the old property.

SPEAKER_01 7:31

And they're still under terms.

SPEAKER_00 7:33

Well, and they're still under terms or not, but sometimes it's it's yeah, my my old property manager picked up my rent and said I could pay cash.

SPEAKER_01 7:41

Big one.

SPEAKER_00 7:41

We don't do that. Yeah, we don't do that. So now we have to enforce this change, right? So there's these changes. People do not like changes.

SPEAKER_01 7:47

They don't like changes, and that's a that's a big one. Like honestly, if my old uh landlord picked up the rent, oh we're not gonna do that. And we have to say that in no uncertain terms that we're gonna draw the line in the sand with it, and we're gonna have to do business this way. Yeah, and that's challenging because we don't want a tenant to leave. No, but yet we want the process to go smoothly.

SPEAKER_00 8:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:11

That couldn't uh influence what that tenant does by what happens, the result of that.

SPEAKER_00 8:17

You know, we anything we say could create a problem.

SPEAKER_01 8:20

It could create a problem, and it could it's not only a problem for the tenant, they feel it's a problem for them, but it also can create a situation for an owner. Yeah. Because he could lose a tenant.

SPEAKER_00 8:31

Right.

SPEAKER_01 8:32

He could lose a tenant.

SPEAKER_00 8:33

Well, and it's our job to say it in a manner that is understandable to everyone, right?

SPEAKER_01 8:39

Right.

SPEAKER_00 8:40

So people don't like change, so we're the bad guys when we present it. People um, you know, want a pet and we say no, they have to understand and we have to put it in a term that they can understand and that they are okay with. Right. But that doesn't always happen. So no matter what instance in that scenario where we're enforcing a lease, we're the bad guys.

SPEAKER_01 9:01

100%.

SPEAKER_00 9:02

We're the bad guys all the time.

SPEAKER_01 9:03

Yeah, we're gonna and and and the thing is is that we can be bad guys on the other end of it too.

Owners, Compliance, And Fair Housing

SPEAKER_01 9:10

So when it turns when it comes to an owner, sometimes we end up being that bad guy to the owner because we're going to hold the line on these policies, not because we're just trying to play hardball.

SPEAKER_00 9:25

Right.

SPEAKER_01 9:25

It's that these are things, this is a protection. This is gonna protect you as an owner, it's gonna protect the tenant, it's also gonna per protect the property management company. Yeah. Because if we don't do these things, especially with the fair housing, and many times owners have just a uh very little knowledge.

SPEAKER_00 9:44

Yeah, city code and fair housing are so important. And guess what? You do not argue with either of those. You have to do a city code inspection, you have to do the repairs, and likewise fair housing, you have to follow the rules. And there are times that we have owners that don't want to. And so we're the bad guys when we tell them we can't do that, I'm sorry. That's gonna put you and us in a spot that neither one of us wanna be in.

SPEAKER_01 10:11

And it may be the first time they're hearing this. Oh, okay. Because maybe whoever they had, yeah, maybe the property manager they had before was, you know, just letting it roll.

SPEAKER_00 10:20

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:21

And all of a sudden now we're gonna hold them accountable.

SPEAKER_00 10:23

Yeah, and they've never heard it before, and now they don't get it, they don't understand it. Don't understand. Why are you doing this to me?

SPEAKER_01 10:28

Yeah, and you know, all these things come into just even like we have this one all the time, you know, the maintenance

Maintenance, Renewals, And Rent Increases

SPEAKER_01 10:35

thing. The maintenance thing is kind of a big deal because, you know, uh tenants uh feel that, hey, these things should be done at the property, especially when it comes timed for a renewal.

SPEAKER_00 10:48

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:49

So the rent's the biggest thing. Yeah, the rent's gonna go up. And so, okay, so what's going on on my property that makes it worth, you know, a hundred dollars more a month? Is it just market rent? You know, I haven't had the carpet replaced in five years, hasn't been painted in ten years.

SPEAKER_00 11:03

What are you gonna do for me?

SPEAKER_01 11:04

What are you gonna do for me? Yeah, so it's it's a um it's a tough scenario. There again, we have to be, we're right in the middle of it.

SPEAKER_00 11:14

We're the middleman's and we're going to deliver. There's no doubt we're delivering some bad news somewhere.

SPEAKER_01 11:19

Absolutely. Absolutely. But those are the things like with, especially with the maintenance, you know, you can you can push this maintenance off, right? Yeah. You can push the maintenance off. Could there's certain things, you know, cosmetic things uh that people want. And yeah, you can, you know, you can defer that maintenance a little bit, but you have to be careful. You have to be careful about how you're deferring that maintenance because you could be upsetting your tenants.

SPEAKER_00 11:46

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 11:47

The appreciation in your property won't be as good.

SPEAKER_00 11:49

That's it.

SPEAKER_01 11:50

Um, because you're not keeping up with those things. So it's it's a fun, I think always, you know, not always, I hate using that word, always, but I think most of the time by keeping your property in the best condition that you can, like within reason, yeah, right, keeping up with it is always gonna put you in a better spot for a lot of reasons. Yeah. You know, you're gonna have a bet the property's gonna look better, it's gonna rent faster, the tenants are gonna be uh, you know, happier, especially, you know, when it comes to that time for renewal. Yeah. They say, hey man, you guys have been taking great care of the property, love it. Every time I call, you guys come out and take care of things. So that's always a good, that's always a good place to be.

SPEAKER_00 12:30

Right.

SPEAKER_01 12:30

You know, then we then we aren't the bad guys, but we're not the bad guys to the top.

SPEAKER_00 12:34

On that end, I was gonna say, now wait a minute, on this end, it the you know, the owner might think we're just trying to spend money. You're just trying to spend my money, you're just trying it and and we're not. We're we're trying to we see the big picture, right? Because we deal with all sides of it. So number one, do the maintenance, you'll have a happy tenant. And all of that, those little small repairs, whatever they are, adds up when, like you said, we have to increase it. Now you can justify an increase in the property, and you don't just say, well, I'm increasing because that's what I can do, and I have it's market rent, I have the right. You actually have a reason, and your tenant feels like you have considered them, right? I mean, at the end of the day, you still have to have a level of respect for your tenant.

SPEAKER_01 13:22

100%.

SPEAKER_00 13:23

If you do, they take care of your property, right? It it all goes hand in hand. Trying to explain that to somebody though, and making sure that a maintenance decision is financial and not emotional. Sometimes a property owner has a lot of emotion behind whether they're gonna do that maintenance or not. Sometimes it is because they don't care about, you know, their property. Like they they they don't care, they they feel like that money is not worth spending right now. Right. That's what I mean. Not really that they don't care about their property, but you know what I mean? Right. It but I we would rather we we try to explain to them we would rather see you do it now than put it off. And we've talked about this in other episodes. Yes. That deferred maintenance is that does not do you any good anytime.

SPEAKER_01 14:13

It's coming.

SPEAKER_00 14:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:14

You're gonna you are going to pay it. As a matter of fact, and it's probably gonna be worse because a lot of the it depends on what it is, obviously. Yeah. But there are certain things that if you let them accumulate, you let it go, the problem actually becomes worse. Somebody says, hey, if you would address this six months ago, we would have been, you know, a fraction of this cost.

SPEAKER_00 14:35

Right? Small repair, now it's something huge. So that's definitely that's that's a big one that we run into. Between the lease and that, that, you know, those maintenance ones, fair housing is huge, I think, anyways. And I think that maybe we spend some more time on that, you know, in a different episode. But keeping our keeping our owners in compliance is huge. And I know a lot of times they don't get it, they don't understand why we're so adamant about sticking to those policies. I mean, you don't you don't want to see what the other side of fair housing looks like.

SPEAKER_01 15:11

You just don't do not want to see what the other side of the world is.

SPEAKER_00 15:14

I mean, I can't put it any other way.

SPEAKER_01 15:15

So you do not want to see it. And like I said, it's that's that's not a uh a tactic to scare anyone, it's just the it's just the reality of it.

SPEAKER_00 15:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:24

And this actually, all these things that we're talking about, these things are really uh they're protection for everyone. Can't stress that enough. Yeah, you can't stress it enough. There's protection for everyone, and these are things, honestly, that an owner, if if they knew everything that went into all this stuff, this these are things that they would want us to do. Even though it's tough to hear it in the long run, it's going to put them in so much better of a position.

SPEAKER_00 15:53

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:54

And they're not we're not gonna run any of the situations. Like, you know, like I said, anything can happen. Right. But we want to put our owners and our tenants in the best possible position we can. Yeah. And, you know, hey, if something you know goes a little bit south, we're gonna do everything we can to shore that up and and and get it taken care of. But we don't want to start from a point of not doing those things. Like if something happens, hey, look, we're gonna react, we're gonna, we're gonna figure it out. But we gotta start doing these things, like you know, the right things right.

SPEAKER_00 16:25

Yeah, yeah. You know, so yeah, here's how we're gonna do it.

SPEAKER_01 16:28

Yeah, absolutely.

Email Documentation And Clear Decisions

SPEAKER_00 16:30

Yeah, another big one is you know, we we pride ourselves on com communication, but sometimes these bigger things that we need to communicate about need to be in writing. So we send emails. And that is um that's sometimes like a sticking point with a property owner. They want to talk on the phone. Fine, that's fine, we can talk about it, but we need to recap this in an email at least. Now, I don't know where email got off along the way, where some people just don't like to communicate by email, but anything that we do that's big, whether it's approvals or just you know, decisions that are being made because we are the middleman and we don't really make those decisions, or you know, we influence them because of the knowledge that we have. But sometimes those bigger things are ultimately the up to the property owner to decide. We need that in writing.

SPEAKER_01 17:21

Well, it's accountability.

SPEAKER_00 17:22

It's accountability, and it's just for six months down the road when I didn't tell you to do that, and you say, Yes, you did, I have it in writing right here. That's the reason. So documentation is also protection for us, for the owners, and sometimes for the tenants. I mean, we have to have it. And you know, I just feel like that that was worth a mention. Just we're not dodging people. Some conversations absolutely need to have an email, whether it's a recap from a conversation or fully through email because that documentation is important.

SPEAKER_01 18:00

Yeah, well, we just want to make sure that we're doing the right thing too. Like when, you know, when we're, you know, especially when owners are, you know, it's a money situation and they're already nervous about making the investment, we want to make sure we have it right. That's right. We want to make sure that, hey, look, I heard you right, right? Can you just recap that for me? That way we're doing the right thing and there's no confusion because I gotta tell you, you know, when you have a conversation, um, man, it a lot of things can fall through the cracks just because you're talking about a lot of different things.

SPEAKER_00 18:31

Well, it's perception, right?

SPEAKER_01 18:32

It is perception, and it's all about how it's presented and you're writing stuff down, and maybe you just misheard it. You didn't fully under yeah, you didn't fully understand. So it's important to have that documentation just so everybody is on the same page. Because you have to remember, too, it's not just me and Shauna, like she said earlier. This stuff flows through all these departments, so we can't lose the meaning of of what we're saying in translation. We don't want to game a telephone, no, we don't, yeah. And we don't want there to be a translation issue, like, well, I tell Kyra, and then Kyra goes and tells somebody else, and in that we're gonna lose it in translation. Oh, yeah. When we have an email, it's crystal clear. Yep. That email is the email that gets passed down. Like there's a piece of it that Kyra does, then there's a piece of it that another person in our department does, but it's not being convoluted.

SPEAKER_00 19:24

Well, and just again, that's such a big part, you know, in the fact that we we play middleman, you know, we don't make the decision. So when there is a decision to be made and it's been made by a property owner and we have to follow it, we like you said, we need to know. We need to know crystal clear. We have a big job to do here. And I'm not sure that a lot of people understand the amount of moving pieces and parts that happen on a daily basis in a property management company.

SPEAKER_01 19:52

And I said them better.

SPEAKER_00 19:53

There are 10, 12 people here making those parts move like a well-oiled machine, and each department flows into the other.

SPEAKER_01 20:02

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 20:03

And we have to have good documentation.

SPEAKER_01 20:05

Yep, and they're doing everything they can to make sure it goes as it's supposed to.

SPEAKER_00 20:09

As much as possible.

SPEAKER_01 20:11

As much as possible.

SPEAKER_00 20:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:13

So I think that we have anything else on this, Shauna?

SPEAKER_00 20:16

I don't think so. I think that was just a quick thing we wanted to get together, just kind of clarify a little bit. Like we don't set out to be the bad guys, we don't set out to make everybody mad all the time, but again, rely on the knowledge of your property manager. Just know that we have your best interests in mind when we have to tell you no. It's because there's a protection that we're trying to put on on you or on your investment or what you know, on even on the tenant, you know, and we're trying to keep all parties happy and in compliance.

SPEAKER_01 20:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:50

And it's it's a it's a big job.

SPEAKER_01 20:52

And honestly, that's why you hire us.

SPEAKER_00 20:54

Yeah, and

Wrap-Up And Section 8 Teaser

SPEAKER_00 20:55

most of the time, because you don't understand. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 20:58

And that's the whole so it's like, hey, you guys got it, right? Yeah. You guys got it. Right. It's like, yeah, we we have it.

SPEAKER_00 21:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:03

But let us have it.

SPEAKER_00 21:04

Yeah. Yeah. We're not really trying to, you know, we're not trying to create any conflict with anyone. We're actually trying to be more clarifying on that. We're trying to clarify those those things.

SPEAKER_01 21:15

We're trying to be upfront with the way things work so we don't have a big problem down the line.

SPEAKER_00 21:21

In the in the long run, right, right. Down the line.

unknown 21:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:24

So I think uh that's it today. So don't forget to like and subscribe.

SPEAKER_00 21:31

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 21:31

And um we've got some episodes coming up here, and one of them I think is gonna have a lot of interest. So hopefully uh all the owners out there will tune in. Um we've got something coming up on section eight.

SPEAKER_00 21:45

Tell them, tell them. Tell them.

SPEAKER_01 21:48

Um, so there's there's a lot of misunderstanding with section eight. It's there's so much.

SPEAKER_00 21:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:54

Yes, there's so much. So that probably is gonna be a little bit longer.

SPEAKER_00 21:58

Yeah, make some time because that that's gonna go over a lot of good stuff about section eight. Again, we've been doing this a long time, we've seen a lot of things. Most importantly, though, we know how it works and we know how to prepare you for what to expect. And that's what this is gonna do.

SPEAKER_01 22:15

Yep. So I think that's gonna be a good one. So don't miss that one. And um, I think that's it for today. We're gonna wrap it up.

SPEAKER_00 22:22

Yeah, thanks for tuning in. See you next time.