Totally unreasonable management company

rat_race

Hi guys,

Long story short: I'm in a new apartment. I had a motorcycle / bicycle cover (which was locked) neatly packed under/near my bike, go missing (the cover must have been cut off the lock). I actually think a workman might have removed it, thinking it was rubbish/not in use, as there was clearly maintenance work going on at the time.

I called up a lady, who is part of the management "company" just to enquire, or see who I could talk to to maybe get it back or ask why it was removed. Or to ask if these issues were common. I received this number from my landlord. Straight away she asked why I was calling, and went berserk, on the offensive, shouting, etc. She didn't even give me a chance to explain the situation. When I suggested a workman may have mistaken it for rubbish she went on rant about sueing for defamation of character, etc. She is clearly on the verge of insanity (and she's supposed to be a barrister)...

So my question is: what rights do I have to contact a management company, and how unreasonable can they be when dealing with tenants? What must they, if anything, provide to tenants? I cannot seem to find information on this.



Regards,
rat_race

Mountjoy Mugger

It is your Landlord, not you, who should contact the Management Company, as he is a member of it. Ask him to contact someone on the board of directors. He should have the details, if he's current in paying the Management fees.

Paulw

Firstly, you were dealing with the management agent, not the management company.

Secondly, you are a tenant. The management agent has no obligation to deal with you at all.

Your recourse is to deal with your landlord, and your landlord to deal with the management agent. The landlord, being a member of the management company, once all management fees are paid, should be able to get all answers from the management agent.

So, get back on to your landlord and get him to sort it out or for him to refund you.

D3PO

Your accusing somebody to taking / stealing / robbing something without any proof. I think shes right to point out your verging on defamation.

rat_race

D3PO wrote: »

Your accusing somebody to taking / stealing / robbing something without any proof. I think shes right to point out your verging on defamation.

There was no accusations. I was trying to imply there was a possibilty of it being mistaken for rubbish, in the hope of this being the case and getting it back. She accused me of doing the accusing. Can I sue her for defamation of character too? There comes a point when PC becomes ridiculous.

There is CCTV there, firstly. And secondly, all she had to do was make a call to the workman to see.

But I know now that these things must go through a landlord. Thanks for the help.

djimi

The fact that a tenant should not be talking to a member of the management company does not give any member of said management company the right to act like a prat to one of their neighbours. What is wrong with these people that they feel the need to generate such an "us vs them" attitude towards tenants? We all live in the same building/complex ffs and I fail to see why it cant remain civil, at least initially.

OP if you felt that your property has been stolen and there is CCTV footage that might show what happened then get your landlord on the case and see if they can get the tapes reviewed.

Paulw

djimi wrote: »

The fact that a tenant should not be talking to a member of the management company does not give any member of said management company the right to act like a prat to one of their neighbours. What is wrong with these people that they feel the need to generate such an "us vs them" attitude towards tenants? We all live in the same building/complex ffs and I fail to see why it cant remain civil, at least initially.

OP if you felt that your property has been stolen and there is CCTV footage that might show what happened then get your landlord on the case and see if they can get the tapes reviewed.

The OP was talking to a staff member of the management agent. The OP wasn't talking to anyone from the management company. The only member of the management company the OP should be dealing with is their landlord.

How issues with tenants are dealt with is always a complex issue. There are many things involved, including legal obligations, contracts, etc.

rat_race

Paulw wrote: »

The OP was talking to a staff member of the management agent. The OP wasn't talking to anyone from the management company. The only member of the management company the OP should be dealing with is their landlord.

How issues with tenants are dealt with is always a complex issue. There are many things involved, including legal obligations, contracts, etc.

You are correct, but to be honest I didn't know the difference between a management agency and management company.

I'm not sure why my landlord so readily gave me these two numbers either. Though I did ask for the numbers for the "agency" and not "company". Do members of the "company" live on the premises, generally? Someone explain the difference!

Procrastastudy

To become a barrister requires a law degree, paying the Kings Inns almost 13K, then working for 1 - 3 years unpaid while paying the law library fee and dressing up in a wig and cape...

You tell me if you still think they're on the edge of insanity.

Okay not productive but I hope it gave you a giggle OP.

Paulw

rat_race wrote: »

You are correct, but to be honest I didn't know the difference between a management agency and management company.

I'm not sure why my landlord so readily gave me these two numbers either. Though I did ask for the numbers for the "agency" and not "company". Do members of the "company" live on the premises, generally?

Members of the management company are the owners of units in the development. The members, as the management company, hire a management agent, who subcontracts work, to get the day to day stuff done.

Your landlord, as a unit owner, is a member of the management company. There are legal contracts in place for all of this.

The landlord gave you the numbers because he is lazy, and doesn't want to deal with the issue. Also, the landlord may have thought it was quicker or easier for you to deal with the agent.

Some management agents will deal with queries. Some will not. They have no obligation to. It will differ from development to development, from agent to agent.

ResearchWill

Paulw wrote: »

The OP was talking to a staff member of the management agent. The OP wasn't talking to anyone from the management company. The only member of the management company the OP should be dealing with is their landlord.

How issues with tenants are dealt with is always a complex issue. There are many things involved, including legal obligations, contracts, etc.

The OP got the number from his landlord, now I am assuming the following, OP feel free to correct me. OP contacted landlord with issue, landlord said ring X on X number they can look after you.

rat_race

Procrastastudy wrote: »

To become a barrister requires a law degree, paying the Kings Inns almost 13K, then working for 1 - 3 years unpaid while paying the law library fee and dressing up in a wig and cape...

You tell me if you still think they're on the edge of insanity.

Okay not productive but I hope it gave you a giggle OP.

I know. Here is what is after her name: <removed qualifications as it wasa pointed out it could be used to identify person in question>
Still though ... Genius and insanity are closely related...

I guess I can maybe understand why she was pi*sed off now with me calling her, but seriously, a simple explanation would have sufficed, instead of the way she acted. I was not on the offensive, just wanted some info. I'm shocked that anyone can be so unreasonable. Seriously...she was one of the most irrational people I've ever dealt with.

ResearchWill wrote: »

The OP got the number from his landlord, now I am assuming the following, OP feel free to correct me. OP contacted landlord with issue, landlord said ring X on X number they can look after you.

Well actually, I incorrectly assumed that it had nothing to do with the landlord and didn't even explain the situation -- I just asked for the numbers via text message. :P Lesson learned...

djimi

Paulw wrote: »

The OP was talking to a staff member of the management agent. The OP wasn't talking to anyone from the management company. The only member of the management company the OP should be dealing with is their landlord.

How issues with tenants are dealt with is always a complex issue. There are many things involved, including legal obligations, contracts, etc.

Ah okay; I didnt get that from the OP.

To be honest I have no problem ringing the management company about issues regarding the building/complex. If the gate isnt working for example Im not going to get in touch with my landlord who lives in California and get her to ring the mangement company two mintues down the road from me to get the gate fixed. Ive never had any issues with dealing with them in the past, and quite frankly I dont see why they would have any issue talking to me provided that I am being reasonable and its in relation to a matter that is affecting the building/complex (ie the things that they are hired to look after).

I have no time for this nonsense that some residents/management companies come out with regarding tenants. If an issue needs solving then what difference does it make if its a homeowner or me as a tenant that reports it? Too many people have a really pathetic attitude towards tenants in this country; we all live in the same complex and I dont see why the need to try and treat some people like second class citizens.

Procrastastudy

Just be a bit careful - the SC mean Senior Council and there's only around 300 of them in Ireland. With the rest of the qualifications (assuming they are genuine) the person could be fairly easily identified. You might not have defamed the person over the phone but you have here.

In the words of yes prime minster - leaving the thread unaltered would be somewhat "courageous".

Paulw

djimi wrote: »

I have no time for this nonsense that some residents/management companies come out with regarding tenants. If an issue needs solving then what difference does it make if its a homeowner or me as a tenant that reports it?

More likely, it is due to some landlords collecting rent but yet not paying their management fees. In our development, the units that are behind on their fees are all where the unit owner is not a resident and where the unit is rented out.

So, for situations like that, the management agent will refer the tenant to their landlord, and will tell the landlord that unless they pay their fees nothing further will be done. So, the tenant then blames the management company/management agent while it is the fault of their landlord.

From personal experience, I rented for 16 years and never had a problem with my landlords. When I bought, two units directly adjacent to mine are rented out. One had problems with the tenants (parties, noise, dirt), and after a number of complaints, the tenant was evicted. Their replacement tenants have been there now for 3 years and are brilliant tenants, good neighbours and now friends. The other unit beside me has now had 3 sets of trouble tenants, and each time, the unit owner has had to evict them and replace them with new tenants.

In general, and it is only a generalisation, a unit owner will be more responsible and take better care of the place. There are exceptions to everything, and there are bad unit owners and also brilliant tenants. So, it would be totally unfair to paint everyone with the same brush.

ResearchWill

rat_race wrote: »

I know. Here is what is after her name: XXX

Still though ... Genius and insanity are closely related...

I guess I can maybe understand why she was pi*sed off now with me calling her, but seriously, a simple explanation would have sufficed, instead of the way she acted. I was not on the offensive, just wanted some info. I'm shocked that anyone can be so unreasonable. Seriously...she was one of the most irrational person I've ever dealt with.



Well actually, I incorrectly assumed that it had nothing to do with the landlord and didn't even explain the situation -- I just asked for the numbers via text message. :P Lesson learned...

OP for your own sake remove the qualifications, the person is very easily to ID. Even reposting can be taken to be publication hence why I deleted it.

rat_race

ResearchWill wrote: »

OP for your own sake remove the qualifications, the person is very easily to ID. Even reposting can be taken to be publication hence why I deleted it.

Yeah, done. A simple string search via google could show her up. Oops.

djimi

Paulw wrote: »

More likely, it is due to some landlords collecting rent but yet not paying their management fees. In our development, the units that are behind on their fees are all where the unit owner is not a resident and where the unit is rented out.

So, for situations like that, the management agent will refer the tenant to their landlord, and will tell the landlord that unless they pay their fees nothing further will be done. So, the tenant then blames the management company/management agent while it is the fault of their landlord.

Thats a fair point, and one that I must admit I didnt think of mid-rant...

It is still a big gripe of mine when people use terms like "how dare they..." when referring to tenants and generally act like tenants are some kind of second class citizen or unwanted scum in the complex (a reaction that I have seen both on here and in life generally on too many occasions), or reactions like the OP got from this creature at the management company, when in my opinion it costs nothing to remain civil even if the tenant is not within their rights to be calling/speaking to whoever. I guess its a different story though when you are a homeowner in an apartment complex and see things from a different angle to tenants.

Paulw

djimi wrote: »

T

It is still a big gripe of mine .... reactions like the OP got from this creature at the management company, when in my opinion it costs nothing to remain civil even if the tenant is not within their rights to be calling/speaking to whoever.

The OP spoke to the management agent, not the management company. They are very different entities.

Yes, I do agree that the agent should, at the very least, have been civil, but we only have the OPs side of the discussion (not disputing the OP, but you never know).

djimi

Paulw wrote: »

The OP spoke to the management agent, not the management company. They are very different entities.

Yes, I do agree that the agent should, at the very least, have been civil, but we only have the OPs side of the discussion (not disputing the OP, but you never know).

Sorry, meant to say agent, not company!

bridgepeople

Paulw wrote: »

The OP spoke to the management agent, not the management company. They are very different entities.

Yes, I do agree that the agent should, at the very least, have been civil, but we only have the OPs side of the discussion (not disputing the OP, but you never know).

Are you sure the OP spoke to the agent? It would be extremely unusual for a senior council to moonlight as a managing agent on the side. It sounds to me like the landlord gave out a private number of one of the directors.

If I received a call out of the blue from a tenant like that, I'd be pretty annoyed too. Directors work on a voluntary basis and would not ordinarily take calls about matters such as this which should go through the landlord to the managing agent.

I could be reading the situation incorrectly, but that is what I think happened in which case the director's reaction is a lot more understandable.

rat_race

bridgepeople wrote: »

Are you sure the OP spoke to the agent? It would be extremely unusual for a senior council to moonlight as a managing agent on the side. It sounds to me like the landlord gave out a private number of one of the directors.

If I received a call out of the blue from a tenant like that, I'd be pretty annoyed too. Directors work on a voluntary basis and would not ordinarily take calls about matters such as this which should go through the landlord to the managing agent.

I could be reading the situation incorrectly, but that is what I think happened in which case the director's reaction is a lot more understandable.

I'm not mistaken, she's in the property area of things. And she didn't deny it when I asked. What a weapon she was though.

You know what though? As it turns out, it was an attempted theft of my bicycle. Found plenty of evidence after. They must have taken the cover as they had nothing else take.

Think I'm going to get out of this place, too much scum closeby. Except another "how do I break a lease without losing my deposit" post soon !!