At Portola Property Management, our talented team of staff members work with owners, tenants, and bizarre situations every day. We spend a lot of time telling landlords who might work with us what we can do to manage your property better and provide an improved rental experience for all parties.
But, we don’t want to tell you in the traditional ways. We want our staff members to share their stories.
This is the first from the Field series, and we hope you’ll enjoy hearing directly from our Santa Cruz property managers. Diane’s story is an extreme example of what we do for our customers on a daily basis, but it also shows how thorough we are when it comes to managing your home.
Diane and her Experience with Birds
Hi, I’m Diane, and I’ve been managing rental properties for at least 23 years. Today, I want to tell you about what happened when I took over the management of a property for an owner I had met a couple of years earlier. The owner had already placed a tenant, and now we were hired to take over the ongoing property management.
First, I did what we always do when we take over the management of a rental property – I introduced myself to the tenants and scheduled a walk-through so I could see the property and get to know the residents. It was a nice home and well-maintained.
Except, the tenants didn’t want me going into one of the bedrooms.
When the tenants finally allowed me inside of this secretive room, I quickly found out why they had tried to prevent it. There were birds – lots of birds. These birds had taken over the room. They were flying all over the place and leaving a gigantic mess.
The tenant also asked me to take care of fixing the vents in that room, which had been chewed on and pecked at. The vents weren’t the only damage; there was bird poop all over the wall and all over the floor. It was a complete mess.
Removing Tenants from the Property
It didn’t take long for me to let those tenants go. I asked them to keep the birds in cages, and they refused. So, they had to be removed from the property.
After the tenants had finally vacated the home, we had to send several teams of professionals inside to thoroughly clean and repair the property. A huge mess had been left behind and in addition to that, the tenants had also neglected to remove their belongings. They even left two dogs behind as well as some of their birds. Animal control was called in to remove the birds and dogs.
This story is just one example of how good tenant screening and regular property inspections are crucial.
Please let me know if you are interested in using our property management company. We really help our owners whenever we can. Contact us at Portola Property Management for more information.
