Hiring a professional property manager

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There is a rash of companies online offering to manage your mobile home park for you. Don’t be dazzled by an impressive website. Many of these don’t hold a single real estate license in any state.

Almost every state requires a professonal property manager (paid a fee for their services) to have a real estate license in the state where the mobile home park is located. There is no universal license that covers them all. The management company must have a brokers license, and their managers must have at least a sales associate license hung under that broker’s license, in your state.

These management companies usually set up an LLC for your park, and open a checking account under that LLC to deposit rent into and pay expenses from, all managed strictly by themselves. Do an occasional audit on those checking accounts, as many managers write checks out to themselves for more than their agreed upon fee.

There are only a few states that don’t require a real estate license for property managers, but most do. Management companies provide a service that suits many park owners lifestyles but be a smart investor. Check them out to see if they are properly licensed in the state where your park is located and keep a close eye on the bank account. Don’t rely on the report that your property manager prepares himself. Check the actual bank account.

There are built-in safeguards by using properly licensed property managers. If any misconduct happens, you have your state’s real estate licensing board to turn to for a resolution.

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Can you please provide us with the names of the companies you believe conduct shady practices?

If you choose to not bring these companies into the light, they will never change, and more owners will suffer the consequences.

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Eric,

Email me at crazzysharon@msn.com

Thanks,

Sharon

You can check real estate licenses online for free in almost every state. Many search engines make you select a category, such as Real Estate Broker or Real Estate Sales Associate. Check them all, it only takes a minute. You will need the person’s name, not just the realty company or property management companies’ names, as licenses are issued to individuals, not companies.

You will need the person’s legal name. If someone goes by Elle Smith and there is no license on record, try the formal version of that name, such as Eleanor Smith.

IF someone has only a Sales Associate license, it must be hung under a current Broker’s license, so you need to check both. Be certain the licenses are current and in good standing. Each person working as a professional property manager must be licensed. Just because a Broker has a license, it does not mean his minions can be property managers unless they are licensed too.

Some states have a reciprocity agreement with other states, where someone can carry a license in one state but practice real estate in another. Check online to see if the state where your mobile home park is located has this kind of agreement with another state.

Keep in mind that if unlicensed companies and individuals advertising property management services on the Internet contact you online or by phone, it is not just unlicensed activity, they are also committing wire fraud. Unlicensed activity is prosecuted at the state level. Wire fraud can result in federal charges.

To review:

1.) Check to see if your state requires a professional property manager to carry a real estate license (most do).

2.) Get the broker’s legal name, and the name of the property manager who will oversee your property, and check your state’s “Verify A License” site online.

3.) If they are not licensed, check online to see if your state has a reciprocity agreement with other states, then check those states’ license databases.

This is something that has to be policed by property owners. No one else routinely checks for unlicensed activity, which is why there is so much of it going on.