Open Letter to Our Clients

Dear Rental Property Owner:

I want to be direct with you.

Our staff at The Garcia Group all work hard at their job to service your rental properties. They navigate the never-ending obstacles and challenges of tenant drama, maintenance issues, reported (and un-reported) complaints and violations, all while attempting to improve and protect your investment.

As City, County and State regulations each add their own additional layers of filters and adjustments to the responses we can adopt for the situations that arise, we often must pivot and assess which remedies may even be available or allowed.  Sometimes the problem at hand has no clear-cut resolution.

The range of more nuanced issues our staff regularly encounters covers a wide spectrum, including: tenant screening and advertising restrictions, rental rates and increase caps, habitability requirements, deposit returns, legal protections from late or non-payment of rent, service-animal rights, Fair Housing behavior, landlord retaliatory actions, relocation assistance, or what standard of proof may be necessary to prevail in a For Cause termination. This is just to name a few.

Sometimes it’s an emergency. A sink hole in the yard. A beehive in the living room chimney. An oak tree fallen onto the house. (TRUE STORY: One of our clients who owns 3 properties in NE Portland – that we’ve managed for over 15 years – has actually had these 3 incidents happen – one on each of her properties!)

In short, we daily confront conditions that are often surprising and not always in our control.

I have told many potential clients over the years that, as a professional management company, we cannot with certainty prevent problems from occurring. But when they happen – as they do – we are there, and we certainly can present the best available options for our clients to consider. That way, they can make an informed decision as we develop the best plan to move forward.

At The Garcia Group, I am very proud of our company’s success, and how our staff accomplishes this in their daily interactions with: owners and tenants, roommates and parents, vendors and suppliers, repair technicians, contractors, rent assistance providers and Community Action agencies, utility companies, insurance agents, meddling neighbors, homeowner associations, lawyers, on-line support services and Helpdesks, billing departments, building inspectors, State Regulators, County Inspectors and City bureau employees, along with all of the other entities and individuals with whom we are in constant contact, hour by hour, day-to-day, month-in and month-out, just to get our job done and be home in time for dinner.

Prospective Clients often ask, “What does it cost to hire a professional management company?” We could answer that “it more than pays for itself”. But the truer reality is that the ROI for professional property management may be one of the highest percentages available for any monthly service or similar budget item you pay for, on anything.

And, if you care to, you most certainly may feel free to ask me for the details.

Ron Garcia,  Principal Broker