What to do if your relationship with your managing agent breaks down

The FPRA’s chief executive officer, John Peartree, considers what actions should be taken if your managing agent is underperforming.

First, be sure that you really do want to fire your agent. Are they really guilty of serious misdemeanours or are you simply taking for granted their strong points and focusing on possibly lesser important areas of weakness? If you are unhappy with aspects of your agent’s performance then tell them! Tell them firmly, tell them what standards they must achieve to overcome the weaknesses and set a deadline for the improvements. Confirm all this in writing. If the standards are not met then seriously consider firing them.

There can be a number of reasons why residents may fall out with their managing agent. These can include:

* Poor handling of finances (eg budgeting, poor credit control, poor cash flow management, inadequate accounting and reporting procedures);
* Not paying suppliers bills and endangering the standards of the building;
* Poor administration of the building (eg inadequate and slow repairs and maintenance, poor staff performance, inadequate attention to insurance matters and the terms of maintenance contracts);
* Poor communication.
* It may be that the terms of the contract require you give them a period of notice – six months is not unusual. In this case it might be advisable to give notice of dismissal with the request for improvement to be achieved by the end of three months when the notice can then be withdrawn. If the improvement is not forthcoming then you are already half way through the notice period.
* The most important point of all is that once a committee has decided that the required improvements are not forthcoming then they have a duty of care to change agents. All too often human nature results in committees hanging on hoping that the agent will improve as they really dislike the thought of dismissing them. This is not responsible committee work. If an agent is not performing, has had the poor aspects of their performance drawn to their attention, been fairly warned and not adequately improved – then fire them.

The Federation of Private Residents Associations Ltd, 59 Mile End Road, Colchester Essex CO4 5BU. Tel: 0871 200 3324 (normal national rates apply). Fax: 01206 851616, Email: info@fpra.org.uk, Website: www.fpra.org.uk