I. How We Manage the Tenant
II. How We Manage the Property, and
III. How We Manage the Money.

I. How We Manage the Tenant

Our primary job - Enforcing the Terms of the Lease
It’s a full time job to get tenants to do what they have agreed to do in their lease. Whether it’s paying rent, keeping up the lawn, requesting maintaince, or renewing their lease, once they move in they want to do things their own way, not ours. Property management is a tough business and takes vigilance and determination.  Our primary job is enforcing the lease and getting tenants to follow the rules. If tenants did what they agreed to do, you would not need a property manager.

Collecting Rent
We offer our tenants several rent payment options including ACH accounts, E-check, credit card payment and scan personal checks. Rent is due on the 1st and late on the 2nd of the month. A Demand For Possession letter (the beginning of the eviction process) is sent on the 6th or 7th, filings with the county court house are done on the 9th to 11th, sheriffs serve papers on the tenant within 3 to 5 days, and court appearances take place between the 25th and the 30th. Every county is different: some are slower than others. We are dealing with county government, and speed is not their primary concern. Starting the eviction early, and pushing the process hard, is the key to getting tenants to face reality with the same sense of urgency that we do.  We will keep you informed throughout the process.

Collecting bounced checks
We have installed check scanners to reduce the problems of NSF checks. We scan all rent checks and the bank processes them very quickly. Some checks still come back, but our owners almost never know about it because the checks are processed so quickly.

Managing evictions
We have been to court hundreds of times over 25 years of managing houses. Don’t pay for someone else’s learning curves on evictions, it will cost you too much. We know the specific issues of each county and know how to accelerate the process. We will keep you in the loop during this process.

Managing safety issues
We are familiar with safety issues relating to smoke detectors, deadbolts, mold, lead based paint, house fires (we have had 10), break-ins, gun shots, you name it, we have learned over the years how to handle it. Crown has seen it all and knows how to handle every situation.

Training outside real estate agents in property management »

Handling move-out inspections and battles over security deposits
Georgia has strict laws that regulate how move-out inspections are done and how security deposits are to be returned to the tenant (or given to the owner). This is a huge battlefield and inexperienced managers spend a lot of time in front of judges learning how to do it right. Strict compliance with timelines and procedures, set out by the legislature, will keep us out of court.

Managing the tenant is a people challenge, an enforcement challenge, and a compliance challenge. It takes vigilant staff and constant adherence to the law, the lease and the rules of customer service. Few do it well. Crown does it exceptionally well.  

II. How We Manage the Property

Houses break no matter how well they are built. If you own a home, you know it is an ongoing process to keep everything in good working order. Appliance seals leak, window caulk cracks, a/c systems fail and garbage disposals burn out. The trick is in knowing when to tell the tenant to handle it, when to call a contractor, and when to leave it till the next time a handyman visits. Ignoring maintenance is never the answer.

Managing maintenance issues
Getting things done in Atlanta “for a discount price” is not realistic. Some managers have “in-house” maintenance departments. Crown does not. We maintain a corral of licensed and insured vendors that currently do over $30,000 a month of our work. We get a great response from them because we represent a large portion of their business.  We constantly oversee our contractors’ work for quality control, responsiveness, and price.  We replace contractors regularly when they fail to do a quality job for our clients. 

Handling Emergencies - 24-hour Hotline
We define emergencies as “life or property threatening problems.” We provide tenants with a 24-hour hotline and have staff responding 24/7. Most calls are not emergencies but we must respond to them as if they are. We have handled 10 house fires, a gun shot injury, tornado damage, floods from broken water pipes, break-ins, mold eradication, pit bull bites, trees falling on houses and cars, parents abandoning children, domestic disputes, and marijuana growers. We have more war stories than Colonel Oliver North. You don’t pay Crown more than you do other managers, but you get a lot more experience and that will save you money. 

How Crown is Different Than Other Property Managers »

Pre-Screening Vendors
There are lots of “pick-up-truck” vendors in Atlanta. Most are not licensed, bonded, or insured. We must use reliable vendors to enter a tenant occupied house due to the obvious liability issues. Pre-screening them is necessary to protect the tenant, Crown, and the owner. Contractors come and go. We terminate them if there are any issues regarding slow response time, over pricing, or poor workmanship. On the other hand, we maintain a loyal group of vendors who have been handling jobs for Crown for years. 

Managing Contractor Response Time
Tenants call us, not the maintenance man. We control every response so the contractor does not do more than what has been approved. Contractors are our eyes and ears in the field, and partner with us to keep watch on the property. If there is a problem, other than the one they were sent to solve, they alert us. Reliable vendors are a key ingredient to good management and they are hard to find.

Spending Limits
You will be notified any time maintenance is required on your property. On small repairs we do not wait for a response. The higher the cost, the more we need your input, unless it is an emergency.   
   
Managing Normal Maintenance Breakdowns vs. Rehab, Renovation, and Replacements
We are not general contractors. We are trained as property managers. Our management fees cover overseeing normal maintenance breakdowns without extra fees. When there are big jobs like new roofs, new siding, new HVAC units, or new septic tanks, we encourage the owner to oversee the job for obvious reasons. If you want help with large jobs, property managers are not the right people to rely on, as we are not trained in construction and mechanical issues. You need a general contractor, or a punch-out person, who will oversee materials selection and control quality of construction. We have good contractors available when you need them. 

Regular Property Visits
We will walk the property at least twice a year to see how it looks. You get a full photos and a list of issues to be addressed, if there are any.

Managing Utilities Between Tenants
Utility companies are the last to harness technology. There is no faxing, emailing or web site scheduling. It’s all done by phone and it takes hours. We will manage utilities between tenants at no extra cost to you. 

Scheduling Maintenance Choices
We have learned over the years that some owners think “proactively” when it comes to maintenance and some want a “repair-on-demand-only” management program. We want to give you options.

When you join Crown you will have an opportunity to select some “preventative maintenance” items that we will take care of automatically including: Fall and Spring Landscaping, Fireplace Inspections, Fall and Spring HVAC service, Termite Bond, Gutter Cleaning and Eviction Protection. You can choose none or all of them. You can change them at any time.

III. How We Manage the Money

State law governs how real estate brokers handle other people’s money. In Georgia the same trust account laws that govern closing attorneys also govern us. We must adhere to a strict set of money handling rules and we don’t have options.

Depositing Rent into our Trust Account
All monies we receive on your behalf are deposited into a trust account. Every property has its own trust account record.  We will report and disburse those monies to you monthly along with invoices from contractors, copies of property visits, contractor reports on your property, and newsletters from Crown. See our sample owner statement.

Disbursing to Owners
We can disburse to you by electronic funds transfer or check. We can email you the report but we always mail you a hard copy, with all the back up, for your permanent records. We keep our records for three years.

Meet with your accountant
We are not accountants but we teach real estate taxation and understand a lot about how owning real estate affects your tax return. We know how to maximize the tax benefits of your deductions and are available for consultation.

Year End Reporting/1099
Our year-end escrow account report is exactly what your accountant needs to prepare your tax return. The IRS makes us their watchdog for rent collected each year. We are required by federal law to send a 1099 on rents collected on your behalf.

We Represent You – Not the Tenant
We represent the owner of the property in all the interactions we handle while we are under contract with you. Whether we are dealing with Tenants, Credit Bureaus, Process Servers, Judges, Sheriffs, Utility Companies, Insurance Agents, Home Warranty Companies, Appraisers, State Fair Housing Authorities, or Homeowners Association Managers, we represent you.

Authorities We Answer to, and Trade Associations We Are Members of
We are members of many organizations that regulate our business and hold us to a high standard of behavior. Here are just a few: Georgia Real Estate Commission, Georgia Landlord Tenant Act, Multiple Listing Services, Better Business Bureau, National Association of Residential Property Managers, Boards Of Realtors, North Fulton Chamber of Commerce, Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, Georgia Association Of Realtors, Federal Lead Based Paint Laws, State Flood Disclosure Laws, Georgia Fair Housing Laws, Federal Discrimination Laws, Smoke Detector Laws and more. We are a highly regulated industry and have successfully navigated these mine fields for over 28 years.

The most important person we are here to impress is you. Losing owners is very discouraging so we will work very hard to keep you happy!  We know you have options and we know there are lots of competitors in Atlanta vying for your business. We understand customer service and will work hard to give you good service, while complying with regulatory requirements, and good judgment. We know how to manage your property, keep you informed, and stay in line with regulations at the same time.  We have done it successfully for over 25 years!

If you are ready, then proceed to:

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