The repair bills are yours. A management company orders work as your agent and pays vendors from your money, so changing companies does not move the cost anywhere. What changes is who pays which invoice from which pot, who supervises work still in progress, and who makes sure you do not pay the same bill twice.
The clean version runs like this: the old company settles invoices it has received from your reserve or the rent it holds, lists them on the final statement, and hands over the open work orders and warranties. The new manager inspects anything unfinished before it is paid. The guide to deposits, unpaid rent and repair bills in a switch covers the other money questions. This article is about the repairs.
Three kinds of outstanding repair, handled three ways
Sort the open items before anyone pays anything. Each type has a different right answer.
- Invoiced, not yet paid. Work is done and the vendor has billed. The old company pays it from your reserve or rent on hand before the final statement, and the invoice appears as a line you can match to the work order. If your funds with the old company are short, the invoice comes to you with the final statement for payment.
- Done, not yet invoiced. The vendor finished but has not billed. The old company should tell the vendor where to send the invoice, which is usually you or the new manager, and should give you the work order so you can confirm the scope and price when the bill arrives.
- In progress or scheduled: work ordered but not finished. The old company either completes it under its supervision before termination, or hands the job to the new manager with the estimate and the vendor contact. Nothing in this group should be paid until someone has inspected the result.
Ask the old company to list every open item under one of those three headings, with the vendor, the approved amount and the status. That list is the whole handover for maintenance.
What to request from the old company
The final statement will show payments, but it will not show you whether the work was worth paying for. Request the file behind the numbers.
- Every open work order with the tenant's original request, the approval you gave, the vendor and the estimate.
- Copies of invoices paid in the last few months, so the new manager can see pricing and spot a bill that arrives twice.
- Warranties on recent work and on equipment installed: HVAC, water heater, roof repairs, appliances. These belong to you and should move with the house.
- The vendor list for the house, with contacts, even if you intend to use the new manager's vendors. The plumber who has been under the house three times knows things a new one will have to learn.
- The reserve balance and a reconciliation of what it was spent on.
The guide to seeing original invoices and photos of finished work explains what a complete repair record looks like, which is the standard to hold the old company to.
Who supervises work that is still in progress
A half-finished repair is the riskiest item in the handover, because the vendor was hired by a company that no longer has a reason to check its work. The new manager should take it over the day it starts, which means getting the estimate, calling the vendor, confirming the scope and setting a completion date.
Say the old company approved a fence replacement, the vendor has taken a deposit and set the posts, and your termination takes effect next week. The sensible handover is: the old company confirms what has been paid and what remains, the new manager inspects the posts, speaks with the vendor and either continues under the original estimate or renegotiates the remainder. Paying the balance before that inspection is how owners end up paying twice for a fence that leans.
Do not let a repair stall because the two companies are untangling paperwork. A tenant with a broken air conditioner in July does not care which company's name is on the work order. The new manager should treat the open items as its own from the start date, and sort the money afterward.
Avoiding double payment and checking the final bills
Two things go wrong with money at this stage, and both are avoidable with the file in hand.
The first is double payment. A vendor bills the old company, which pays it from your reserve, and then bills you again when it learns there is a new manager. Match every invoice that reaches you against the old company's final statement before paying. The new manager will do this if it has the statement.
The second is a surprise on the last invoice. Some companies add a coordination fee or a markup to vendor bills, and the final statement is where that shows up for the last time. Check each repair line against the agreement you signed. A markup the agreement allows is a cost of the service you chose; one it does not allow is a question to raise in writing. The guide to how a good manager handles vendors and estimates describes the invoice standard you should expect from the new company going forward.
Warranties, vendors and the reserve going forward
Warranties on work and equipment belong to the house, not the management company, so they transfer to you and then to the new manager's file. If the old company was the named contact on a warranty, ask for the paperwork and have the vendor update the contact to the new manager, because a warranty nobody can find is a repair you pay for twice.
Vendors are a different matter. The new manager will usually bring its own vetted vendors with insurance on file and known pricing, and that is part of what you are paying for. A vendor who knows the house can be worth keeping, and most managers will consider adding one if the vendor meets their insurance requirements. Ask rather than assume.
The reserve the old company held comes back to you with the final statement, and the new manager will ask for its own reserve under the new agreement. The two do not net against each other automatically, so expect a short period where one is on its way back and the other is being set up. If you want to know how we handle open repairs on a takeover, ask us and we will walk through your list before you sign.
How Perpetual handles this
Perpetual Property Management starts every takeover with a maintenance handover: a written request to the old company for open work orders, recent invoices, warranties and the reserve reconciliation, and a documented inspection of the house with photos so that unfinished work is seen before it is paid for. Anything in progress becomes ours on the start date. We contact the vendor, confirm the scope and either complete the job under the original estimate or re-quote it through our vetted maintenance vendors.
Invoices that reach you after the switch are matched against the old company's final statement before anything is paid, and from then on you see every repair, invoice and photo in the owner portal and on your monthly statement. I am a Texas broker, we are local to Keller, North Richland Hills and Fort Worth, and every fee, including how repairs are billed, is in your written quote before you sign.
The takeaway: The bills are yours, so get the open items listed under invoiced, done-not-billed and in-progress, have the new manager inspect before anything unfinished is paid, and match every invoice to the final statement so nothing is paid twice.
Questions owners ask
Can the old property manager pay repair bills from my reserve after I give notice?
Yes, for work it ordered under the agreement before termination and for invoices received during the notice period, as long as the final statement itemizes each one. Most agreements allow the company to settle outstanding vendor bills from funds it holds before returning the balance. What it should not do is order new non-emergency work after receiving your notice without your approval.
What if a vendor bills me directly for work the old manager ordered?
Ask the vendor for the work order and compare it with the old company's final statement to confirm it has not already been paid. If the work was approved and completed, the bill is yours to pay, because the manager ordered it on your behalf. If you never approved it and it exceeds your approval limit, raise it with the old company in writing before paying.
Does the new manager have to use the vendors the old company used?
No. The new manager brings its own vendors, with insurance and pricing on file, and will typically assess any existing vendor against the same standard. A vendor familiar with the house can be worth keeping, especially for systems like the foundation or plumbing, and many managers will add one if it meets their requirements. Warranties on past work stay with the house regardless of who did it.
Who inspects a repair that was finished right before the switch?
The new manager should, as part of the takeover inspection, and before any related invoice is paid if that is still open. If the work turns out to be poor, the warranty from the vendor is the first recourse, and the old company's work order shows what was promised. Keep the photos from the inspection with the invoice so there is a record either way.
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