Property Management: Providing Copies of Leases to Owners
Q: I am a vacation rental property manager. My standard property management agreement let’s me enter into pre-printed leases on the owner’s behalf, and I retain copies of them, giving the owner an accounting that sets forth the property address, tenant’s names, rental rates and rents collected. I have to give the owner a copy of any lease upon the owner’s reasonable request. Well, one of my owners has asked me to give her copies of all the leases I’ve entered into for this summer, even though I’ve already given her the accounting. Since these are mostly weekly rentals, it’s going to take me some time to gather and copy all of these leases, plus there’s the cost of the actual copies and the postage. Can I at least send the owner a bill to cover my costs for copying and delivering these leases?
A: No. Pursuant to NCREC Rule A.0106, a licensee is obligated to provide these leases upon the owner’s reasonable request. Therefore, anticipated costs should be considered by the agent in determining the management fee, and the agent should not impose any separate administrative, copying or postage charges.
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