Just wondering what most people have as their termination period on their Managing Agency Agreement. I am just taking over from an Agency that has 120 days - wow that is a lot to be with an agency you are not happy with…
Termination Notice of a MAA
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We have a 3 month notice period although we rarely use it - tend work on the basis that notice is appreciated, but not a requirement.
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We have a 60 day notice period prior to the end of lease. If it is actioned earlier a 50% penalty fee is charged. This is to avoid owners from taking the great tenants that we put in their property and managing it themselves. If an owner isn’t happy and we cannot resolve the matter, the penalty fee is not something that we will hold them to. Same with the 60 day notice. Usually, if they are not happy, it is because we are not happy (the owner who won’t do maintenance for instance) and as a result we are open to reducing that time frame to allow us enough time to get everything together and farewell them.
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Late to the party (because I’ve been MIA flat out!) we have a one month notice period in our MA
However, we can (& do if owner is not compliant/difficult terminate on 7 days)
If the relationship is severely broken, we just end it as quick as reasonably possible for all parties - very amicably, but very quickly!
We don’t lock anyone into contracts, if they’re not happy then we don’t want them having to stay for the sake of a contract, it doesn’t serve anyone well. We’ve never had a problem with owners terminating, our preventable losses are extremely low as we put a LOT of effort and time into our service standards (thanks LPMA BBP Programme) therefore, we don’t feel the need to lock people in.
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We don’t have any lock in contracts for owner as we believe in our service. If I was an unhappy owner the last thing I would want would be to stuck in a fixed contract. Our preventable losses are very low as be make sure we maintain relationships with our landlords as commutation is key.
The transfer back to the owner or another company is important as the tenant needs to have enough time to beware of the change. We have many tenants on a benefit and sometimes it can take awhile for rent payments to be transferred.
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wow that is a lot! we have 30 but should probably consider 60!
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And that is a lot to be with an owner that does not like you 
I am happy with the 30 days - lets you clear up any outstanding bills and handover nicely.
I also am now including an offboarding fee to cover the costs of collating everything and handing it over professionally - and certainly covers approx another month of mgt fees
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Hey louise - I love the idea of an off boarding fee! Can you tell me more about how you charge? Assuming it’s in your MA? Am thinking I would charge for this frustrating ones we are finding “self manage” 5 weeks after we place a great tenant and have done all the hard work!
We’ve seen this more lately as we don’t do sundry/find only lettings…
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Im also keen to know about the off boarding fee. We have 30 day notice period and happy with that. If they are not happy the sooner the better. Im guessing the off boarding fee could be the cost of the management fees for the notice periods.
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The offboarding fee is a great idea. Not only is it a good cost-recovery initiative for me it would be piece of mind as a landlord that I am dealing with a professional who is going to take the time at the end to ensure everything is in order and not just hand me a stack of folders
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