Rawson Melkbos: dreadful rental mismanagement

<p>Dissatisfaction with Rawson Melkbos Rental management.</p> <p>We bought 3 properties from Rawson Melkbos and took possession in 2013, 2014 and 2015 respectively. We immediately gave them to Rawson to manage the letting as we are resident in Johannesburg. The properties were in pristine condition, as attested to by the initial ingoing inspections. We trusted that the properties would be managed efficiently and that short of normal wear and tear they would be returned to us in the same condition.</p> <p>However, my initial communication with the erstwhile letting agent regarding water / damp problems in the first property went unacted upon. A few months later however we were informed of problems which needed to be repaired, which we went ahead with. Since then we have had an endless list of 'urgent repairs' necessary, often to redo what was initially 'repaired'. This culminated in totally redoing the unit - blinds, burglar proofing, carpets, painting in the latter half of 2016 , on top of numerous 'repairs' done to the 'water problems' prior to this- only to have it found 'unrentable' by another agent in February 2017. Similarly my two other properties have also been mismanaged by Rawson Melkbos.</p> <p>It seems that the mismanagement of the properties incorporates employing substandard contractors, not ensuring that work done is of an acceptable and lasting quality, not doing interim inspections which could lead to maintenance and not total emergency 'repairs', not keeping a vigilant eye on the properties and tenants, and in one case advising us not to accept a tenant who was then subsequently given a lease for the property.</p> <p>Rawson Melkbos refuses to acknowledge that there was any mismanagement, stating that all 3 properties were returned to us in a better condition than when we bought them from the same agency. This despite the fact that all 3 units have had to have extensive repairs done in order to make them rentable - by another agent, never again from Rawson Melkbos.</p>