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Licensed Property Manager
updated: Oct 24, 2012, 10:10 AM

By Edhat Subscriber

What is the Law in regards to being a Licensed Property Manager ? The owners of my building are an elderly couple, and have their son acting as the Property Manager. Does he need to be Licensed ?

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 335091	2012-10-24 10:14 AM
No, he doesn't. This is a common scenario.
PAMSB	2012-10-24 10:18 AM
If he is acting on behalf of his parents and not being compensated for his services as an agent, he does not have to be licensed. Business and Professions Code 10131 et seq.
COMMENT 335098	2012-10-24 10:19 AM
Yup family, without normal "pay" he's not required to have anything
COMMENT 335115P	2012-10-24 10:37 AM
Why should he be licensed? He's helping out his mom and dad and hopefully managing and preserving an asset that will likely be his and any sibblings he has when his parents pass. It would be stupid to pay a property manager if he is capible of handling things on his own. Most property manangement agancies are a rip off. They charge too much rent, which leads to disgruntled tenants, which leads to tenants leaving, which leads to a vacancy, which leads to the cost of repainting, etc, and all the while the management company collects $ while the owner of the property just gets nickled and dimed to death. That being said, with the landlord tenant laws the way they are in California I wouldn't reccomend anyone manage a rental property until they have an understanding of the pertinent laws the ability to have all rental contracts and rental requirements spelled out, signed and followed to the letter of the law. Sounds difficult, but it really isn't if you have a brain and can stand up to tenants who might want to intimidate or take advantage.
COMMENT 335132	2012-10-24 10:59 AM
Technically, anyone who engages in renting a property, including listing the property or negotiating rent, etc., is considered to be engaging in real estate activity and needs to be licensed as a real estate broker. There are certain exceptions where an agent operating on behalf of the owner/broker is not required to be licensed. But the owner, if engaged in property management on their own, should be a licensed broker. I'd say more often than not, owner-managers aren't licensed brokers. So if the parents aren't licensed, then someone needs to be. That's why, generally speaking, a lot of properties are managed by companies with a licensed broker, so the property owner does not have to obtain and maintain a license (and wade through all the laws in California that are heavily weighted toward the tenant).
COMMENT 335134	2012-10-24 11:02 AM
Based on the CA web info provided below, a relative acting for the building owners does not have to be licensed unless he is being directly compensated for those activities....... Must a California property management company have a real estate broker's license? YES. Key components of property management are considered a real estate activity under existing California real estate licensing laws. A broker's license is required for any person or company that, for compensation, leases or rents or offers to lease or rent, or places for rent, or solicits listings of places for rent, or solicits for prospective tenants, or negotiates the sale, purchase or exchanges of leases on real property, or collects rents from real property, or improvements thereon. A salesperson working under a broker may engage in such activities.
COMMENT 335145	2012-10-24 11:19 AM
I wonder why the OP is asking the question?
COMMENT 335152P	2012-10-24 11:25 AM
@145 - I suspect it's because he/she wants to sue the elderly landlords and is putting their case together.
COMMENT 335157	2012-10-24 11:40 AM
132 and 134 He is acting as an agent of his parents, the property owners. If he was representing other property owners as a property manager for pay, he would have to be licensed. From my RE Class Text book (could be out of date) Exemptions from needing a License: A person who deals only with his/her own property Anyone holding a duly executed power of attorney from the owners of the property. In this case, if his parents have given him POA he needs no license.
COMMENT 335319	2012-10-24 04:06 PM
152P, maybe he is just disappointed in the level of professionalism, and wonders if the son is trained adequately. He wants his housing to be up to standards the pertinent rental laws uphold. Why assume the worst?
FLICKA	2012-10-25 07:02 AM
Can't believe it's a problem for owners to rent their own property, or have a relative do it, and be questioned about a liscense. What the heck is this world coming to?
FANGIRL	2012-10-25 09:12 AM
I agree with Flicka. Much ado about nothing!
COMMENT 335524P	2012-10-25 10:35 AM
I agree, why is OP asking this question? Sounds like a person looking for an excuse to complain about something but hoping to find a technicality to allow him or her to do so. If there is a meritorious complaint please share it with us.
COMMENT 335578P	2012-10-25 01:49 PM
132, In NO sense, technical or otherwise, has the owner of property EVER been required to have any kind of license in order to manage their own property. I have been an active licensed California Real Estate Broker since 1978, and your information is incorrect.

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