Over-riding property manager's tenant selection

Our Experts Answer:

Under your management agreement you have probably appointed your agent with the authority to select tenants. However, your property manager is, in the final analysis, your agent, and must act in accordance with your best interests. If you have good reasons to decline a tenancy application, then it is most likely within your rights to instruct your agent accordingly. If you gave the final say to the agent, you can take it away.

This is not an easy question, especially where the agent is in the dark about your reasons for not wanting the specific applicant to be granted a tenancy. It makes their task of finding a tenant difficult. I suggest you explain to the agent why you don’t want to accept that tenant. You already have a fixed-term tenancy in place. In normal circumstances the existing tenancy continues until a suitable replacement is found. You need to instruct the property manager that you want to have the final decision about any applicant. The agent should then follow your instructions.