Real Estate/Rental Property Question

[elliput]

I am in need of some advice regarding a house I own. I bought this house 8 years ago and lived in it for only 10 months before DH and I moved to another state. The first listing agency we had went out of business several years after we moved and two years ago we listed the house with a different agency. The listing agreement was for 6 months and has since expired. The agency has never renewed it, but the realtor has supposedly been acting as a rental agent for me, however not a very pro-active one. The realtor has never had us sign an agreement for them to act as our rental agent, and is extremely difficult to work with.

Currently I have a renter in the property that the realtor has placed there, but I found out on Monday that my renter has also never signed a rental agreement with the realtor. The renter tracked down my contact information, as she has been having problems dealing with the realtor.

Since both my renter and I have had problems dealing with this realtor and neither of us have a current valid contract with the agency, can we completely by-pass them and enter into a rental agreement between ourselves?

This renter absolutely loves the property and does not want to move. I need to have someone in the house to at least provide maintenance, as the house has some plumbing issues (luckily this renter is willing to deal with these issues).

Any advice it greatly appreciated!

TIA

[emilyf]

Is your realtor acting as a property manager also? This situation does not sound like how things work here. In MD, I work on behalf of the owner to find a tenant. Once the tenant is found, a lease is drawn up (by me-the realtor) between the owner and the tenant. I get paid for finding the tenant, but from then on all the communication regarding the property is between owner and tenant. Some realtors also work as property managers-they get paid a percentage of the lease to take care of maintenance, repairs and any dealings with the tenant. Since you don't have anything in writing from anyone, I would suggest you draw up a lease with your renter and either handle the property yourself, or hire another property manager. I don't think you owe anything to your current agent (other than maybe a courtesy call that you won't be needing their services anymore).
Emily \r\nmom of Charlie born 11/02

[elliput]

I thought the agreement was that the realtor was working as the property manager (which is what I meant by rental agent).

I appreciate your advice, Emily!