Bay Area landlords hope for better relationships with tenants amid surge in demand

TAMPA, Florida. – As more people move to the Sunshine State, rent prices have increased significantly, but the high demand for rental apartments has further strained landlord-tenant relationships.

Last week, FOX 13 reported on the growing number of corporate investors renting out Tampa properties and the problems that come with it. But it turns out that even for individual property owners, the relationship seems complicated.

“In this industry, whether it’s corporations, individual landlords or property managers, there are good and bad things about every industry,” said Matt Fonk, a Tampa real estate owner.

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Fonk managed more than 500 properties, a portfolio valued at nearly $40 million. He said that as demand for rentals here grew, tenant-landlord relationships became strained.

“I think a lot of times the tenant comes in, signs the lease, really pushes, the signature is on the bottom and that’s it. There’s no education, there’s no orientation. You know, they don’t explain to them in detail how the house needs to be maintained, like the air conditioning filters, changing them once a month or some of the things that need to be turned off. If you see that, let us know. The toilet is working, call us. But they probably don’t do that much,” Fonk said.

FOX 13 landlords detailed mold, air conditioning and other maintenance issues at private properties, saying they are not well managed.

Fonk plans to organize seminars that will serve to educate and improve these relationships.

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“I like educating landlords. I want to help them do better, educate their tenants. So we’re working on a class that will help them do a lot better with what they can do in property management,” Fonk said. “The landlords can become better landlords and they can have a relationship that has value, and it’s a long-term relationship.”

He said it all starts with communication and advised logging tenant complaints that have not been resolved via email or text message.

Last week, FOX 13 reported that corporate investors now own more than 100,000 single-family homes in Florida, and renters are also having problems with those companies.

“I think they’re too big — and the problem is they’re too big to fail, right? Someone’s always going to save something,” Fonk said. “At the end of the day, I don’t think education is failing. There’s not enough oversight from a management perspective.”

The largest corporate landlord in the Tampa Bay area, Invitation Homes, sent FOX 13 a statement saying in part:

“Invitation Homes is proud to offer desirable housing options to a growing number of people… throughout a resident’s tenancy, we routinely maintain our homes to a high standard and actively communicate with residents about the condition of their home.”

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