Managing Conflicts and Disputes in Property Industry

This article discusses the common property disputes and conflicts that arise in the rental property industry. It includes two case studies and expert opinions on how to handle such situations. The subject is property management and the content is relevant to anyone studying or working in the property industry.

Running Head: MANAGING CONFLICTS AND DISPUTES IN PROPERTY INDUSTRY
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Managing conflicts and disputes in property industry

MANAGING CONFLICTS AND DISPUTES IN PROPERTY INDUSTRY
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Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Case Study 1...............................................................................................................................2
Answer to the case study 1.....................................................................................................2
What he is doing?...............................................................................................................2
What he should do?.............................................................................................................2
Case Study 2...............................................................................................................................3
Answer to the Case Study 2....................................................................................................4
How to handle?...................................................................................................................4
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................5
Bibliography...............................................................................................................................5

MANAGING CONFLICTS AND DISPUTES IN PROPERTY INDUSTRY
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Introduction
Property disputes are common in case of tenants living on rental basis. Disputes may vary
according to type of ownership whether be a tenancy in common or joint. Below are some of
the case studies discussed in relevance to the property disputes and certain conflicts that
might arise in case of rental property (Alavi, 2017).
Case Study 1
Fred is the manager of an agency and a few of his tenants still like to come in and pay their
rent in cash. Because there aren’t many, he tells the receptionist to leave the cash in the
bottom draw until there is enough to bank.
Discuss what he is doing and what he should do.
Answer to the case study 1
What he is doing?
As per the case, Fred who is the manager of the agency instructs his receptionist to keep the
cash in the bottom drawer until he reaches a limit of a particular amount in total. There are lot
of tenants who like to pay their rent via cash. This in turn will save the time of Fred as he
would not be required to deposit money every now and then. Once he collects a particular
lump sum amount from all the cash paying tenants he can deposit it all together. For example
he has set up a certain limit of $500 from each and every tenant. The number of tenants is 60.
After acquiring the lump sum $300000 he can deposit the same in the bank account. Also it
helps in recovering the cost of operating expenses quickly.

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What he should do?
In line with the case as mentioned above he should not opt the existing method of the keeping
the cash in the bottom drawer due to lot of factors.
 There is a huge risk of the occurrence of the theft either by receptionist or by tenants
or by both. To avoid such kind of risk he shall keep the cash at some safe place.
 It becomes time consuming to check balance every time, as Fred would require
counting the entire bundle of notes every now and then. Also he needs to maintain a
cash book to record each transaction.
 Maintenance of cash vouchers to keep a track of the same can be hassle at times and
cumbersome in nature (Martin, Hulse and Pawson 2018).
 At times the tenants and receptionist may embezzle the cash easily. For example the
cash received from one tenant, the receptionist would enter the transaction in name of
the other tenant.
Therefore, Fred shall form certain schemes which can resolve this equation.
 Fred shall form strategic alliances with the bank where bank can send the respective
person to collect cash at the end of every month (Gurran and Bramley, 2017).
 He can deposit the cash in drop box machine weekly.
 Instead of receiving rent as cash in hand, he can convince the tenants to deposit the
same through the help of other co-tenants.
 He can also convince the tenants to deposit directly into his bank account and can
reimburse their expenses or can adjust from rent. This way it will save his time and at
a broader level the money will be safe in relation to the cost incurred (Hickman,
Kemp, Reeve and Wilson 2017).

MANAGING CONFLICTS AND DISPUTES IN PROPERTY INDUSTRY
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Case Study 2
Joanne has a busy job in the city and loves her inner city apartment. But when the rent was
put up, she decided to insist that some repairs were carried out on the property. Replacement
of worn curtains that are over 20 years old was one request. The landlord refuses. As the
managing agent, you have to act in the best interests of your landlord, but you agree that
Joanne has a case and that the curtains should be replaced. Joanne is determined to go ahead
with her demands and a conflict is likely. How would you handle the situation?
Answer to the Case Study 2
Joanne as a tenant residing in the apartment raised her request with regard to the replacement
of the worn curtains which were over 20 years old. The landlord of the apartment shoots up
the price of the rent but disagreed to replace the curtains. Joanne insisted that some repairs
were carried out and she was firm to go with her demands which can create a sense of
conflict between two. Though it’s the responsibility of the landlord to maintain the exterior
and interior of the house as per the law and ensuring the maintenance and safety but in order
to avoid any kind of hassle and conflict some steps can be taken (Brown, Portman and
Rosenquest 2017).
How to handle?
While acting as the managing agent and to avoid the conflict which is likely, the situation can
be handled in following ways.
 The landlord if wants to shoot up the price he shall use that amount to adjust for the
repairs and replacement (Flomenhoft, 2017).

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 The curtains are already twenty years old whose maintenance cost will be more rather
than its original cost. As an asset gets depreciated after its use. Therefore, it’s better to
get the curtains changed via mutual agreements to bear the cost.
 The landlord and Joanne can bear the expenses of replacement in a mutually agreed
ratio. This could subsidise the cost to Joanne. Further the landlord also is not required
to pay the entire liability (Morris, 2018).
 The landlord can give a relaxation to Joanne to make the payment of the replacement
expenses not in one go rather in lump sum after few months. She can collect the funds
by the time and would not have to bear the cost immediately (Newell, 2018).
 Instead of curtains the landlord can put up the blinds which are not only cost effective
but are also available easily. This will also save the high maintenance cost to bear for
the curtains.
Conclusion
This way the tenant would be satisfied, the conflicts can be avoided and there will be
less risk of the tenants leaving the apartment which will ultimately relate to loss of
major income. It can be concluded that it’s the responsibility of both the tenant as well
as the landlord.

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Bibliography
Alavi, H. (2017) Resolving Intellectual Property Disputes. LeXonomica, 8(1), pp.65-76.
Brown, D., Portman, J., and Rosenquest, N. (2017) The California Landlord's Law Book:
Rights & Responsibilities. California: Nolo.
Flomenhoft, G. (2017) Total Economic Rents of Australia as a Source for Basic Income.
In Financing Basic Income (pp. 77-100). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Gurran, N., and Bramley, G. (2017) Housing, Property Politics and Planning in Australia.
In Urban Planning and the Housing Market (pp. 259-290). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Hickman, P., Kemp, P.A., Reeve, K., and Wilson, I. (2017) The impact of the direct payment
of housing benefit: evidence from Great Britain. Housing Studies, 32(8), pp.1105-1126.
Martin, C., Hulse, K., and Pawson, H. (2018) The changing institutions of private rental
housing: an international review. [online] Available from:
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Papers.cfm?abstract_id=3108291 [Accessed on 13 April 2018]
Morris, K. (2018) The Residualisation of Social Housing in Australia and Its Impacts on
Older Tenants. In Social Capital and Enterprise in the Modern State (pp. 45-59). London:
Palgrave Macmillan.
Newell, C. (2018) Landlord disputes extent of costs and expenses incurred by property
manager. REIQ Journal, (Feb 2018), p.42. [online] Available from:
https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=450538003058738;res=IELAPA
[Accessed on 13 April 2018]