Dealing with agents, share your experience.

frankanderson wrote:

So I recently handed back 2x Condo units at Cordova Tower, Marquinton Residences in Marikina. After my move and so far, both has turned out to be a bloody nightmare.

First Unit - I rented this unit for 3 years, they claim we drilled too many holes, left some wall paper on 1 side of the LR wall and the whole unit require repainting. They also claimed they painted it for us prior to moving in (Untrue, the color was Grey. Who the F... paints their house grey? Im running a mortuary here? We didn't paint this unit as we saw the unit one day and moved in the next. In their defense, the unit was OK and in decent condition aside from the kitchen cabinet under sink which was replaced at our request).

We had permission to hang shelves, the original agent that handled the paper work for us is deceased. She was murdered in the building.

She supposedly  had the monthly maintenance fees on her when it happened, so the money was lost. They called us and ask us if we can pay it again. NO

3 Years there and I never received the mail box key, I asked multiple times. We also never received the keys to any of the BR doors. I changed the lock.

No Organization what so ever. Give Cash, get a hand written receipt. Sign contract, never got a copy. They were on top of it and will contact us 2 MONTHS in advance asking if we were renewing the contract tho. We renewed the contract I think was 4 times, 6 months, 12, 12, 6. I recall they ask for 1 month in cash, said it was for their commission. Signing new contract ? there is a commission ? holy bat balls, they are on time, fast and punctual.

During the entire stay, we never bothered them about anything. ANYTHING.. The sink leaking, light socket malfunctioned, AC leaking water in the unit. LIKE really leaking. We fixed it or hired someone to fix it. Never bothered the owner.

I guess commission is more important than customer satisfaction.

This was a 2 BR unit with no storage facility what so ever aside from the cabinet under the sink which the owner replaced due to old one having wear and tear + water damage. We requested this prior to moving in.

We hung up shelves and rods in the kitchen to hang sh.... and some shelves in the bed rooms, after leaving I drilled out all the anchors and filled it with putty. All they had to do was sand it and give it a paint job. OK I actually don't know how to remove wall paper.

So they want to charge us for the Paint Job, basically pushing the maintenance cost onto the rental client, not the owner.

We just found out recently that the owner has been paying the water for us directly to building admin for the past 3 years, We was never told of this. We have also been going to the admin office and paying it periodically. As I ask the missus, have we paid our water bill ? Admin office tell us how much we owe, we pay it. No questions asked. So apparently it's being double paid.

Agent msg us about this and was asking us to pay 3 years of back water bills, good thing I keep all my receipts.  Attitude Attitude Attitude, Shoot First, demand money - ask questions later only if you argue dispute.

I'm glad I didn't pay the last Meralco bill (around 15K), so they only have 1 month of my deposit.




Second Unit - Only rented for 1 year during COVID and part of our work at home strategy, mostly used as storage and recording/live studio. 1BR Unit

When moving in, the process was all handled directly with the owner and another agent. Moving out, Agent saw the unit when I handed her back the keys and said EVERYTHING WAS ALRIGHT. I asked her twice, she gave me a thumbs up and told me the owner will directly refund my deposit. fast forward 10 days, the same agent from the OTHER unit messaged us with a laundry list of complaints.

nick pick at everything, tape on wall, plastic hooks that was taped on wall, some paint came off where I duct taped a TV electrical cord. I didn't have time to thoroughly clean this unit and we had a portable AC attached with a duct leading out of the AC hole in the window. I used duct tape. They even complained about that. AGAIN they claimed they painted the unit for us prior to moving in (untrue). FUNNY enough, the bedroom was the color / condition when it was handed to us. We never touched it.

We only partially painted the living room, BY Partial, the entire room was mostly painted except for the foundation pillar on top of the kitchen, we ran out of paint. Their reason is "oh you didn't paint the whole room, so we have to charge you"....

I talked to this owner prior to moving in and explained that we wasn't planning on living here, but only to use as storage and recording/live studio. The sink cabinets was worn out and damaged (water damage), the marble on one side was falling off. I didn't asked the owner to fix it and I told him-  again, I wasn't planning on using it. After leaving, they claim I damaged it and want me to pay for it. Funny enough after I explained to them why the faucet is duct taped underneath the sink, the sink drain is duct taped closed - because I don't use the sink, nobody lives there. SO How did I Damage IT ? No Comment

They claim we are the first tenant and the apartment was BRAND NEW. Meralco Bill proves otherwise and the condo is over 10 years old. I kept all the Meralco Bills.

We showed them pictures THEY sent us prior to us viewing/renting the unit saying the unit is NOT NEW and their reply was "those are old pictures", Contradict Yourself much? Funny enough again - the curtain... Rag that was in the picture was the one we threw out upon moving in.

They will BOLD FACE LIE to you, make it like it's your fault... or or they are high on something. Yea must be the Cat Nip they are snorting.

Lesson to be learned here, These agents will F.... YOU any chance they get, because if the owner doesn't have to return your deposit to you, They are doing a great job. If they can get the previous tenants to fix/repair/maintenance their unit, They are doing a great job. These Agents are working together with owners to KEEP YOUR DEPOSIT. I'm sure they will get a cut. What a Great Job.

I highly suggest you record the condition of the unit prior to moving in, every detail and I mean every f..... detail !!! Make sure the landlord is there and maybe even the agent. Before doing anything, tell them to send you a recording saying it's OK or have it in writing.

Normal Wear and Tear MY A.... They will attempt to charge you for a water stain.

missus handling this and 8 month old pregnant and don't really need this stress. They don't care.


Sorry about the Rant, but damn I though HK agents was bad. I had bad share of experience there but these fu..... take the cake. Ironically, never had a problem dealing with agents in the States.

TL;DR I highly suggest you record the condition of the unit prior to moving in, every detail. Make sure the landlord is there and maybe even the agent. Say Specifically on this date, time, I "name" moving in and here are the damages and condition of the unit, etc, etc, etc .

Thank You for listening (reading).

Doesn't surprise me. Life's better in the Philippines!

frankanderson wrote:

TL;DR I highly suggest you record the condition of the unit prior to moving in, every detail. Make sure the landlord is there and maybe even the agent. Say Specifically on this date, time, I "name" moving in and here are the damages and condition of the unit, etc, etc, etc .
Thank You for listening (reading).

Yes good advice (with photo's)...Omo...I say sometimes it helps to kick some ass....
Has the owner officially declared his rental income stream over the years to the BIR? I'm sure they would want to know.

Frank your narrative is a rant but an informative one for all the forum readers and thank you for taking the time to post.

Did some research on this property and this is the Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/Cordova-Tower- … 746444276/

As a landlord myself here in Bath I do sympathise with your situation especially given your partners pregnancy.
The key word to my mind on landlord/tenant disputes is ‘reasonable'. If I have a tenant that has looked after the property well I will not hold back any portion of the deposit. Wear & tear is to be expected and built into the rent ( replacement items are tax deductable  ) Moreover here in the UK the govt recently brought in a law that states the deposit has to be placed with a third party regulator that can arbitrate in disputes.

That is not much use to you and your predicament in the Philippines.

Unfortunately because Philippine law is so opaque, partisan, costly and unenforceable your options are limited given that the deposit is in their hands. Limited but you do have other routes available to you hence the link above.

Businesses that interface with the general public get their oxygen (paying customers) from social media sites like FB. Well now believe it or not your complex has a 5 star rating. But only one review..

If it was me I would state that if your dispute is not settled in a reasonable way that you will post a review on their FB page. Keep any review factual without exaggeration and mention the good aspects of the property before ending with the deluge of crap and misinformation that you have suffered. This will maintain credibility and hurt them. And mention the names of the people you have dealt with - Filipinos hate losing face.

Before booking any hotel/condo these days I check out the reviews on Trip Advisor. After my stay I always leave a review often positive but sometimes damning. These reviews can hurt deep into the pocket. The property you stayed in has no reviews yet but you can be the first. On a google search their property will come up with a 1 star rating.

This forum has a valued but limited readership. By posting your honest reviews online about this property you will be doing a great service to prevent families like yours ending up in a similar situation in the future.

Recent update regarding the 3 year waterbill dispute, they requested I xerox  copy all the receipts of the water bills I paid and visit the admin office in person. So I had to go there which I really don't want to go anywhere right now due to the increase of cases. Admin office didn't do sh** and I left a copy for the agent's or so called handler for their reference at the front desk. They claimed it was too blurry and said.. "if this is the copy, we are going to have a problem". Requested that I scan and systematically rename each scan file by date.  SO I scanned it in 4K and named them DDMMYY.

Lotus Eater wrote:

snip.

Thx m8, yeah It was a rant. Needed to release    , no pun intended. At the same time I figure I share the information in detail and it's also "google food" if anyone did a search.

I thought about posting reviews on FB and whatnot, but I didn't want to be specific and damage the property reputation or agent's, hopefully giving them a chance of as you say "reasonable" resolution.

I have never heard of a landlord requesting the tenant to pay for the paint job after they move out, most owners I know are just glad they didn't trash the place and it's in satisfactory condition.

I will take this course of action if pushed but in the end, it'll just be my word against hers and there is no actual physical proof. But still, good idea. The idea will be pushed out there if anyone looks at the review.

Is  it normal that agents don't want to give you the contact of the owner? I really wanted to talk to the owner of my 2BR unit so we can come to agreement  or just hash out the differences peacefully without having to go thru a 3rd party. They claim owner is not in PH - so I asked for any way to contact, email, anything. They refuse to give us the contact and each request is just brushed off. I lived there 3 years and only know the owner by name due to the maintenance receipt dropped in my mailbox.

frankanderson wrote:

Is  it normal that agents don't want to give you the contact of the owner? I really wanted to talk to the owner of my 2BR unit so we can come to agreement  or just hash out the differences peacefully without having to go thru a 3rd party. They claim owner is not in PH - so I asked for any way to contact, email, anything. They refuse to give us the contact and each request is just brushed off. I lived there 3 years and only know the owner by name due to the maintenance receipt dropped in my mailbox.

Yes by many agents dont get EXCLUSIVE selling rights as common in "westrn" countries so seller can "jump" the agentt and skip paying the agent anything even when the agent got it sold, if tthe agent give the owner contact possibilitty with posible buyer to soon.

(But AFTER something is signed sold, I dont see any reason to connect seller and buyer.)

Sorry to hear the trials and tribulations, Frank. We have never had problems in Cebu. Two different high end condos with city views - dealt with the Filipino property management company on the first one for 3 years, and the actual owner of the second unit (very pleasant Chinese fellow) for 3 years. Both a pleasure to work with, no issues getting receipts, copies of contract, maintenance, repairs, etc. Same with the home we most recently rented, direct from the owner. No issues at all. I think it all just comes down to who it is you're dealing with, and my only comment would be that I do prefer to deal with owners directly. Take good care of their place and they will be happy, as my tenants do for me here in the States.

Best of luck going forward.

framk... wow good advise.. there..

I highly suggest you record the condition of the unit prior to moving in, every detail. Make sure the landlord is there and maybe even the agent. Say Specifically on this date, time, I "name" moving in and here are the damages and condition of the unit, etc, etc, etc .

Yeah thanks guys.

One unit ended up eating the rest of the deposit, we pay for the water bill everytime we passed the admin office and the landlord was paying it every month.  Nobody told us and building admin just said pay this and we pay it.

They charged us 13K for the paint job and about 9K owed for the water bill. There was a balance of little less than 20K leftover after deducting the Meralco bill from the deposit and they actually called and asked us to pay the 3.5K or so difference. I told my wife to tell them to f... off, I'm not giving them a $0.01


The other unit, after waiting almost a month. The same agent (from the 2BR unit) contacted us and told us we have to wait another month for the painter to come and do a quote. Unit was handed over Sept 8, painter will come Oct 30.  wtf ? We then contacted the unit owner (which we had the number to for this unit) and talk to him directly. I told him I wasn't paying for the damages on the sink cupboards, When I mentioned that I'll will hire someone to paint it, he sounded surprised and didn't expect it. He was only under the assumption that there was damages and was waiting for repairs. The painter is coming tomorrow Oct 10 to do the job. It'll cost me 1K + cost of material. Funny enough we don't hear from the 2BR agent anymore, instead we are dealing with the agent that works directly with the owner.

What a f.... hassle this whole ordeal was.

Ok Frank.. so tell me.  What are the do's and dont's before purchasing and what are the things to look out for?  Like here in the States.. never trust the word "agent" or "used car salesmen"..

tpiro wrote:

Ok Frank.. so tell me.  What are the do's and dont's before purchasing and what are the things to look out for?  Like here in the States.. never trust the word "agent" or "used car salesmen"..

There's a lot of threads on this already.

First is foremost, remember that foreigners can't own land here and houses only 40% share. There are caveats to this rule for example you can have your partner and you sign a agreement.

You can lease it for 50 years I believe if you fall under the investment category.

I suggest. Get your boots on the ground, rent a apartment in that area and get the feel for it first. If you like it, then you can search around that area for a unit to buy.

Many will say building it yourself is better than Buying it out right. Both comes with its fair share of head aches. This isn't really a issue if you are just buying a condo, but remember quality of condo is not what we are use to in the States. The building I lived in is less than 2 decades old but it looks run down.

The FB group Home Buddies is a group focused on people living in PH and all about home and interior designs. It's ENG friendly.

Dealing with agents or those that call themselves agents? Beware big time. We leased a condo in Manila for 12 months and no problem, even the deposit paid back to our account within 2 weeks but we dealt with the owner directly, no agents, through FB.

As for agents? Pah, sad and then some. Over 4 years to get our property sorted, agent recommending a newbie attorney that ran away never to be seen again, pre paid, new one appointed that the agent (guilt?) paid for and the list goes on, perhaps over a beer when mates are bored? A foreigner can't own freehold/titled land here unless a naturalised (Filipino) but they can own 100% of the buildings and improvements on that lot via a long term lease or through a company the 40% rule applies and with that how much you trust the 60% owners.

As a gay couple (relationship not recognised in PH) my better half purchased the land and I purchased the house, buildings and improvements on that lot with a 25 + 25 year lease, control over the property etc. Lease notorized on the title (3 years to get that accomplished,,,,,, like a caveat or mortgage etc) I die? My family holds the lease or negotiates/liquidates.
Only my readings of the laws here if GF/BF purchase a property with an in toe lease? Never get married as you lose the lot, no contracts between husband and wife even after the fact.
If I was married? Been there. Agents? No matter the country, due diligence and a lot more so in PH. Purchasing or renting comes at a cost, be prepared.

OMO.

Cheers, Steve.

frankanderson wrote:

First is foremost, remember that foreigners can't own land here and houses only 40% share. There are caveats to this rule for example you can have your partner and you sign a agreement.

You mixed it up some.
Foreigners can own max 40% of a business which own LAND (if fullfil some conditions).
Foreigners can own WHOLE BUILDINGS if on leased land.

Concerning agreements it isnt valid if the foreigner get CONTROL over a real estate with land or a business owning land.
Its rather common LAWYERS FOOL - or are incompetent -  foreigners to believe the lawyer can make a solution with DUMMIES to get around "The Anti-Dummy law" !!!  to make foreigners have CONTROL over a real estate with land.  Thats ILLEGAL and have NO CHANCE to manage a proper legal control...

Btw NOT allowed to lease land from own Filipina wife, because concerning some things the Filipina will be counted same "unit" as her foreigner husband when married.   I dont know though about a situation if lease and AFTER that geting married.