How to Choose a Los Angeles Property Management Company: 6 Questions to Ask Before You Sign

If you own a rental building in Los Angeles, you already know the job got harder. Rent increases under the RSO are capped at 3% this year, and the extra 1% utility add-on is gone. Balcony inspections under SB 721 were due by January 1, 2026. Deposit deductions now require move-in and move-out photos. A missed notice or a late filing can cost you more than a month of rent.

We have managed buildings in West Los Angeles for more than two decades. We started with our own family’s portfolio and opened the doors to outside owners later. In that time we have taken over a lot of buildings from other managers, and the problems are usually the same ones.

What does a property manager actually do for you?

The short version: collect the rent, keep the building full and in good shape, keep you on the right side of the law, and tell you what happened each month in a way you can check. Everything else is detail. (For the full list of duties, see what a professional property management company actually does.)

Here are the six things we think a Los Angeles property management company should be doing for you, and one question to ask about each. Ask them of your current manager, or of anyone you are thinking of hiring.

1. Collect the rent, and chase it the same way every month

Rent collection is the whole business. A manager who is “pretty good” at it is costing you money.

Here is what it should look like. Rent is due on the first. Tenants pay online. By the fourth, you have a list of who has not paid. By the eighth, every delinquent tenant has a 3-day notice prepared and reviewed, and you know about it before it goes out. The notice is served, logged and followed up on a schedule, not when someone remembers.

We run this on a fixed calendar across our whole portfolio. The delinquency list comes out of our software, the notices are prepared from it, a manager approves each one, and nothing goes out without that approval. You see the result in your monthly report: who paid, who is on notice, and what the balance is.

Ask your current manager: on what day of the month do notices go out, and can I see last month’s list?

2. Send you a monthly report you can actually read

Most owner statements are a software export with a cover page. You get a cash number and a list of transactions, and you are left to figure out what happened.

A good report tells you what happened in plain words first, then shows the numbers. Which units are occupied. Who paid. What broke, who fixed it and what it cost. What bills are still open. How much is in the operating account, how much is in reserve, and what the reserve is for.

Then the financials. Owner statement, cash flow, a budget comparison with a note on every variance, a bank reconciliation that ties to the bank statement with no difference, the rent roll, the aged receivables. Every number in the written summary should trace to a page in the packet.

That is the format we send. The summary is written by the manager who runs your building, not generated by a template. If you want to see one, we will send you a sample with the owner’s information removed.

Ask your current manager: does the bank reconciliation in my report tie to the bank statement, and can you show me?

3. Fix things fast, and not through a middleman

Maintenance is where owners lose the most money without noticing. A plumber called through a third party costs more and takes longer. A unit that sits for three extra weeks on a turnover costs a month of rent.

We do most repair and remodel work with our own crews, and we never mark up repairs or materials. That means a work order goes to someone on our payroll the same day, we control the quality, and you are not paying a markup on an outside vendor’s invoice. When we do use outside contractors for licensed or permitted work, you see the vendor, the invoice date and the amount in your report.

Ask your current manager: who actually does the work, and what is the markup on vendor invoices?

While you are at it, ask how much they charge in total. Most Los Angeles property managers charge a percentage of collected rent, plus a leasing fee when a unit turns, and some add markups on repairs, inspection fees or setup fees on top. Get the whole schedule in writing. A low management percentage with a 20% repair markup is not a low fee.

Your manager should also keep you ahead of the habitability rules owners get cited for, from fire extinguishers to air conditioning to repainting schedules.

4. Know the Los Angeles rules cold

Los Angeles is one of the hardest places in the country to own rental housing. The city’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance, the state’s AB 1482, just-cause eviction rules, relocation assistance, the rental registry, the SB 721 balcony inspection cycle, the new deposit photo requirements under AB 2801. Each one has a deadline and a penalty.

Your manager should not be learning this on your building. We specialize in rent-controlled buildings in West LA. We know what the allowable increase is this year, when to serve it, which units are exempt and what paperwork the city wants. The Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles named us its Top New Property Management Firm for 2020 to 2021, and we are active members.

Ask your current manager: what is this year’s allowable RSO increase, and did you serve it on my units?

5. Find money you are leaving on the table

A good manager raises what you can raise and bills what you can bill. Two examples.

Utility billing. If your building has shared gas, water or trash, a ratio utility billing system (RUBS) lets you pass those costs to tenants in proportion to their unit. Most small buildings in LA do not do this. Over a year it adds up.

Turnovers. When a rent-controlled unit turns over, the rent resets to market. The gap between a long-term tenant’s rent and market rent in West LA can be large, though for units that turned over in the last few years it can be close to zero, as our own lease data shows. Your manager should know the market rent for every unit in your building, know how much you can raise rent on the rest, and have a vacant unit listed within days of the keys coming back, not weeks.

Ask your current manager: what is the market rent for each of my units, and are we billing back utilities?

6. Tell you the truth, including the bad news

The owners who have been with us longest are the ones we have had hard conversations with. A tenant who needs to go through a formal process. A roof that needs replacing. A month where income came in under budget and why.

Your report should say that plainly. “Net income came in under budget because of the fridge replacement in Unit 2” is more useful than a paragraph about a “steady operating month.” If your manager’s reports never contain a problem, that is the problem.

Before you sign: check the license and the contract

In California, a company that manages rentals for other owners needs a real estate broker license from the Department of Real Estate. Look the license up on the DRE website before you sign anything, and ask for proof of insurance. Ours is CA DRE License 02172857, and our maintenance company, Lotus West Management Company, Inc., holds CSLB License 1161790.

Then read the management agreement line by line: the management fee, the leasing fee, any repair markups, how long the contract runs and how either side can end it. If it is not in writing, it is not part of the deal.

The six questions at a glance

1. On what day of the month do 3-day notices go out, and can I see last month’s list?
2. Does the bank reconciliation in my report tie to the bank statement?
3. Who actually does the repairs, and what is the markup on vendor invoices?
4. What is this year’s allowable RSO increase, and did you serve it on my units?
5. What is the market rent for each of my units, and are we billing back utilities?
6. When was the last time my report told me something went wrong?

What working with Lotus West looks like

We manage apartment buildings across the Westside, from Santa Monica, Brentwood and Westwood to Beverly Hills, West Hollywood and Hollywood. We specialize in buildings with eight or more units, and most of them are rent-controlled. Our office is at 11661 San Vicente Blvd, Suite 303, in Brentwood.

When you call, you talk to a manager, not a sales team. We will look at your building, your rent roll and your current reports, and tell you what we would do differently. If the honest answer is that your current setup is fine, we will tell you that too.

Our management fee is 5 to 6% of collected rent, with no hidden fees, and your rent reaches your account by the 15th of each month. Those commitments are in writing on our guarantees page, along with the rest of our services for property owners.

Call us at (323) 487-2650 or email info@lotusproperties.com. Ask for a sample owner report and a rent review for your building, or request a free property evaluation.