Watson Property Management - Fleming Island

HORRIBLE. Please take my word . . . DO NOT use WATSON PROPERTY MANAGEMENT for your property management needs. I know several others in the military that have had the same experience as us with Ms. Lilian Scarborough's Watson Property Management office. If I could give them a score worse than 'F,' I would. We were transferred to Hawaii due to a military move and were unable to sell our house due to the market conditions so we had to rent it out while we were away. Watson, found us tenants pretty quick over the two years, but I feel that finding the tenants was the only real work that they did. If only collecting rent is the definition of 'property management,' then I guess they did a satisfactory job (although for an entire year, rent was due and they made no real effort to collect it and was paid around the 25th of each month vice the 1st). Perhaps no real urgency is seen by Watson because THEY get to collect any late fees from the tenant under their contract. So, why would there be any urgency to get you your rent payment? Under the contract, Watson is supposed to exercise "due diligence" in the management of the property. I assumed that this means that they would at least monitor the property and perhaps, conduct inspections, especially if the tenant is habitually late (EVERY MONTH, 20+ days) on rent and the owner consistently informs the management company that they are receiving HOA violations due to the lawn and flowerbeds in unkept condition. That's not the case. I am almost certain that they visited the inside of the property once in the twelve months of this tenant's lease. It is of my opinion that due to Watson not visiting the property the house was in total disrepair upon this tenants departure. We had cleaning and lawn service bills that consumed the tenant's security deposit, leaving us with excess costs of over $3000. There was so much pet urine soaked into the carpet, that when the carpet was torn out the concrete slab was wet with urine and the carpet tack strips were soaked with urine and had to replaced as well. After the extensive cleaning, pet urine was found behind the washer and dryer. The air conditioner filter was NEVER changed and the A/C ducts required cleaning. That alone could have been prevented if Watson was in any way proactive in taking a look inside the property. What better excuse do you have if the rent is late and the lawn isn't taken care of to come to the property and take a look for yourself? We are still scratching our heads on why we paid 10% of the rent to this company to collect our rent checks only. They didn't even do a good job at that because the rent wasn't collected on time for the entire year . . . all while they collect the late fees. Why doesn't the owner collect the late fees? The owner is the most inconvenienced when rent is late... Being thousands of miles and 6 times zones away, when you have someone manage your property, you should feel someone is looking out for your interests. Watson Property Management of Fleming Island doesn't appear to be. Stay away.