WITT & ASSOC

I am posting this review of Kerry Witt of Witt and Associates as a buyer?s agent and as a property manager because I want to
prevent other people from incurring the losses by hiring this guy. 
I met Kerry Witt in 2006 when I was looking into purchasing a house.  I entered into an exclusive Buyer agreement with him to help me purchase a house because, as I told him, I knew very little about older houses and needed someone to educate me
about structures.  I had engaged a similar buyer agent when I purchased a new condo a few years earlier.  This agent was great and pointed out everything I needed to know about the condo I purchased.  I found a house and purchased it with little
or no advice from Kerry.  I assumed, incorrectly it appears, that there were no issues to watch out for with my purchase.
In 2010, I lost my job and moved out of state to live with family.  When I could not sell the house, I decided to rent it out.  I
asked Kerry to become property manager for a fee and take care of all issues with the rental (other than signing leases procured by and paying for repairs Kerry identified on an ongoing basis).  Kerry expressly informed me that after the property was leased I would no longer have to maintain the yard or clean the gutters as he would ensure that the lease make
the tenant responsible for those items.  I handed over my most expensive possession which was in very good condition.
Kerry rented the property to a buddy of his in 2010, at what I suspect, a sweetheart deal rent to a buddy of his.  Kerry did not perform any move in/out inspections or even bothered to check if the tenant was actually keeping the yard and gutters clean.  This tenant broke very expensive custom wooden blinds when he moved out but Kerry did not charge him for that damage. 
Kerry rented the property to again in 2011 and followed what appears to be his standard operating procedure of no oversight and concern for the property condition or how the tenant treated the property.  In July 2013, I informed Kerry to not renew the lease because I was going to sell the house.  In August 2013, Kerry sent me a ?repair? list prepared by a buddy of his that listed approximately $15,000 in repairs that included putting on a new roof, gutters, replacing all the fascia, a significant amount of siding and having the exterior painted. 
The reason for the ?repairs? was water damage caused by clogging of gutters by fall leaves which had never been cleaned by any of the tenants.  I spoke with Kerry?s contractor and found out that he was actually a buddy of his and he confirmed
that reason for the damage as clogged gutters.  I then called the tenants who informed me that Kerry had been very lax
in his response to their complaints about repairs, that he did not conduct any move-in/out inspections, evidence of broken expensive custom wooden blinds caused by the previous tenant, the email/phone exchange between Kerry and the tenants
regarding the leaking roof; taking over 2 months to respond to complaints about the separation of an under mount sink from the counter, taking over 3 months to address soil settlement in the yard; the list goes on.  
I then spoke with Kerry about what the tenants and his contractor buddy had told me.  To this Kerry responded that he ?did not
have the time to? maintain any repairs logs or documentation or move-in/out inspections on the property other than receipts for repairs that I paid for; visually inspect the property on a periodic basis; visit the property until June 2013 after receiving the tenant's report in April 2013 that soil had settled to a depth of almost 2 feet in the backyard; keep me informed of the fact that the tenants did not clean the gutters or maintain the yard; follow up to ensure that tenants had actually cleaned the gutters after tenant informed him that the roof was leaking in December 2012 or when he noticed plants growing out of gutters in June 2013. 
On August 28, 2013, I fired Kerry for negligence and asked him to return all items related to my property.  I was informed by his wife that they would return the keys but had no records and had ?purged? my file.
I visited the property in October 2013 to hire contractors to perform repairs.  At that time I heard the barking of a dog coming from the house.  Apparently the tenants had acquired a dog in December 2012 in violation of the lease and Kerry Witt claims that he did not see or hear the dog when he visited the property the one or two times between December 2012 and August 2013, when I fired him. 
Since October 2013, I have spent close to $25,000 to replace the roof, siding, fascia, soffit, carpeting and gutters, the house painted and repair other water related damage.  In addition, I had to have the interior painted to cover the water stains from the walls and ceiling of several rooms.