A Melbourne property manager has come under fire for posting a letter to a tenant’s neighbours asking them to report on their behaviour.
Melissa Hickson, who founded Prime Residential Property Management in February, sent the letter to residents in Highett, south of the city, asking them to keep an eye on the tenant because the agency they can’t monitor them all the time.
She asked them to report any disturbances, as well as positive behaviour.
The property manager has since defended her decision to write the note, telling the Herald Sun it was a publicity ploy to promote her new agency.
Melissa Hickson (pictured), founder of Prime Residential Property Management in Melbourne, wrote a letter to a tenant’s neighbours asking them to report any ‘disturbances’ or positive behaviour
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ms Hickson for comment.
The letter reads: ‘We’re very fussy about the tenants who rent through our agency and would like to ensure that the neighbourhood is happy with the tenancy at all time.
‘We conduct regular inspections and drive past the property all the time, but we can’t be in your street at 11 on a Saturday night to make sure that the noise levels are kept under control, and we’d like to ask for your help with this.
‘You live in a lovely street and area, and we want to help keep it that way.
‘If you notice anything good that you’d like to tell us, we’d really love to hear from you too! We love to reward our good tenants when they’re looking after their home.’
Ms Hickson sent the letter (pictured) to residents in Highett, south of the city, asking them to keep an eye on the tenant because the agency they can’t monitor them all the time
It also encourages residents to refer new clients to Ms Hickson for a $200 Visa gift card reward and let her know if anyone is moving out of the suburb.
Ms Hickson told the Herald sun she hasn’t had any problems with the tenant, who has been living at the property for ‘quite some time.’
‘The letter is just to let the neighbourhood know we are now the managing agent, so they know what’s going on. Hardly any agencies do them [the letter]…it’s just something we do when we take over a file,’ she said.
The property manager has since defended her decision to write the note, telling the Herald Sun it was a publicity ploy to promote her new agency