Scathing review of REIV puts spotlight on PM wellbeing

In a blog post titled Why I’ve resigned from the REIV, published on 11 April 2023, Kirk Stafford, director at the Property Management Coach, professed his disappointment with Victoria’s leading real estate body’s leadership, particularly regarding their handling of the property management sector.

Speaking to REB, Mr Stafford declared the REIV “is very focused on the sales side of the industry, but property management seems to get sidelined, as do other areas of the sector.”

He criticised the REIV’s lack of recent online engagement, before noting that “from a property management perspective, nothing’s really changed in that regard over the last 25 years.”

“Property management has always been the poor cousin and generally ignored from the point of investment in their [the REIV’s] people,” he declared.

Mr Stafford cited several reasons for his resignation from the organisation, which has been a part of since the 1980s, including “when [PMs] take matters, which are clear cut, to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) for a presumably fair hearing, they are getting decisions which challenge common sense,” and subsequent silence from the REIV when questioned about their action or support for property managers relating to “the disparity in decisions from VCAT where it concerned following the legislation in any balanced way.”

He believes REIV’s inaction, paired with VCAT’s decisions, are part of the reason why the state has experienced a mass exodus of property managers in the last three years, though he explained these were not exclusively to blame.

“[Property managers] are burnt out, tired, stressed, and overwhelmed; the continual efforts to juggle the rights and responsibilities of both sides and communicate this to the other side of the relationship has pushed PMs to the point where it impacts outside of the office,” he said. 

Mr Stafford added many property managers “feel like punching bags” for landlords and tenants, with many feeling obliged to work outside of business hours. Citing the recent MRI survey which reported that 65 per cent of property managers are frequently abused by landlords or tenants, as well as many expressing a lack of support from directors, he explained these factors are a major detrimental factor to the mental health and wellness of property managers. 

“[These factors] just compound their stresses,” he stated.

A major contributing factor to his resignation, he espoused, was “in a lack of commentary from the institute on matters around the rental crisis, the impact of questionable VCAT decisions, or anything property manager related.”

He expressed concerns that of the REIV’s 14 posts in the last six months, just two have been related to property managers, which he believes make it “difficult to see how they are advocating in support of wellbeing in those working in the sector in a tangible way.”

“The only way we can be seen as a relevant participant in any conversation on this is to be at the forefront of the public mind,” he said, proposing that the Andrews government “seems to only listen to the louder voice, which in this discussion is Tenants Victoria, and they’re not doing our sector any favours.”

For these reasons, Mr Stafford resigned from the REIV after over 40 years of memberships, admitting the decision wasn’t easy, “nor one made lightly.”

He explained his resignation is not a reflection of the many individuals he has worked with at the Institute, many of whom are “passionate about the future direction of the industry” and are “committed to the betterment of those who work in the industry,” but he stated “they and others are apparently being held back or sidelined by senior management.”

Mr Stafford added this sidelining could see the REIV “remain an ineffective outsider in terms of influence on public policy, and in terms of any sort of voice to government for the benefits of the membership.” 

He said, “Others have found the same lack of public support from the Institute to be incredibly frustrating.”

Since his post went live on the 11 April 2023, Mr Stafford revealed to REB that he had been asked by REIV chief executive officer, Quentin Kilian, for a meeting upon the executive’s return from an overseas holiday and had engaged in a “long phone call last night with the acting CEO, which seems to have been productive.” 

When asked what the REIV, and other relevant industry bodies must do to promote property manager wellbeing, Mr Stafford declared a simple answer, “Speak up!”

“The institute needs to be more vocal in their views and start to make some noise within the media on this,” he said, adding that the REIV must “treat members with respect when the public are dealing with them.”

Putting forward additional points of improvement for the state’s peak real estate body, he proposed improving training for property managers to include both legislative aspects and the necessary human skills required to be a property manager.

Responding to Mr Stafford’s scathing criticism of his organisation and a request from REB, Mr Kilian said, “The REIV is focused on actively advocating and representing the interests of all our members,” labelling residential property managers as an “integral part of our membership.”

Contrary to Mr Stafford’s claims, Mr Kilian said the Institute has “placed considerable emphasis on the rental sector,” noting examples of this as including the REIV’s “election priorities, engagement with Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV), VCAT, and all sides of politics.”

Regarding the specific matters raised by Mr Stafford, notably VCAT and the property management workforce, Mr Kilian insisted that “there is ongoing positive engagement with the authorities on these matters,” including the Institute hosting multiple training sessions with VCAT for its members.

He added that “media releases are only one part of a wider engagement program to effect positive change for the sector.

“While vocal in the media on sector issues, we also work internally on property taxation and policy to facilitate thorough and thoughtful discussions among stakeholders to ensure we can work together to create a sustainable path forward for all participants in the sector.”  

“We value feedback from our members and the broader property workforce community and strive to ensure our advocacy efforts represent all our members as we work to address sector-wide issues,” Mr Kilian concluded.