Property management
One important role is that of acting as liaison between the landlord and tenant. Duties of property management include accepting rent, responding to and addressing maintenance issues, advertising vacancies for landlords, and doing credit and background checks on tenants. In exchange for the service they provide, property management companies charge landlords a percentage of the gross rent collected each month (typically 3-10%), in addition to lease commissions. If disclosed in the management agreement repair costs may be marked by some property managers. Some property management companies also manage home owner associations (HOAs).
In addition to managing income and expense related activity, property managers may also manage construction, development, repair and maintenance on a property. The direction / choreography of repair/maintenance is quite a large part of a property manager's function. Property manager relations with Tenants gives a face to the Landlord and provides them the necessary buffer servicing their desire to profit and distance themselves from their tenant constituency.