Does you feel this responsibility would deserve a promotion?

I would like to get some thoughts on this. I have been in property management since 2007. I have worked as a property manager, but 6 years ago, the property that I managed was sold. I took a job as a leasing agent with the company I am with now, and I have been here for what will be 6 years in January. I moved back to my small hometown, and this being the only property management job that was available in my small town at the time, I accepted it gladly. My children have now settled in and are doing very well here, but there is one problem. Over the past six years my duties and responsibilities have more than tripled, yet there has been no mention of a promotion to assistant manager. I fear that without this available to me I am committing career suicide, by staying locked into a position with no room for growth or opportunity. We are an almost 200 unit property, with just myself and the property manager on-site. All of my performance reviews show that I am meeting all required job standards. When I first applied, I was asked if I minded taking the lesser title, to which I stated that I did not, as I have been a property manager before, the title is not important and I am comfortable working under someone, as I feel titles are meant for structure. This was when I thought my duties would be well defined and fairly compensated for, and to be honest, I was eager to take the opportunity to be able to work in my hometown, as I was recently separated, and struggling and with 2 children to support, and was excited to be closer to family for stability. I love the company I work for and am very dedicated, but the duties have begun piling up, and now my role has taken on a more administrative task than just the leasing agent position I was hired for, and my workload has tripled. When I have inquired about a promotion to assistant manager I have been told it is not in the cards, as the property is not big enough to require one, yet the workload increases, I am now relieving the manager of almost two thirds of her weekly duties. She has also stated that it won't matter if my resume only says Leasing Agent because most employers don't look at the title you hold, and that I can list the extra duties under the section where is says work performed. I still feel however, that the title held is what catches a prospective employer's eye. The administrative duties I have take on as my full time responsibility ALONG with the leasing agent duties which are now falling on the back burner are:

• Communicating daily with vendors and tenants regarding property maintenance and repairs


• Retrieving insurance certificates from vendors and tenants and updating then in online property management software and ensuring they are properly filed in vendor files.


• Draft and distribute letters to tenants for vendor notices, scheduled repairs, infractions of community rules violations, etc


• Ensure that rental income payments are processed and collected, follow up by calling to collect on late rents, and enforcing Bad Debt collection by drafting debt collection notices, following up and sending move-out statements not received to past residents, processing files for collection agency, monthly record keeping and submitting reports of bad debt collected to accounting and upper management.


• Respond to resident complaints.


• Support the role of the property manager in the case of Manager absence, which happens frequently as we are given 3 weeks paid time off per year..


• Ensure all administrative paperwork such as data entry invoice registers for Accounts payables is submitted on a daily / weekly basis for payment, on average processing around 90-100 invoices per month.


• Submitting Accounts Receivables reports to accounting department and upper management on a weekly basis.
• Updating, keeping record and submitting reports for maintenance and vendor make ready statuses on each available unit on a weekly basis.


• Deal with resident concerns and requests on a timely basis to ensure resident satisfaction with management.
• Ensure that all service requests are recorded, entered in, communicated appropriately to maintenance and then followed up on and closed out with technician’s completion notes in property software and in tenant files ,and by making follow up calls to residents to insure maintenance was completed in a satisfactory manner.
• Traffic generation through ongoing review of the marketing program including regular auditing of the box scores, market surveys, advertising sources, off-site marketing etc.
• File all property paperwork in appropriate files and maintain resident records.
• Enforce house rules in accordance with company policies and procedures- draft and deliver infraction notices and communicate with residents to insure actions have been corrected.
• Make recommendations to management for improvement of company policies, procedures, and practices.
  Handle all resident questions regarding details for move-ins and move-outs, cancellation fees, cleaning requirements etc..
• Acts as a liaison between tenants, property manager and the maintenance technicians to resolve issues.
• Accurately prepare or submit all required administrative reports to upper management, accounting department and regional manager.
• Field every incoming call and take action or make decisions, acting as gatekeeper by resolving issues with residents, maintenance personnel, vendors, etc.
• Update property software with move-out documentation and security deposit disposition forms.
• Review vendor statements to vendor ledgers on a weekly basis to insure payments for services were paid.
  Keep track of and follow up on ledger corrections made to resident rental ledgers, report to manager if ledgers have not been corrected in a timely manner.

Being in property management for almost 13 years, and after speaking with friends that are in this same industry, I have been told that these administrative tasks are more fit for the title of an assistant manager.

So my question is, would I be wrong or unprofessional to ask for a promotion based on what new administrative tasks I have taken on? Should I go apply elsewhere? I really would like to stay with this company for the long run, and be able to continue to work in my hometown, but I am unsure if it is feasible to make such a request.

I'm a leasing consultant for a large national company, but my property is a 3-person office. I perform all of the tasks you're describing. Lots of admin and resident relations, in addition to leasing. But I've only been here for 8 months -- I wouldn't do it for 6 years! My property manager and my regional have been pushing for my development and want to see me move up as soon as possible.

No one who wants to move to a higher position and has expressed that desire to upper management should be in a leasing agent role for more than 2 years, in my opinion. If it's not happening after that, it's time to get out of there. Your company does not sound like they appreciate you and the value that you bring to them.

It is never "wrong or unprofessional" to ask for a promotion. Just be sure that when you do so, you have data and direct impact on revenue to back it up. The responsibilities you have listed sound great, but I believe they could apply to a variety of jobs and levels, depending on the situation.

Don't go in to your negotiations based on your feelings. Simply present your facts and reasons you deserve a promotion and go from there.