A Managing Agent is a person or a firm that is appointed by the freeholder, the head lessee or the residents management company (RMC) of a property to manage that property on their behalf.

In the case of residential leasehold property (subject to the lease permitting such an appointment) the managing agent contracts with the freeholder, head lessee or RMC to manage the property in accordance with the terms of the lease and statutory requirements. The freeholder or head lessee may be an outside investor or, indeed, the lessees themselves in the form of an RMC.

It should always be remembered that the managing agent is only the agent of the freeholder or the person/organisation with legal responsibility for the management of the property, thus the ultimate responsibility for the full and proper management of the property will always remain with such a party.

A lease is a contract between the lessee and the freeholder (often referred to as the lessor) to which the managing agent is not normally a party.

The information contained in this article has been taken from the publication: "Putting the Property Management Pieces in Place" produced by ARMA.

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