Letter: Managers have duty to check employees

Managers have duty to check employees

Durry Garbutt
St Augustine, FL

Dear Editor:

I have attached a seven-page police report exposing criminal activity by persons employed as cleaning subcontractors by two major beach property rental agencies.

Because the rental agency pockets a good portion of the cleaning fee, the individuals that clean condominiums and houses are poorly paid; and never, or, at best, poorly trained.

Most of these people are self-trained. Many have a personal standard of “clean” that is far below what a guest expects for the expensive rental charge — and far below what a property owner expects for the management fee charged.

The cleaning employees may not be drug tested or background checked — but they have full access to residences with very expensive furnishings, electronics and, in many cases, the owner’s personal possessions.

Many rental agencies do not even randomly check behind their cleaning contractors and complaints are not even made known to the owners except when the police are involved. Thefts of smaller items often go unreported until the owner visits and finds things missing.

It was very fortunate that the guest at Quail Hollow did not have an accidental confrontation with the burglar. This particular condo has a security gate with a code obviously known to the criminal.

Every one of the people that knew the crook and worked alongside him knew about his drug use and probably knew of his thieving ways. The rental agencies put everyone at risk, guests and owners alike, by failing to police their subcontractors. They are complicit in the thefts because of negligence, and they failed in their ethical and moral obligation to protect the properties they manage.