$720. What your plumber charged. What did your statement say?

The hidden line item on a lot of California PMAs is the maintenance markup — a surcharge on every vendor invoice, often undisclosed at signing. It's almost never labeled as a markup. It shows up as a vendor cost that's just higher than what the vendor actually billed.

The three-vendor audit produces a real number in 30 minutes

Pull three vendor invoices from your last year of owner statements. Pick a plumber, an electrician, and a handyman or HVAC vendor — one of each, ideally.
Call each vendor directly. Ask what they actually charged for that specific job on that specific date.
Compare each vendor's number to what your PMA company billed you for that line item.

If the numbers match: your firm doesn't apply a markup. Whatever the maintenance issue is, it's not vendor pricing — look at vendor selection, dispatch timing, or scope. If the numbers don't match: the gap between vendor cost and your statement is the markup, and the markup is what you've been paying on top of the management percentage.

How big is the spread typically?

It depends entirely on how much maintenance the unit consumes in a year, and the percentage the firm applies. Common ranges in OC PMAs run 15-20% on vendor invoices, but disclosure (or non-disclosure) varies by firm. The way to know is the audit. The way to NOT know is to trust the headline management percentage as the full cost.

Is an undisclosed maintenance markup legal?

An explicitly disclosed markup in the PMA is enforceable by contract. A markup that wasn't disclosed in writing at signing raises a different question — the firm's fiduciary duty under California real estate law requires transparent disclosure of compensation. Markup that wasn't disclosed and that the owner didn't consent to may be recoverable. This is a question to walk through with a California real estate attorney; the dollar amount usually determines whether attorney involvement makes sense.

What to do now

Run the three-vendor audit. If markup is real and significant, your options are: renegotiate the PMA in writing (with the markup either eliminated or capped), or switch to a firm that doesn't apply a markup. NGC charges flat 5.9% on collected rent and passes vendor invoices through at cost — no markup. The fee structure is one page long for a reason.

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