How to Switch Property Managers in Irvine, CA

The numbers, before you commit to anything

On a typical Irvine 2-BR renting at $4,050, an 8% management fee runs $324/month. NGC's flat 5.9% runs $239/month. That's a $1,020/year gap on one unit, before any maintenance-markup difference. On a three-unit portfolio it clears $3,000/year. Irvine tends to hold tenants longer than the OC average, which means lease-up turnover isn't the dominant cost line on most units. The fee and the markup are. Whether the math works depends on your specific PMA. The nine steps below run regardless.

The 9 steps, in order

1. 1 Get your current PMA in hand. Find the termination clause, the notice period (almost always 30 days, occasionally 60), and any early-termination fee. If you can't locate the executed copy, email the firm and ask for a fresh PDF. They have to provide it.
2. 2 Send it to NGC for review. Free, no commitment. We read every line and tell you what the notice period is, whether there's a termination fee, and whether the maintenance-markup language is disclosed in writing. That call takes 20–30 minutes.
3. 3 Sign the NGC PMA. One e-signature. No setup or onboarding fee. The first invoice arrives only after the first rent is collected under NGC, not before.
4. 4 Same day, the termination letter goes out. NGC drafts it on your letterhead and sends USPS certified with return receipt. The receipt date is what controls the 30-day clock under the existing PMA. Email alone has been challenged in disputes; certified mail has not.
5. 5 Days 1–10: records audit. NGC pulls lease copies, the security-deposit ledger, maintenance and vendor history, and tenant contact records from the prior firm. You confirm the unit list and any owner-specific instructions we should carry forward.
6. 6 Days 10–20: tenant notification. A single letter goes out per unit explaining the management change, the new payment address, and the new maintenance-request contact. The lease doesn't change. The tenant doesn't sign anything.
7. 7 Property walk-through scheduled. An NGC manager conducts the walk-through with the tenant on proper notice — photographic baseline, condition report, water heater age, HVAC age, smoke and CO detector check. For Irvine condos in HOA communities, this is also when NGC files the manager-change notification with the master association.
8. 8 Day 30: prior PMA terminates. Rent collection moves to NGC. Security deposits transfer per California Civil Code §1950.5. The prior firm's authority over your unit ends at the close of day 30.
9. 9 Days 35–45: first NGC owner statement. Five to ten business days after month-end. From this point forward the cadence is monthly.

What to do if a step goes sideways

Step 4 — certified mail returned undelivered. The firm may have moved or the registered address is stale. Cross-check the firm's address on the California Secretary of State Bizfile portal and the DRE license search. Re-send to the verified service address. The clock resets only if the original mailing was misaddressed by us, which is rare.

Step 5 — prior firm refuses to release records. Records belong to the owner. The PMA almost always specifies turnover on termination. NGC sends a demand letter on day 11 with a seven-day deadline. Most holdouts resolve at the demand-letter stage; the next step if they don't is a DRE complaint, which firms strongly prefer to avoid.

Step 7 — tenant won't allow access for the walk-through. The lease and California law allow access on proper notice (24 hours minimum in writing). NGC reschedules once if there's a legitimate conflict. If access is refused without cause, we document the refusal and proceed without the walk-through — the condition report is recorded as "owner-confirmed only," which is a known and acceptable disclosure for the move-out reconciliation later.

Step 8 — security deposits not transferred. §1950.5 requires the transfer. A 14-day demand letter handles most cases. Small claims handles the rest. The prior firm cannot legally hold deposits as leverage for alleged unpaid management fees.

Irvine HOA-specific note

Most Irvine condo communities — Woodbury, Northpark, Quail Hill, the Great Park neighborhoods — sit under master HOA structures. The HOA generally does not approve your manager, but most require notification of the change for resident-services records and amenity access permissions. NGC files this notification as part of step 7. A few master associations want a copy of the new PMA on file; we provide that.

Common Irvine firms owners compare against NGC