Property management question==suggestions?? (Christmas: renter, condo, tenant)

[loves2read]

Our SIL still owns his condo on Esplanade and they have been using local property rental/mgmt company to help with getting renters in, vet them, deal with issues they might have and clean the unit.
Our SIL's mother and some family came this weekend for grandson's bday...they stayed at condo...got there Thursday night and someone had obviously been in there w/o SIL/daughter knowing about it...
some Tervis mugs they keep in freezer for cold drinks were missing (stolen)...some kitchen stuff that his mother had washed and put away last time they were there were out/used...yet someone had put Saran Wrap on the toilet--which is what the mgmt company does when condo is cleaned for make-ready...

they were really mad...either someone with company made a key and used condo for their personal visit or they might have taken money and rented w/o management company knowing...this condo assoc only allows 30 day rentals but if they knew that there was nothing scheduled, I guess someone might try to sneak in a weekend visitor...

it is across street from the beach and great location for the July 4th fireworks so I can see that someone working with mgmt company and knowing location might have decided to try it....
of course there is no way to tell when it was done except it was done after SIL's mom was there last time--
and management company reported no other renters--they paid no money to SIL...

What would be best way to deal with this--
they can certainly get keys changed but if there is someone in company doing this, then a new key won't prevent it from happening again...
they have renter coming back in fall and don't want to lose the money so are afraid to be too confrontational...
especially since they don't really have physical sighting of illegal entry to back up accusations...

If they wanted to break agreement with mgmt company over this, can they still keep the booking but pay company that fee?
what is best way to vet future renters if they want to do it themselves?
They bought two new flatscreens after Christmas and installed in unit--and they weren't taken--which makes it more likely to me that it was someone w/mgmt company...theft would have been high profile issue...

[bbronston]

If I was your SIL, I'd speak directly with the owner of the management company, explain the problem and ask them to provide a solution that will prevent it from ever happening again. I don't know if they do this sort of thing but I would expect a management company to keep an inventory of all of the items in the property and to check it following every lease end for missing items.

Beyond that, your SIL can have an alarm system installed that will notify him remotely via WiFi every time the door is opened. I don't know how practical it would be but he could monitor that for times when there is no activity expected. It might even be possible to find a company whose software allows the owner to set up the periods when the notices should be sent and when they shouldn't. (ie. notify him of access only at times when no one should be there.)

Similarly, there are locks that can be programmed remotely (like this) where your SIL can change the code to a unique code for each tenant, then change the code after each lease end. That would control access but it would have to be OK with the COA and the management company.

[loves2read]

Yes we discussed various options for locks
I had read about the ability to do remote key code change with some electronic locks

He will probably contact office this week
Good suggestions