Hello, I've been talking to an attorney from the base re: extensive damages a tenant did to my home. While doing so I mentioned how the property management company didn't do their due diligence in identifying the issues and continuously failing to respond to my concerns referencing damages while the tenants were at my home. They (the property management company) then just turned over my house to me in complete disarray, and left me to attempt financial retribution from the tenant. During the time the tenants occupied my home, the company did nothing (throughout the term of the lease) to hold the tenants liable for their destruction. The attorney I've been speaking to advised me to contact a law firm that may be interested in the case. My home is in Clay County. I would like to set up a consult. There is so much that I can't fit here, but total damage was in excess of 20-25k.
It all depends on the terms of the contract with the property management company. In most instances PM companies are simply a conduit between the LL and the tenant for the purposes of collecting rent, relating tenant complaints etc. Rarely are they obligated to bear the expense of suing the tenants for eviction, for rent collection or to make repairs on the owner/landlords rental property. In most instances where the tenants are damaging the property, the PM is simply required to notify the LL once they are aware of it, and again depending on the contract terms that may be the end of thier responsibility. The LL would then need to retain a lawyer to sue for damages or eviction as the case may be. The other issue that needs to be addressed is when the PM is engaged to procure and screen tenants for the LL approval. There are many instances where the PM's "drop the ball" and dont vett the tenants sufficiently and allow bad tenants to move in. Again, subject to the contract terms, the PM might be liable if there was obvious evidence that the tenant was "bad" such as public record evicitons, bad credit history or criminal history. You will likely need to spend some money to have a lawyer review your contract and the details and go from there.
All responses are NOT to be considered legal advice nor to be relied upon in any as such nor to establish any form of attorney/client relationship. Opinions expressed are solely informational and not a substitute for proper legal advice provided by a properly retained after thoroughly researching the issues presented.
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