Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Why sue them just fire them instead. If you want to sue them then you would sue them for breach of contract. If your claim is $7500 or less then you can sue them in small claims court and you don't need a lawyer.

Hope that helps and good luck.

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If your claim would be for more than $7,500 but less than, say, about $12,000, you are still better off in Small Claims Court because of the costs and time delays you would incur if you went to Superior Court - just voluntarily "remit" the amount by which the claim exceeds $7,500.

There are several good self-help paperback "law" books covering how to prepare, file and win your case in small claims. Get one that's aimed at California and read up before filing.

My further advice would be to sue both for breach of contract and negligence as claims (causes of action) for the same loss. You can't double-recover, but you are allowed to sue for the same loss on alternate theories of liability. Also, read your contract with the manager to look for clauses covering arbitration of disputes, prevailing-party attorney fees, and so on, that may affect your right to sue or the remedies available.

You also sue for negligence as that will bring in their insurance carrier. Since it may end up paying the bulk of the damages, the management company is less likely to refuse to settle. If possible, which often it is not, split your claim into two separate suits. The judge will probably hold that they are really about the same thing so will merge them. If, for example, one of their employees negligently set fire to a room, that might be considered a separate cause of action so you would in total be able to exceed the $7,500 plus costs plus interest award.

Go through the contract you have with them to see if it requires you to do something before filing suit, such as going to arbitarion. If there is a clause giving them attorney fees if they succeed against you, then under California law you also are allowed to collect attorney fees just as they could do.

By filing a lawsuit in the court in your locale. If you don't know how to effectively do so, then hire an attorney that does if the claim is over the $7500 max limit of small claims court.