Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Florida
No property managment agreement
I am a real estate investor in New York. I purchased 2 homes in Florida. The last home was a wreck and the owner was long gone. My realtor advised me I would need a lawn and pool service and reccomended some friends. He then paid these people and billed me as part of the real estate transaction. He was itching to be a property manager
and often asked me to let him do it. I was hesistant but, told him if he could find a suitable tenant I would consider it. He from some sleaxy person and proceeded to put the prospective tenants money in his personal account. After a few weeks he sent me $600 dollars and a lease. I told him it was unacceptable and told him I would not be using him. I contacted my management company on my other home and they found a suitable tenant. Here is my issue this sleaze billed me for repairs that were never done on the house and $700 in property fees. I told him to take a hike. He is now suing me in Florida and I live in New York. It would be difficult to go back and forth to take care of this. I have no written contract with this person and have not received any rents from his efforts.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: No property managment agreement
You need to hire an attorney to represent you in Florida. This matter sounds as if it will be presented in small claims court. If you have received the complaint you should also have received a summons to a pretrial conference. You or your attorney must attend this conference, failure to do so will result in a default judgment being entered against you.