Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Florida

I'm located in Florida. I own a home that I entrusted a property management company to handle. We selected a large company that manages hundreds of properties in the area. We're at the beginning of our tenants 3rd year in the property, as they signed a 2 year renewal after the first year. We've had constant issues with the management company not doing their job, but the most recent seems to have caused damage to the property. Every year we have an AC company go out and do an inspection before the summer months to ensure the AC looks in good shape. In April the AC company we chose was a little overzealous and wanted to do some extreme repair, even though the AC worked great. They informed the repair guy at the property management company, who called me and said something doesn't sound right, because the issue they are referring to usually just needs a $150 test, and $400 repair. He suggested they may be trying to get a large commission from a new unit, and that we should give his vendor a chance to get a 2nd opinion. After that we spoke by email, and he offered us their vendors services by email, and on 2 seperate occassions we responded to have his person go out and take a look, and let us know what needs doing.
We heard nothing, fast forward to August; we have an email from the same guy saying that the AC isn't working anymore. We forwarded him proof that we instructed him to take care of the issue back April, and asked why he didn't and he's refuses to respond. He also won't tell us the nature of the issue. Only thing he would say it that, "last time it happened the tenant cleaned to line and it worked, but it didn't work this time". Since he's never contacted us about any tenant reported issues, we have no idea what he's talking about, and no idea what or why the tenant is doing repairs in the first place.
We're angry because we feel they are in breach of contract by not following our instructions to send an AC guy out to determine what work was needed; and also by not reporting issues to us, and allowing the tenant to do his own repairs. We want to know if there's any recourse for damages available, and what options should be available to terminate the management agreement.

Asked on 7/16/14, 1:40 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

William Gwaltney William W. Gwaltney, Attorneys at Law

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The best advice I can give is to take the contract you have with the management company and schedule a consultation with a local attorney who can assist you with this, or at least give you the answers you need. There will likely be provisions in the contract related to what constitutes a breach and what remedy is available, as well as your duties if you feel there has been a breach. The contract will likely govern the procedure for termination of the agreement as well.

Unfortunately, I don't think you will be able to get adequate answers to your questions and concerns through a forum. There needs to be an exchange between you and the attorney so that specific questions and detailed answers can be provided.

Answered on 7/17/14, 6:16 am

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