Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Texas
Property manager sabotaging their job
This is 3rd eviction I am going through this year itself between 2 properties. According to my property manager, they sent the tenant a notice of ''pay rent or vacate'' on 5/7, wrote me in e-mail on 5/15 and said they already filed an eviction , later changed it and said mailed a form and fee to the court to file an eviction on 5/16 and cannot provide me with a proof of filing eviction until they hear from the court which they expected to receive it in one week. Mean time I sent the property manager a 30-day contract termination notice on 5/22 to terminate the management contract expiring on 6/29. They received it on 5/23. As of 5/29, NO evictinon has been filed for the tenant according to the public record on the court's website and the conversation I had with a court clerk. I do not trust this property manager due to all the things they did to me this year. I am thinking of filing it myself. I have a copy of ''Three Day Notice To Pay Rent Or Vacate Property'' signed by one of their employee and dated 5/7 but that does not prove they actually sent to a tenant. What should I do? Also, can I legally refused to pay management fee for June when they don't do their job?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Property manager sabotaging their job
I can't tell if you're talking about TX or CA. In CA, court web sites are required to withhold any information about evictions for 60 days, in case there's a mistake or settlement. It doesn't sound like the property manager knows what he/she is doing. Why don't you call him/her and get the facts about what actually has been done, and require documentary proof?!
Re: Property manager sabotaging their job
First, read through your contract with the management company to see what they are required to do and how the agreement can be ended. It seemed that they both breached the contract by not doing wht they were supposed to do and by intentionally lyhiong to you that they had filed the eviction papers, their delay costing you another month of rent and costs of re-serving the tenant. Demand tha they send to you withion 3 business days all the papers ir rgard to that rentla lunit. Also demand the paperwork for any other units you think they may not have handled properly, including prior eviction actions that had any delay. You could tell them that because they have not sent you the paperwork and they appear to be in breach of the contract, you are holding back on the June payment.
Contact the tenant in question and see why he has not paid the rent, what papers he has been served with and how, and see if yo ca work out a deal with him that he moves out within a week or two in return for a reduction in the amount he owes and not having it listed in the public records that any credit agency can find as an eviction. Find out if he has any complaints against the management company and what background search they did in agreeing to his becoming a tenant. You might need him as a witness if you will have to threaten to sue the rental manager for failure to screen tenants properly, etc. If you are not going to manage the building by yourself, start looking now for a manager [could be one of the current good tenants who does not work full time] or management company. Good luck.
P.S. If you are in a rent control jurisdiction, get their regulations before acting against the tenant.
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