Seeking Advice After Destruction Of SFH By Renters
Wow, where to start. I had picked a property management through the Member National Association of Residential Property Managers. I found a company I felt comfortable with who assured me they would do all the necessary background checks, before placing a tenant in my home.
For the last three years my home had been managed by this company. When my last tenant moved in (about 4 months ago) he was the “adult” son of the prior tenant. I have now just found out that the Mother left her security deposit up for her son as he moved in, which I’m not too thrilled about. I feel that they should have required him to give a deposit. I also feel they waived the background check on this guy just for their ease-save advertising money etc.
To make a long story short, they were served a three day notice at the beginning of the month for non payment. After those three days they vacated the property, leaving their trash everywhere and furniture. A real estate buddy/friend of mine drove to the property and called me with the bad news-they had completely destroyed my home. Kitchen cabinets doors ripped off, counters ruined, tile cracked, windows broken and covered with cardboard, newer carpet destroyed, bedroom doors destroyed (he said “looks like they were throwing knives at them), it goes on and on. Basically I will have to gut the home and refurbish it. Thank God the heat was left on, so the pipes did not freeze.
Now of course I’m not very happy about this and have requested all the information about these tenants from my property mgt, including the background checks and landlord checks that they claimed to have made, be sent to me. They have been dragging their feet getting back to me, and still have not turned over the key (as I requested 5 days ago) to my friend that is in the area. I want to know what course of action I can take against not only the tenant, but also the mgt company? I feel they took the easy way of placing a renter in my home, at my expense. I also found out that the tenant was not paying the water (which the mgt company would bill them) and the mgt company was instead paying the bill out of their deposit!
I also wonder if it is possible to file criminal charges (although I doubt it) for destruction of property? Although I won’t get there until next week, it sounds as if this is straight up vandalism to my home.
The good news is that my boss is nice enough to let me take three weeks off to rehab the home. I was moving back to Utah in 18 months and was going to rehab it then anyway, and either live in it, or sell it. It usually takes me about a month to do a home all on my own, while working my other job. For speed I’m hiring a painter, glass guy, door guy etc. So I should be able to knock it out in a couple of weeks. Bad news is that I miss 3 weeks of work and the rehab will run me about 10-12k. Flying across country to do a rehab isn’t really something I’m looking forward to doing either. But I can’t rent it, and I’m not prepared to take the loss by selling it as is.
I understand that if I place a judgment against these losers, that the chance of recovering my money is slim to none. But what actions can I take against the prior tenant and should I pursue legal action against the rental mgt company if I find out their were negligent on their end?
Thanks in advance.
So sorry to hear this.
Property Mgmt companies (ha), you could file suit against them and probably win a judgement and maybe even get them to reimburse you for money spent while they did not do their job (obviously), but in the meantime, your prop remains vacant and costing you money. Good luck with this, keep us informed.
Oh, as far the tenants go, you would have better luck trying to nail jello to a tree.
[addsig]
bump
the damage has to be severe for it to be criminal. One of my tenants took the washer and dryer and swaped out an old refrigerator for the new one when they were kicked out...cops came and said it was a landlord/tenant dispute and that is a civil matter...nothing they could do...might be different in your area, at least worth checking into.
Well I did a simple search on the prior tenant and found out he had a few judgments against him for failure to pay rent.
If the PM had done her job she would have seen this, and not rented to this loser. I also have a copy of a letter where she admits to using the deposit to pay the gas bill.
I also got a call from the electric company and the guy also was stealing electric (the seal was broken) the entire time he was in my home.
He was evicted from a home just prior to moving into mine. I found out this info in 2 minutes and for about 20 bucks. I am going to take him to court, but I also feel I have a strong case against the PM and will be seeking damage from them.
Is is illegal to inform his current landlord about what he did to my home and his past evictions?
Write it off, and ask very politely for them to clean or paint the place. Doesnt look like you will get any cash out of the deal. Could be worse, they could have given you lots of trouble with an eviction.
Id cross my fingers on recieving any cash this month, but looks like you can at least keep the $deposit$.
I would start advertising the place now