hold over tenant

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Hello,

I have a property that is managed by a property management company. The lease ended 1/31 and the tenant was supposed to move out end of January. The property management company applied last months  rent towards January rent and then the tenants said they couldn't move out yet. For February the tenant paid partial rent after the grace period, the property management company served a 3 day notice since they had not paid. It is now March, the tenants were supposed to move out the end of February, they have paid all but 200$ of February rent. They still have not moved out- the property management company said they had secured a new place to live they just needed extra time to finish moving.  The management company said the tenant will now owe double rent for March.

I have been using this property management company for a little less than 2 years. The tenants were in place already when this property management companty took over- I asked the property management company and they don't have the social security number of the tenant. They also do not expect the tenant to pay anything further. They said they didn't start the eviction process because they knew the tenant was on the way out and they didn't want to incur unnecessary expenses.

The property management company told me they use a collections person- who can obtain tenant's social security- etc, but they take 40% of whatever is recovered.

I told the property management company they need to let me know if a tenant does pay/ if they have to post 3 days notice so I can decide if I want to start the eviction process and that if the tenant was secured when the previous management company was there- they need to obtain the tenant's social before renewing the lease. They said they would do this

At this point I am really annoyed with the situation. I had several people (painters/ handymen, etc) on hold to take care of the rental once the tenant moved out, and i have had to defer them over and over because they tenant will not move out.

I was wondering- can I use a collections company of my own? Is collections better than small claims court as far as recovering owed rent? What can I do when you don't have a tenant's social? And what can I do in the future so this doesn't happen again? 

Thanks

[Corby Goade]

What was the point of the PM serving a three day notice if they aren't going to move forward with eviction? They also should not be accepting partial rent payments- that makes the situation pretty sticky. If you have a hold over, they should have been taking much more action beyond waiting for payment to come in and telling you that they can hire a collections agency for the rest- they should be getting the tenant out, assessing both physical and financial damage and settling up using their deposit. 

Generally, in order to hire a collections company, you'd need a judgement. 

You need to pay your contractors, it's not their fault that the tenant hasn't paid rent and you want them to be available the next time you need help. 

As for the PM- either you are misunderstanding the situation or they have no business managing properties. I'd have a frank and friendly talk with them and if you aren't satisfied, part ways and find another PM. 

Best of luck-