Clawing back damage costs from old tenant? Property Manager screwed up 🤦‍♂️

[Justin M.]

The property manager I've used is shutting down. They reviewed their records for final accounting and **surprise** they forgot to bill the tenants for a major repairs a couple years ago. I'm the owner and, while I knew about the damage and repair work, I had no idea that the PM had failed to bill the tenants for the repair!

It seems the person responsible for speaking with the tenants didn't want the stress of confrontation, so he just floated the repair costs on the PM's own account and kicked the can way down the road...

Here's where it gets really interesting. The tenants are students. Every year they swap out some of the roommates for new students, renewing the lease but essentially keeping the original agreement going. The original student who caused the damages doesn't even live there anymore 🙄 How the heck is this supposed to work? Even if the PM can legally require the current crop of students to cover the cost, the situation is very complicated. The PM screwed up majorly. So as they wind down operations, they're going to pass me a group of pissed off tenants.

I feel like they should be eating this cost. Anyone encountered a situation like this? 

[Theresa Harris]

Talk to the PM and see if they will split the costs because they screwed up.  If they are shutting down, I'd also make sure that you get the tenant's deposits.