PM withholding rent & ignoring my questions

[Dee Bee]

I'm a long-distance investor. Using a PM has worked well for some of my properties. This one, however, has been a nightmare. This PM in Atlanta was recommended to me by a fellow investor. I think they went through some big changes these past few months and everything has gone downhill. They even has a warning on BBB now.

The PM took over management of my property in Oct 2013. On Dec 1 2013, they found a tenant. Until now, I haven't received one rent check from them.

In early January, I asked and they said to ask the accounting dept, but the accounting dept never responded.

In early February, they said they had been sending me the rent checks, but couldn't tell me what address they sent it to. After numerous emails, the CEO of the PM company said to call him, but I couldn't reach him. Finally, on February 20 by email, he said they were going to send me the money "tomorrow". This never happened.

In early March, I finally got in touch with the CEO's assistant, who told me that the tenant hasn't been paying since February and is now being evicted. They're keeping the rent they've already received to cover attorney fees, which I'm sure isn't how they're supposed to do it. I've called and emailed to find more details about this supposed eviction but I haven't gotten any response from them. I haven't even gotten any financial statement from them, which they said they would provide quarterly.

I think my next move would be to file a complaint with BBB and then contact a lawyer if that doesn't work. Any advice? The thought of flying there to visit their office in person has crossed my mind, but I couldn't justify the expense considering the small amount of money involved here.