Is it worth it to sue?

[Account Closed]

Hi BP,

I am seriously considering suing my PM, and would like to hear what other landlords would do in this situation.

Recently one of my Dallas rentals became vacant. It was originally rented to an elderly couple and the husband had passed away in his sleep. The wife's family was originally from a different state so she decided to move in with her son and I agreed to release her from her lease.

Upon confirming her move out date, the manager should've gone over and do the final walk through with her. Later that night, I received an e mail from the PM saying that he is leaving the house keys with a neighbor across the street, who is not part of the lease agreement and not an emergency contact, because she will be taking a couch left over by the tenant in the garage and cleaning the house for them. Essentially, the manager decided it is alright to risk having unrelated 3rd parties go in and out of my property and potentially causing huge liability risks. I have also never met this neighbor and it's questionable if she will believe that I am the home owner and actually hand the keys to me. I am flying to Dallas to look at the work needed to be done for the home, when I requested the final walk through photos and itemized list of repairs, the e mail was left unanswered, which makes me believe that he actually didn't take any photos and made no such list.

My question now, is that I know generally speaking involving the legal system is a huge waste of time and money, but since the manager knowingly risked my entire investment by breaching his PM contract with me, which requires him to limit my liability and take care of the property, it seems appropriate to sue him for the entire value of the home, which is not a small amount and I feel like it's a needed lesson for him.

On top of handing off the keys to a neighbor, there are other things stated in the PM contract that mandates him do that he doesn't do. 

For example:

• The PM should upload all invoices and documents to the owners portal but the owners portal has nothing in it, and he only sends a monthly statement by e mail. 
• The tenants' portal was supposed to be used to submit requests but the tenants don't even have login information. All tickets are called in or e mailed.
• He was supposed to file 1099 for me but he doesn't do it. When requested he sent me an annual statement and told me to take it to my accountant.

There are many other things this guy doesn't do, at the very least I feel like his license should be revoked. What do you think is the best course of action here?

[Joe Villeneuve]

You're kidding...right?

What you've described is why you should fire them, not a reason to sue them.  Have there been any monetary damages done to this property that you can document, that are sizeable enough to warrant the time an effort of legal recovery?

Sounds to me like you are just mad at yourself for not doing a better job of filtering out this PM in the first place, and not taking the responsibility for it.

From what I can see, so far, all you've "lost" is peace of mind...and a little bit of your ego.  Fire them, replace the PM, learn from the experience (more valuable than what you've lost...or could gain by suing), ...and move on.

...and I say all of this as someone who likes to point out to others that if it wasn't for lawyers, you probably wouldn't need attorney's.