Did property manager do the wrong thing?

[Janet Lancaster]

Hello All

In March, a rental property I own in AL that is professionally managed by a sister company of the turnkey company I bought it from in 2015 had a fire. It will likely be a total loss. 

Property management company refunded tenant their full security deposit that day. Tenants have left 2 burnt out cars on the property. Insurance is not going to pay to remove other peoples' property. I believe PM should send me tenant security deposit so I can have cars removed.  Thoughts appreciated.

[James Wise]

Originally posted by @Janet Lancaster:

Fire was March 19. Insurance is still working on claim...State Farm. The lease - which they were in breach of because of 3 additional people living there without permission - states landlord is not responsible or liable, etc. I don't know any lease that would provide for landlord to provide housing if house burns down. That's why there's renter's insurance. PM gave prorated rent back, which is not the issue. The issue is the deposit and me having to remove their property. They were also in breach of lease because there was a torn up car in the carport area where fire may have originated..... they did not keep the property up per the lease. 

 I think you're way to caught up in the weeds on this one. Other people living there & possible lease violations are pretty irrelevant here. Beyond that what your lease does or does not say is not always going to be the highway. Landlord tenant law is going to supersede any lease agreement. Judges can & do find clauses & entire leases unenforceable all the time. In some situations when a property is damaged the landlord is legally required to pay for a tenant's housing.

If you ask me you should drop this & be happy the tenant's are gone. Getting rid of the cars isn't really that big of a deal. The Property Manager probably has several tow truck companies that they can call. You always find that one who'll take the car away, no questions asked.