Property Manager Ethics/Laws

[Jason Ross]

I own a single family rental property in Ohio. The property is a townhouse in a building with twelve townhouses above a block of retail. (It is a former residence of mine, but I no longer live in the state of Ohio.)

I entrusted the management to a local real estate brokerage/property management firm run by another owner/resident of the townhouse community.

A few months back, the property manager told me an investor had expressed interest in purchasing units, and would buy mine for $250,000. I told him I was uninterested at that price (as I paid almost that much for the unit before it was finished). 

A few weeks back, the property manager told me my long-time tenant was moving out. Manager said the investor was still interested, and asked if I was interested in selling to him for $250k. I reminded him of my previous response, and told him I wanted him to find me a new renter.

Out of curiosity, I decided to look at what other units in the community were selling for. Two of them (out of twelve) have sold within the past six months, one for just over $280k and the other for just under $280k.

So my property manager, who is also a broker, who also lives in this townhouse community, has TWICE asked me to sell the property for what he knows to be $30k under its market value.

Then, I found out the investor is a licensed agent at this same brokerage.

My ideal situation is that they find me another renter and continue to manage the property. (They have done so cheaply and efficiently.)

But clearly I cannot trust that they have my interests first and foremost. I cannot even trust that they are making any effort at all to find me a new tenant. For all I know, they have no intention of finding me a new tenant, and they are trying to squeeze me out so I sell to their colleague at a discount to the market.

Does anybody know the Ohio law or Ohio Association of Realtor code of ethics here? I would be grateful for any insight about their legal obligations, my legal rights, and any remedies that might be available to me. Thanks.