How to become property manager in PA on pyaroll?

[Mary Jay]

Hi guys,

Ive heard it was difficult to become  a property manager in Pennsylvania, plus it was hard to find a good company to be a property manager.

I have a handyman who has been doing a good job managing, but the problem is he can not represent me in eviction court, I have to hire an attorney which is pricey. So, since I am paying the handyman for management monthly fee anyway, is there a way he can represent me in court? What if I put him on my company's payroll then as an employee he can, right? Or is there another way?

[David Krulac]

@Mary Jay In Pennsylvania all property managers, unless they are the owner, must have a state license. Legally your property manager is violating the law unless he is licensed by the state. In some counties/ District Justice Courts, the Judge will not allow an individual to represent an entity like an LLC, S Corp, C Corp etc unless that individual is a licensed attorney in Pennsylvania. I have never seen that challenged in the courts.

If your handyman is a W-2 employee of your LLC, there are some counties/District justice Courts where he would still be barred from representing you. I have heard, but never seen it actually done where the manager becomes a small percentage owner like 1%, and is therefore able to honestly represent to the court that they are an owner, however small.