Help finding a lawyer to proceed against a bad property management company

[Jae Yoo]

Hello,

I am seeking assistance in finding a real estate lawyer who specializes in helping clients get out of contracts with property management companies. The final straw was when my property went into abatement after an inspection, due to the property management company's failure to address tenant requests for the exact items that caused the issue. This lack of response was a major factor in my decision to seek legal assistance. I am bleeding funds and I need to act quickly. My property is in Baltimore city. I would greatly appreciate any guidance or recommendations. Thank you for your time.

[Charles Granja]

I mean, you might be better off taking the case on yourself.

You can break a management agreement whenever you want, but there are fees associated with that. I would imagine the best actions would be to immediately fire the management company, pass the keys onto a new one, sue the old one in small claims court for the listed damages. This is assuming that you can prove that the issue was their fault, and not yours.

The problem is that the cost of litigation is very high, likely not worth it. It is also risky when you consider that if you lose, you do not get reimbursed for legal fees.

If you feel that you will win rather quickly, why not represent yourself? The process is rather straightforward. It is just a headache to learn.

Would love to hear what others will say. When I sued someone for breach of contract it costed probably around $1500, but I filed, did majority of the work, and had my attorney there for negotiations. Another time I sued someone for breach of contract and it costed around 12-15k, this was a complex and much longer case.