Got sued by a former tenant and lost due to PM's negligence

[Michelle Martin]

To make a long story short. The tenant supposedly had complained for months to the property manager that the furnace was not working. The property manager brought it to my attention only once and I told him to fix it. I assumed he would fix it, so I didn't follow up until I received a violation notice from the city for the furnace. When I asked the PM, he said the tenant has been difficult when scheduling the repairs. He also stated the tenant changed the locks, so he was unable to access the property. I contacted the city, but the inspector wasn't very helpful. She stated "this is your property, so you need to fix the issue within 2 days or were shutting down the house." I received the tenant's contact information from the PM and found a plumber who was willing to go the same day. I scheduled an appointment with the tenant. The plumber was running late as he was in traffic from doing another repair. I notified the tenant that he would be a little late. I kept in communication with her via text messages until the plumber was 10min away. She said okay when told he'll be there shortly. When the plumber arrived, she was not there. I sent her a message asking if she was home, she said no she left because she was waiting too long and had to get her kids ready for bed. The plumber was willing to wait for her, but she refused to go back. The city was due to come in the morning for reinspection, and the plumber was willing to go back prior to the inspection, but the tenant wouldn't answer my messages when asked if she'll be home. When the inspector got to the property for reinspection, she said the tenant was home. I could’ve had a plumber there. Fast forward to a year later, I received a summons for small claims. The tenant was seeking $14k for security deposit and furniture that was left in the property. Of course I got an attorney. Prior to the hearing, the plantiff’s attorney produced text messages from my former PM that were unprofessional. The PM was basically being rude and said “well you shouldn’t have broken the furnace anyway.” I knew I was done. The commissioner ordered me to pay the plaintiff over $9k plus her attorney fees. Mind you, she used a legal aid attorney, so he didn’t cost her anything. I contemplated appealing it, but I figured I would go after the PM instead, which I plan to do. Anyone been in a similar situation?