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I have a question about my rental property in KY. I use a management company to handle it. My tenants have elected to give a 30 day notice and move out one month prior to the end of their lease. When talking with the management company I asked if they were going to collect the final months rent. I was told (by a stand in) that it was the managers call. This does not sound right to me. The tenants moved out to move across town, they asked me to let them out early for the final month and I told them only if I were able to sell the house prior to it (and I was not). It seems that is the reason you have contracts. My question is if the management company does not collect the final months rent do I have legal recourse against the tenant for it and the company for not doing their job? I pay them 120 a month to handle this so I don't have too. Thanks for any assistance.
Optional Information: State/Country relating to question: Kentucky Already Tried: nothing
Hello,Thank you for using JA. If the tenant is under a written lease for a set term, then they are bound under that contract to pay rent until it expires. It is not the property manager's decision as to whether or not to enforce the contract, it is the owner's. The property manager is only the agent of the owner, and as such does not have the authority to waive contractual rights without the owner's permission..So yes, if the management company doesn't collect the last month's rent, they are in breach of contract with owner under whatever management contract they have. Additionally, the tenant is in breach of contract with owner and can be sued for any delinquent rent plus court costs in small claims court up to $2500..As a landlord myself for over 20 years, I wouldn't be too happy with a management company that wasn't acting to protect the owner's interests over a tenant's..
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Thanks.
Barrister
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Experience: 13 years real estate, Realtor. Landlord 24+ years
Hello again, I'm assuming this follow on question will give you additional credit. If not please tell me how to pose another question directly to you to ensure so. I have an additional question and seek advice with the above rental property. The management Company did the walk through and returned the deposit to the renters. The renters DID pay the final rent (so that was a non issue). When talking to the manager on the phone she said the place looked good and returned the deposit. She stated the only issue was that the client had painted some touch up with eggshell when it should have been semi-gloss. She said the renter had said that was the paint my wife had texted her to use. I knew my wife had texted the correct paint (we have the text and still have original paint), but since the above scenario only involved two smaller rooms I was not concerned with it. Tonight I went to inspect the property and prep it for sale and discovered the following. Almost every room in the house needs repainted due to mismatched paint. One room has nail hole patches (or attempts at least) with no paint. One large room has the original burnt orange on 2 walls and white paint on the other two. In addition although the carpet was cleaned there are multiple stains on the carpet (in multiple rooms). I also found out from speaking to a neighbor that the tennant had a dog and did not pay a pet deposit (non returnable). The front porch rail is damaged from the screen door slamming into it (I was aware of this one issue, however never agreed to eat the cost - nor was asked by the management company) To top all that off when I arrived at the house the garage was completly open and allowed access to bottom half of home. Do I have any legal recourse (preferable against the management company) if so what would you reccomend I do (ie. try to work it out with them first etc..) Thanks for any advice.Shane
Hello again,.I am going to consider this a follow up, but if you are given the option after you view this to click a smiley face or star or something similar, it will give me credit for this answer..If the tenant did not have permission to paint the unit from you in writing, and you didn't give them any verbal permission, then they wouldn't have had the legal right to repaint anything. Even if you did give permission, if the agrement was that they had to repaint when they left, they are in breach. The tenant has to return the unit in the same condition they received it in, excepting normal wear and tear. Painting without permission is considered damages and the cost of repainting is recoverable. Additionally the other damages and depreciated cost of the carpet are also recoverable if the stains won't come out. Even though the deposit was returned, this would not prevent you from filing suit against the tenant based on the damages you have found. KY has a 15 year statute of limitations on contracts, so this is not an issue..As for the management company, they sound completely incompetent or blind to me to refund a tenant's deposit when there are obvious damages to the unit. But it is the tenant that is liable for any damages, not the incompetent management company. They just have incredibly poor judgment. You could file suit against them for breach of contract and sue for any fees that you have paid them for managing this property, but it might not be worth the effort. However, I would definitely fire them and find another company who paid a little more attention to details like orange walls, nail holes and damaged carpets..
Thanks very much for your quick reply.
You are very welcome..