Background Screening

Property management Company Settles for $105,000 Another property management company was recently sued by a former tenant. A&G Rental Management chose to settle a lawsuit with a previous tenant for $105,000. The suit claimed the property management company provided the tenant with deplorable living conditions. The suit against the property management company claimed the tenant had to live with hypodermic needles, rats and overflowing garbage at their apartment community. The tenant consistently complained about the conditions over their lease term, but the property management company never addressed their concerns. The tenant decided to file suit for emotional harm after they received several move-out charges from the management company totaling $1,500. The ex-tenant felt these charges were unfounded based on the living conditions and the move-out fees. It seems like this lawsuit could have been avoided by taking two basic steps. When buying real estate, t...

The function of a security deposit is to provide some assurance that a tenant will return a rental property to its original state (or pay for any necessary repairs). However, one common mistake will diminish the property owner’s ability to apply deposit deductions. Let’s say that you have a verbal agreement with a tenant that, as landlord, you will repair a garbage disposal, clean the carpets and apply a fresh coat of paint to the bathroom. The soonest that these repairs can be made is one week after the desired move-in date. Upon occupying the unit, the tenant takes photos which highlight its current state of disrepair. You just lost the ability to collect full reimbursement for damages from the security deposit. When the lease expires the tenant has a justifiable reason to refuse deposit deductions, as they can fairly argue that they returned the unit to its original condition. You may very well have upheld your verbal agreement, and the tenant benefited from the repairs made...