Tenant Causes $14k Damage to IN Rental Property
Thank goodness for BiggerPockets! Hoping you can help me with an issue I have on a tenant-damaged rental property.
The property is in Indianapolis IN and managed by a Property Management company; I live in California. The PM screens and selects tenants, manages the property and it's tenants, performs any evictions, etc. I receive a monthly owner statement.
The property manager recently evicted the tenants at this Indianapolis property for non-payment of rent. The tenants were there less than a year. I received an estimate yesterday for the damages to the place and work needed to get it ready to rent again, $14,400. Yikes! He's going to get 2 more estimates.
The property manager explained to me that the place was trashed by the tenants. When he went to the property after the tenants moved out, he put the key in the front door and it caved in (the top two hinges were either taken off or busted). He also said there are 4 broken windows, all interior doors have been removed and a couple of them were nailed to the wall to cover the busted windows, and a couch was half way out another window. The new carpet that was installed last year was unsalvagable, all the blinds are damaged, there are holes in the wall that require re-sheetrocking, lights are damaged, etc.
The property manager says there's really no recourse we can pursue from the tenants that would be worth our while. I questioned this, from a back-rent-payment and a damages-payment perspective, and he discouraged my taking any action. He said he thinks drugs/meth was involved, and we're not likely to ever see a dime of restitution from the tenants since they have no money.
What are our rights as landlords in this case? What process do you think I should follow to get a resolution on this issue?
Thank you BP community!
Most Popular Reply
1. Fire your property manager, in fact, fire her twice.
2. You must file for restitution. Normally I recommend cutting losses and running, but this is too much money to pass up, you need a judgment. Your PM is suggesting otherwise because they don't want to deal.
3. You need some friends with boots-on-the-ground around there to help find you a contractor. Nothing you mentioned costs 14K, maybe 5K. Your PM should have good contacts for this
4. land lording long distance requires GREAT teammates in place that have aligned goals and similar interest in mind. It's too difficult to do this with just a transactional hire, you need partners.