Is property manager liable if owner won't do repairs?

[Jana Stinnett]

Hi all.

I am trying to help a family member rent their older mobile homes and have stepped in as the property manager.  It's a small mobile home park in Texas.  The homes have some things wrong with them that the owner does not want to fix because of time and/or cost.  Windows not opening properly and some cracked window panes are the most obvious things wrong.  If something happens or the property is found to have deficiencies and the owner is sued, am I liable even though it's the owner that doesn't want to fix the problems?  I was about to list the homes for rent and want to make sure that if I am showing the homes I won't be liable for the owner's decisions.  I will not be signing the lease, the owner will do that.

Thanks

[Patricia Steiner]

I recommend you bolt. There are property management laws that apply to showing/presenting/warranting a property and you cannot rent a property with known deficiencies that do not meet the definition of habitability.  You would be an agent of the owner and that does not proclude you from liability - including from the Fair Housing Act as well as Landlord/Tenant Laws.  The fact that you know there are known deficiencies that will not be cured makes you liable.  You can't hide behind the fact that you're not signing the lease.  In Texas, the Attorney General cites 7 days as being the reasonable cure period.

Don't participate if you're not willing to assume the risk.  And, before you do anything in real estate, know your state's landlord/tenant laws.  What you don't know can hurt you badly.