All Forum Posts by: Bernice Monroe

There's a lot to unpack here before we all pile on your property manager:

1. My tenants have been late w payments for 2 years and not once did my property manager deposit the funds.

What funds? Your rental income? Late fees? Something else? I assume you mean late fees? (Because surely you didn't go two years without receiving your monthly rental income?) - What does your PM Agreement say about the collection and distribution of late fees? It's not uncommon for part or all of them to go to the PM. And, looking back two years (COVID), late fees were essentially uncollectable at times here in Florida and were often waived when waiting on rental assistance payments, or to preserve the landlord's ability to pursue an eviction. You aren't providing enough information here to even understand what you are talking about, let alone sharing your PM's explanation. 

2. She tells me one price to fix something,I agree,then I get a statement showing more!

This sounds bad, but we still need more context. We all know it's not uncommon for an contractor to give you an estimate for something, and then the final bill to be higher due to some unforeseen problem or cost overrun. How may times did this happen? On what type of projects? What were the costs overruns (and why)? And what were the original estimates based on?

3. Long story short,property manager stated she would take our tenants security deposit and pay the bill and we can part ways. 

What bill? Do you owe the PM money? Do you owe contractors money for work that was done on your rentals? If so, this adds a very element to your story. 

4. Isn't it illegal to touch any money from tenants deposit?

It depends. Again, we need more context to make any sense of what you are saying: 

If the lease has expired, the PM can and should withhold the funds as appropriate from the tenant to cover the cost of any cleaning, junk removal, damages, repairs, and unpaid rent/fees. Whether and how the PM disburses these funds to you depends on your contractual relationship with them (and your answers to #3 above). 

If the accounts are just being handed back to you from the PM to the landlord, then yes, the security deposits belong to the tenant and should be transferred. But if your PM is holding a $1000 deposit, and you owe your PM $1000, it's a wash. So, in this scenario you could also just deposit your $1000 into your new escrow account and handle them as the security deposit in accordance with Florida Statute 83.49 going 

Yes,I'm speaking of late fees,also Pet fees.My tenants are essential workers, so during covid they were not affected. 

Pertaining to the Repairs, this has happened numerous times 

Security deposit that was meant for the tenants.Tenants lease is current

This is 100% illegal. 

I would send something like this to the property manager:

"You will transfer the security deposit to me, along with a copy of the lease, payment history, and any other records pertaining to this tenant or lease within 15 days. If you do not, I will immediately file a complaint with the Florida commission."

The commission will likely call this PM to notify them of the complaint and see if there's a way to resolve the issue before opening an investigation. That's usually enough to scare the PM into compliance because the State will audit the file, the bank accounts, and more. It could cause the PM to lose their license.

@Bernice Monroe

Hi how did your real estate rental goes? Did you find a property manager? And if so how did you find them?

I am in the process of acquiring my first rental too. So I am curious to see how your experiences is. Thanks!