All Forum Posts by: Sarah Bookout

We own a house and rent it out. We hired a property manager in 2013. He died suddenly in 2015. He had our tenant’s deposit in an escrow account. After they moved out we had to give them their money back out of our own pocket. I contacted his daughter on Facebook trying to get answers about that $1200 deposit. She had no clue. Said he had “no will or estate.” It’s been some years now and I don’t want to let it go. How can I get that deposit back? We’ve contacted lawyers who were pessimistic. Any ideas?

I do not feel entitled. I am just trying to understand this better and how it works in our unique situation. We are trying to be fair and understand completely. I know the tenant did nothing wrong. I am just trying to cover everything and make sure we handle it the right way. If I was concerned about MY entitlement I wouldn't have posted on here in the first place asking for advise on the right thing to do. Thanks for the clarification though that we are responsible. We'll definitely take that info and do the right thing  

Ok. That helps! Thanks everyone!

Shouldn't the corporation that holds their money be responsible and the tenant and corporation work it out? And not us? 

We (the owners) don't have a contract with the tenant. The property manager did. So I think that is why we feel it is not our responsibility. But I get what you all are saying. 

Very unique situation here. We own a property in TN that was managed by a property manager who had been in real estate for 30 years. He knew the business and was a one man show for his property management company. Well, he passed away a few weeks ago and we found out yesterday. His children went in and shut down his business. They shut off his phones and the whole situation is a mess. There will be a lot of stuff coming from this. But, we signed a contract with him that we have been informed is null and void at the time of his death. The problem is our tenant has their deposit sitting with his company in an escrow account. It will be a while before that money will be dispersed back to them. The man's three businesses were in a mess and there are lawyers involved. In the mean time we need a new property manager. The tenants will be moving out about June 2016. So the question is: do we charge them another deposit (I would rather not). Just wondering if anyone has any creative ideas for the deposit. Thanks!