Property Managers and Small Claims Court

            There are circumstances in which the property manager may file a small claims action on the behalf of the landlord. This is done to recover amounts due or an unpaid balance from the rental or lease agreement:

• The claim must be related to the property the manager manages
• The managing agreement wasn’t entered into for the sake of making the small claim case
• The manager was retained by the landlord for the purpose of managing the property

Note a property manager can also file these claims for a homeowner’s association (HOA) which was create to manage the common areas of the CID (Common Interest Development.)

However, for a property manager to file to represent the landlord in the small claim action he/ she must file a declaration in the action saying:

• They are authorized by the landlord to appear in court in their behalf under their property management agreement
• Has not been employed solely for the sake of representing the landlord in court

If a broker enters into a property management agreement which states they have the authority to:

• Enter into leases and rental agreement as the landlord
• File U D actions
• And hire an attorney to handle evections, if the need arises
• The broker may file the U D action in their name even though they are not the true landlord or the true landlord’s attorney.
• In fact, the property manager holds the greater right of possession on the property even though the owner may be known to the courts.

It is the property manager’s frequent and documented inspections of the property which become almost as important for the accurate accounting of income and expenses.

The property should have records of:

• Physical condition of the property
• Availability of habitable units or commercial space available
• The usage of the property by the tenant
• Note: Images on this blog site are from a free source or taken by the author. No image or group of photos is intended to represent the people the author serves. The author does not care about Race (that is a politically correct term that he does not like because we are all of the same Race, the Human Race. He prefers the term ethnicity, color, religion, sex, gender, marital status, disability, genetic information, national origin, source of income, Veteran or military status, ancestry, citizenship, primary language or immigration status.) He is a service provider for all people. We will all rise together when we band together and help one another. Joseph Erwin is a Real Estate Broker, DRE # O2131799, and a CA general contractor # B 696662. He’s a member of the CRMLS and The East Valley Association of Realtors located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California. This writing is not to be used as legal counsel the author is not a lawyer and does not give legal advice other than consult a lawyer before acting.