THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 26, 1994 TAG: 9411240495
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: William Mazel and Albert Teich Jr.
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
Q. I recently turned a rental property over to a real estate agent for management. In turn, the agent, unfortunately, after renting property did not make periodic checks on the property and as a result the tenants literally destroyed it.
They ruined brand-new carpets and storm doors. They got a large dog (even though the lease stated no pets) and the house is now flea and roach infested. It will take a good $1,000 or more to repaint and get the premises in good shape again.
I live on a fixed income and have two mortgage payments coming up. I will have to scrimp and scrape another year to get this home fixed up again. It has been less than a year since I had it fixed up the last time.
The agent took the tenants to court after they failed to pay the rent and the judge let them stay on an extra 10 days after they lived rent-free in September.
Then the sheriff issued a notice to vacate the premises in 72 hours. No keys were ever turned in and now I have to replace the locks.
The judges are certainly not on the landlord's side; we never get what is owed to us. My former tenants owe back rent, late charges and damages. The damage deposit will barely cover the paint and carpet cleaning.
I know the real estate agents are not responsible for who they rent to and damage done and the law says that landlords cannot discriminate.
How do we go about getting a what is fair? I hate to leave my home empty for squatters to break in again and live all winter free like last year. Is the agent responsible for getting the home back in shape or am I responsible?
A. Unfortunately, we have to say you are the person responsible for getting the property back in good shape if you want to rent it to qualified tenants.
We believe that your real estate agent certainly should have run some sort of background heck on the tenants before they leased the premises and we suggest that in the future either you or your agent require a credit check for prospective tenants and also seek references from the tenants' former landlords.
That may very well help prevent what has occurred this time.
We also suggest that you contain a provision in your rental agreement with your agent requiring that he make monthly inspections of the property.
If the agent had made an inspection and seen that the family had a large dog, that would have justified taking some action that might have helped your case.
We think that you probably have a judgment against your former tenants and we hope that you know where they moved to and also know their places of employment.
If you do have a judgment and the tenants have not paid the rent, you may certainly go down to the General District Court and garnishee their wages.
You might find out whether they have an automobile and you could probably attach the car and any other personal property they have.
We do believe the agent is responsible to a certain degree to rent the property to qualified people. Background information and credit checks, as mentioned above, would certainly go a long way in protecting the landlord and the real estate agent as well.
We cannot really pick on the judges in these situations. The law sets forth the time and the procedure in cases before General District Court. You have to give the tenants five days notice in writing to pay or move.
After that, you have to give them another 10 days notice before the case is heard and, after that, there is another 10 days allowing the tenants to note an appeal.
After all that has occurred, the law requires the sheriff to give a certain amount of notice so the tenant can move out before the sheriff can physically evict them.
We know it is hard but we always recommend to landlords that when your tenants fall behind in rent, be sure to proceed promptly and not let the rent and damages pile up. MEMO: Albert Teich Jr. and William Mazel are real estate lawyers based in
Norfolk. Send comments and questions to them at Real Estate Weekly, 150
W. Brambleton Ave., Norfolk, Va. 23510.
by CNB