Landlord Question and Answer Forum

I'm a manager in Georgia. I have had to terminate management services while a tenant is still living in the home and has a valid lease. I gave the owner a 30-day notice around January 3, 2018. If the owner and tenant won't sign an agreement about how to disburse the deposit, how do I proceed? The owner and tenant have signed a new lease effective February 1, 2018, and, of course, the owner wants me to send him the deposit I have in our trust account.

I actually was in a similar situation last year. I did not renew my contract with my management company when our contract ended. They did a terrible job, but that's another thread. At any rate, they held the tenant's security deposit. Since I would be the one now managing the property, they sent the deposit to me, the owner. No owner/tenant agreement was necessary. In your situation, my guess on how to proceed would be similar. First, see if this is addressed in the lease and follow that. Or, without specifics in the lease, determine who will be the new property manager and send the deposit to them - - in your case it sounds like the owner will be the new manager. Of course, document, document, document. Advise everybody via certified mail where you sent the deposit: the tenant, the owner, and the new manager. Keep copies of everything, including the check or electronic transfer regarding the deposit. Please don't be like my former management company and leave the new manager/owner at risk. If you send the deposit late or to the tenant, then the owner will be without a deposit. (By late I mean, in the state where my rental is the deposit is supposed to be returned by 21 days yet the management company did not release it to me until almost two months had passed - all the while the tenants were in my property. Just more proof of how horrible that management company was.)

Posted by Jacqueline O, TX on Sunday, January 14, 2018