This is in Arizona:
My wife and I rented a house managed by a property management company and they deducted $800 from a $1325 security deposit despite us leaving the house in great condition. We took a lot of pride in that house and paid the rent on time for 24 straight months which is what makes this so frustrating.
They refused to speak to us about the charges or respond to our letter so we didn't feel like we had any other recourse but to sue them.
Today the property management company sent us a letter from their attorney which is a copy of a motion to dismiss our suit and move the matter from small claims court to the civil division of the justice court and asked for attorneys fees for us suing the wrong party.
The motion says that A.R.S.33-1321 and 1322 says that they can't be sued. They say we have to sue the owner himself.
I don't see anything about not being able to sue them in the lease and the owner's name is mentioned only one time and simply states that he is the owner under the lease.
We paid the security deposit and rent to the management company and this is who sent us the deposit check back.
Are we really going to have to pay attorney's fees? Do we actually need to sue the owner himself and how will I even know where to serve him, there is no address listed in the lease for him?
Thanks so much for any help. I can't tell you how upset we are about this.
Edit: I called the county assessor and found out that the owner has his tax bills sent to an address out of state. So I could try to have him served there, although the management company previously told me he was moving back into the property so he may have moved back into the house.
My wife and I rented a house managed by a property management company and they deducted $800 from a $1325 security deposit despite us leaving the house in great condition. We took a lot of pride in that house and paid the rent on time for 24 straight months which is what makes this so frustrating.
They refused to speak to us about the charges or respond to our letter so we didn't feel like we had any other recourse but to sue them.
Today the property management company sent us a letter from their attorney which is a copy of a motion to dismiss our suit and move the matter from small claims court to the civil division of the justice court and asked for attorneys fees for us suing the wrong party.
The motion says that A.R.S.33-1321 and 1322 says that they can't be sued. They say we have to sue the owner himself.
I don't see anything about not being able to sue them in the lease and the owner's name is mentioned only one time and simply states that he is the owner under the lease.
We paid the security deposit and rent to the management company and this is who sent us the deposit check back.
Are we really going to have to pay attorney's fees? Do we actually need to sue the owner himself and how will I even know where to serve him, there is no address listed in the lease for him?
Thanks so much for any help. I can't tell you how upset we are about this.
Edit: I called the county assessor and found out that the owner has his tax bills sent to an address out of state. So I could try to have him served there, although the management company previously told me he was moving back into the property so he may have moved back into the house.
Last edited: