Being sewed through a rental property?

[Joz]

We have a rental property in TN, and we received a letter today stating that there is a case against us. It says the clients name and an injured minor's name and no other details. The client is not the tenant on lease. There asking me to produce all the evidence I have such as video, audio, emails, manuals, etc... About 40 different things. I've never seen the house in person, so I have nothing. I live 2000 miles away. I looked up the client's name and found that she was arrested for filing a false claim a few weeks after this alleged event. Then, I looked up the minor's name and there was a missing child report a few weeks later. In the report it stated, "child has no known mental or medical issues". I informed the property manager and tomorrow will let my insurance co. know what to expect, if it comes to that. Is there a "standard" defense for something like this? Should her attorney's send me all the reports, claim and medical? Any suggestions?
Thanks.

 

[quincy]

We have a rental property in TN, and we received a letter today stating that there is a case against us. It says the clients name and an injured minor's name and no other details. The client is not the tenant on lease. There asking me to produce all the evidence I have such as video, audio, emails, manuals, etc... About 40 different things. I've never seen the house in person, so I have nothing. I live 2000 miles away. I looked up the client's name and found that she was arrested for filing a false claim a few weeks after this alleged event. Then, I looked up the minor's name and there was a missing child report a few weeks later. In the report it stated, "child has no known mental or medical issues". I informed the property manager and tomorrow will let my insurance co. know what to expect, if it comes to that. Is there a "standard" defense for something like this? Should her attorney's send me all the reports, claim and medical? Any suggestions?
Thanks.

Who was the letter from? An attorney in Tennessee?

I recommend you hire an attorney in Tennessee. There is little you can do from 2000 miles away.

 

[LdiJ]

Who was the letter from? An attorney in Tennessee?

I recommend you hire an attorney in Tennessee. There is little you can do from 2000 miles away.

If he/she turns it over to his/her insurance company, as indicated in the post, the insurance company will provide the attorney.

 

[quincy]

If he/she turns it over to his/her insurance company, as indicated in the post, the insurance company will provide the attorney.

This seems to go beyond an insurance claim.

 

[Taxing Matters]

If he/she turns it over to his/her insurance company, as indicated in the post, the insurance company will provide the attorney.

The insurance company might provide an attorney. It depends on the terms of the policy and what exactly the plaintiff's claims are. While it's still a good idea to inform the insurance company because if it does provide coverage it may have the option to refuse to pay claims if the OP doesn't promptly notify the insurance claim. But I support quincy's recommendation that the OP discuss this with a TN attorney ASAP. If in fact a lawsuit was filed and good service was made under the state's rules of procedure, then the clock is running on filing an answer to the lawsuit. A failure to timely file an answer may result in a default judgment against the OP. The OP can try looking for the case online if the court for the county where the property is located has that stuff online and see if there is anything filed there. But even that wouldn't guarantee the OP isn't missing something important. When you own a home 2000 miles away and something like this happens that may involve the property, you have to be prepared to pay legal and other expenses to deal with it.

I hope the OP owns the home in a LLC or corporation. If so, that at least may limit personal liability for the OP. So much can go wrong when you buy a property thousands of miles away that you've never even seen. It's not something I would recommend a client do, but if a client is going to do it, then using a limited liability entity and having plenty of insurance on the place would be essential, along with getting a good inspection done of the place prior to purchase.

 

[adjusterjack]

tomorrow will let my insurance co. know

Right, your insurance company, not your insurance agent. You call directly to the claims department to report this. You'll be assigned a liability claim rep and claim number. As soon as you have that, arrange to email a copy of the letter to the claim rep and follow the claim rep's instructions.

Tell your property manager to stay out of it and not discuss it with anybody.

 

[zddoodah]

we received a letter today stating that there is a case against us.

Received a letter from whom? Was it just a letter or were there documents relating to the lawsuit?

It says the clients name and an injured minor's name and no other details.... There asking me to produce all the evidence I have such as video, audio, emails, manuals, etc... About 40 different things.

So...there's some "case" filed by someone you've never heard of and without any details whatsoever? The letter says something along the lines of: "Dear [Name], A case has been filed. We're not going to tell you what it's about, but please send me all evidence relating to the thing I'm not going to tell you about"?

I informed the property manager and tomorrow will let my insurance co. know what to expect, if it comes to that.

If what comes to what? You absolutely should put your property owner's insurer on notice of this. Also, you said that you informed the property manager, but did you ask the property manager questions about what happened or is alleged to have happened?

Is there a "standard" defense for something like this?

You haven't told us what "something like this" is.

Should her attorney's send me all the reports, claim and medical?

No. On the other hand, if the letter seeks compensation for an injury alleged to have occurred on the property you own, the person seeking the compensation will need to produce documentation relating to damages at some point.

 

[quincy]

A lot of questions still need to be answered but this definitely does not sound like something that you should leave in the hands of your property manager. Your property manager should inform you of the basics of the incident that led to your receipt of the letter but should say nothing at all to anyone else.

A legal action of the sort implied by your post requires the services of a legal professional. Certainly your insurer should be notified of a claim (or potential claim) against you as it relates to your property. But I think it best if you additionally let an attorney you hire in Tennessee handle the communications from the attorney representing the client(s). This is to whom both you and your property manager should refer all questions.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

...we received a letter today stating that there is a case against us.

Are the words "subpoena duces tecum" on the document?

 

[quincy]

Are the words "subpoena duces tecum" on the document?

If there are, Joz needs to act quickly. A court hearing has already been scheduled.

I hope the property manager hasn’t been trying to handle this on his own up to now.

 

[Joz]

Who was the letter from? An attorney in Tennessee?

Yes, the letter is from a law firm in TN.

Received a letter from whom? Was it just a letter or were there documents relating to the lawsuit?

No documents at all. The letter says:

RE: Our Client: *********** ************
Injured party: ******* ******* (minor)
Location of incident: 1234 ********* Ave, TN.
Date of Accident: June 29th 2022
...Our office represents ********* ******** in the above mentioned loss.

Then the letter goes into 5 pages of preserving evidence. No case number, nothing. It reads like a form letter and goes on about word docs, excell, video, cctv, altering data, deleting data, hard drives, voice mails, texts, anything a week before and a week after the incident. The only thing I have on this house is income and expense statements.

Are the words "subpoena duces tecum" on the document?

Nothing worded like this.

Your property manager should inform you of the basics of the incident that led to your receipt of the letter but should say nothing at all to anyone else.

The property manager knows nothing about this. And the "client" is not on the lease and seems to live about 5 miles from the house.
I will contact my insurance today and maybe they can find out what it's all about.
Thanks for all the good info on this.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Then the letter goes into 5 pages of preserving evidence.

There's the answer. This is a Notice To Preserve Evidence.

https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba-cms-dotorg/products/inv/book/214612/Chapter 1.pdf

 

[zddoodah]

No documents at all. The letter says:

RE: Our Client: *********** ************
Injured party: ******* ******* (minor)
Location of incident: 1234 ********* Ave, TN.
Date of Accident: June 29th 2022
...Our office represents ********* ******** in the above mentioned loss.

Then the letter goes into 5 pages of preserving evidence. No case number, nothing. It reads like a form letter and goes on about word docs, excell, video, cctv, altering data, deleting data, hard drives, voice mails, texts, anything a week before and a week after the incident. The only thing I have on this house is income and expense statements.

So...the supposed incident happened eight months ago and the property manager knows nothing about it?

What you're describing is an evidence preservation letter. It's a rather odd thing to send in relation to what I assume is an unremarkable personal injury claim. Honestly, it smells like a scam or shakedown, but....

I will contact my insurance today and maybe they can find out what it's all about.

Your insurer isn't going to be able to provide you with any information, but yes, you absolutely should put your insurer on notice. You should also tell the property manager to put his/her/its insurer on notice. If there's no demand in the letter (other than to preserve evidence), then there really isn't anything for you or anyone else to do at this time besides wait for the inevitable demand or lawsuit. It appears Tennessee has one of the shortest personal injury statutes of limitations in the country (one year), so be on the lookout for something more in the next few months.

 

[Joz]

I just talked to my insurance co. and they said, "there's no claim at the address so they can't do anything". They didn't even want me to forward the letter to them saying, "we have nothing (no claim) to attach it to". They suggested contacting the law firm I received the letter from. Or, have a lawyer do it.

 

[quincy]

Yes, the letter is from a law firm in TN.

No documents at all. The letter says:

RE: Our Client: *********** ************
Injured party: ******* ******* (minor)
Location of incident: 1234 ********* Ave, TN.
Date of Accident: June 29th 2022
...Our office represents ********* ******** in the above mentioned loss.

Then the letter goes into 5 pages of preserving evidence. No case number, nothing. It reads like a form letter and goes on about word docs, excell, video, cctv, altering data, deleting data, hard drives, voice mails, texts, anything a week before and a week after the incident. The only thing I have on this house is income and expense statements.


Nothing worded like this.

The property manager knows nothing about this. And the "client" is not on the lease and seems to live about 5 miles from the house.
I will contact my insurance today and maybe they can find out what it's all about.
Thanks for all the good info on this.

Thank you for replying to our questions, Joz. Your insurer gave you good advice except I would not recommend you contacting the law firm yourself. The suggestion to have an attorney you hire do this for you is what I recommend.

The letter you received from the attorney appears essentially to notify you that a (personal injury) lawsuit is being pursued against you and that you must not destroy any evidence that might relate to this claim. Proof of spoliation of evidence, or proof that you destroyed or altered or hid evidence that otherwise might be used to support the claim, can be (and typically would be) used against you in court. A jury can presume the evidence was unfavorable to you and use this lack of evidence against you.

Besides contacting an attorney in Tennessee and letting this attorney speak for you, you should also make it clear to your property manager that nothing should be done to any evidence relating to the claim.

This could be a scam ... but it doesn’t really sound like one to me.