Landlord Tenant Agreement vs. State Law

[jechen2010]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Indiana

My employer was sent on an emergency call to the other side of the globe. Since he would be gone for a couple of months, he subleased the apartment to an individual. My employer walked through the apartment with the subleasor, admitting that it was not in the best condition. It was truly pretty dirty. He deducted a portion of the rent and tasked the subleasor to clean. A week later, the subleasor came back quoting state law how the landlord had the obligation to provide a clean, safe, and habitable environment. Because he's in a place without computers and phones, he reached me through email a week after the complaint was filed and hired me to clean the place. When I tried calling the subleasor so that she could give me access to the unit, she stated she had already moved out and is in the process of suing my employer and demands her rent back. She currently refuses to return the key to me.

 

[justalayman]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Indiana

My employer was sent on an emergency call to the other side of the globe. Since he would be gone for a couple of months, he subleased the apartment to an individual. My employer walked through the apartment with the subleasor, admitting that it was not in the best condition. It was truly pretty dirty. He deducted a portion of the rent and tasked the subleasor to clean. A week later, the subleasor came back quoting state law how the landlord had the obligation to provide a clean, safe, and habitable environment. Because he's in a place without computers and phones, he reached me through email a week after the complaint was filed and hired me to clean the place. When I tried calling the subleasor so that she could give me access to the unit, she stated she had already moved out and is in the process of suing my employer and demands her rent back. She currently refuses to return the key to me.

why would she return the key to you? You said you were hired to clean. Unless you are an agent of your employer for this matter, the tenant would be correct in not giving you the key.

 

[jechen2010]

why would she return the key to you? You said you were hired to clean. Unless you are an agent of your employer for this matter, the tenant would be correct in not giving you the key.

Right, I have been tasked as an agent.

 

[justalayman]

Right, I have been tasked as an agent.

do you have proof of that? Has the tenant been notified by their landlord of this?

 

[jechen2010]

do you have proof of that? Has the tenant been notified by their landlord of this?

Yes and yes

 

[justalayman]

Ok, a million different situations possible so a million questions but will start with just a few.


does the lease address the key in any way?

have you asked for the key?


has she given you any written notice of her intent to quit?

have you verified she has actually left?

 

[jechen2010]

She has given my employer notice to quit. The lease does not address the key at all. She is confirmed to be gone. I asked for the key but she is now ignoring all my calls and texts.

 

[Zigner]

Since you are acting in the capacity of a property manager, Indiana requires you to be licensed.

I think your friend ran in to a tenant who knows all the loopholes.

I'm curious, did your friend have the authority to sublet the unit?

 

[justalayman]

if you have a mailing address, send her a letter telling her that if she fails to return the key to you you will charge her for rekeying the lock.


If not, I would at least send her an email and text stating the same.


give her a couple days to respond (include a time limit in the notice). If she has not contacted you after that, change the lock and add that into anything you are charging her for the breach of contract.

to the issue she is arguing:

It was truly pretty dirty. He deducted a portion of the rent and tasked the subleasor to clean. A week later, the subleasor came back quoting state law how the landlord had the obligation to provide a clean, safe, and habitable environment.

she accepted the unit as it was and was even compensated for cleaning it. She has no right to terminate the lease for that reason after that.

 

[justalayman]

Since you are acting in the capacity of a property manager, Indiana requires you to be licensed.

code section if you would please?


I would question whether it rises to the level of property management. It sounds like it is under a POA.

and just to jump ahead:

IC 25-34.1-3-2 Transactions without license; prohibition; exemption
Sec. 2. (a) Except as provided in:

(1) subsection (b);

(2) section 8(i) of this chapter; and

(3) section 11 of this chapter;
no person shall, for consideration, sell, buy, trade, exchange, option,
lease, rent, manage, list, or appraise real estate or negotiate or offer to
perform any of those acts in Indiana or with respect to real estate
situated in Indiana, without a license.

(b) This article does not apply to:

(1) acts of an attorney which constitute the practice of law;

(2) performance by a public official of acts authorized by law;

(3) acts of a receiver, executor, administrator, commissioner, trustee,
or guardian, respecting real estate owned or leased by the person
represented, performed pursuant to court order or a will;

(4) rental, for periods of less than thirty (30) days, of rooms, lodging,
or other accommodations, by any commercial hotel, motel, tourist
facility, or similar establishment which regularly furnishes such
accommodations for consideration;

(5) rental of residential apartment units by an individual employed or
supervised by a licensed broker;

(6) rental of apartment units which are owned and managed by a
person whose only activities regulated by this article are in relation to
a maximum of twelve (12) apartment units which are located on a
single parcel of real estate or on contiguous parcels of real estate;

(7) referral of real estate business by a broker, salesperson, or
referral company which is licensed under the laws of another state,
to or from brokers and salespersons licensed by this state;

(8) acts performed by a person in relation to real estate owned by
that person unless that person is licensed under this article, in which
case the article does apply to him;

(9) acts performed by a regular, full-time, salaried employee of a
person in relation to real estate owned or leased by that person
unless the employee is licensed under this article, in which case the
article does apply to him;

(10) conduct of a sale at public auction by a licensed auctioneer
pursuant to IC 25-6.1;

(11) sale, lease, or other transfer of interests in cemetery lots; and

(12) acts of a broker or salesperson, who is licensed under the laws
of another state, which are performed pursuant to, and under
restrictions provided by, written permission that is granted by the
commission in its sole discretion, except that such a person shall
comply with the requirements of section 5(c) of this chapter.

As added by Acts 1979, P.L.248, SEC.1. Amended by Acts 1982,
P.L.156, SEC.1; P.L.183-1991, SEC.6; P.L.64-2004, SEC.17.

 

[Zigner]

http://www.in.gov/pla/files/IREC.2012_EDITION.pdf

876 IAC 2-8-13 Real estate management
Authority: IC 25-34.1-2-5
Affected: IC 25-34.1-5
Sec. 13. (a) The competency and instructional level for subdivisions (1)
through (2) is Level 2. The following are concepts of real estate
management:
(1) Purpose of real property management.
(2) Types of properties requiring management as follows:
(A) Residential.
(B) Commercial.
(C) Industrial.
(b) The competency and instructional level for subdivisions (1) through
(3) is Level 2. The following are concepts of the owner/property manager
relationship:
(1) Authority of property manager (agent) including the following:
(A) Established by property management contract.
(B) Property manager is normally a special agent.
(2) Duties of property manager (in general, a property manager owes
the same duties to his principal and to third persons as those
covered under “real estate brokerage and the law of agency”).
(3) Property management fee (including calculations).
(c) The competency and instructional level for subdivisions (1) through
(8) is Level 2. The following are concepts of the principal functions of
property managers:
(1) Establishing a rental schedule.
(2) Preparing a proposed operating budget.
(3) Marketing (advertising) and renting the property.
(4) Collecting and accounting for rents and security deposits
including the following:
(A) Establishing policies.
(B) Statutory requirements.
(5) Instituting legal actions (to recover rents or to evict tenants).
(6) Maintaining and protecting the property (including supervision of
maintenance personnel, paying property insurance, establishing and
enforcing rules for tenants, and providing tenant services).
(7) Performing landlord's duties under leases.
(8) Maintaining records and reporting to owner (including periodic
income and expense reports).



Granted, the OP's situation may never rise to the level of him being considered the "property manager", the steps he is taking can be perceived as falling within the definition. In any case, the OP will not be able to sue on behalf of his friend.

 

[jechen2010]

Although I do not possess a real estate broker's license, I work for a company that employs many individuals that do, namely my supervisor. It was according to my supervisor that I could conduct real estate business as long as I reported everything back to her and all actions taken by me had to pass her approval. Is this true? Either way, I have no intention of suing anybody. I just want to make sure that if the subleasor brought my friend to court, the subleasor would lose and my friend would have enough money to pay me for the cleaning.

 

[justalayman]

(b) This article does not apply to:


(5) rental of residential apartment units by an individual employed or
supervised by a licensed broker;

as to the general statement of:

It was according to my supervisor that I could conduct real estate business as long as I reported everything back to her and all actions taken by me had to pass her approval. Is this true?

that would depend on what "real estate business" is referring to.

 

[Zigner]

Although I do not possess a real estate broker's license, I work for a company that employs many individuals that do, namely my supervisor. It was according to my supervisor that I could conduct real estate business as long as I reported everything back to her and all actions taken by me had to pass her approval. Is this true? Either way, I have no intention of suing anybody. I just want to make sure that if the subleasor brought my friend to court, the subleasor would lose and my friend would have enough money to pay me for the cleaning.

Ahh, then you're fine wrt licensing.

 

[jechen2010]

So just to clarify, even though state law requires that the residence must be clean upon delivery (which it was not), due to the agreement my friend and his subleasor had, the subleasor cannot request her rent money back?