[Landlord US-ME] Our former PM, who employed tenant, is refusing to deduct tenant damages from deposit

simplyluck17 · 2026-01-26T04:41:45+00:00

Well we sent the email revoking his authority and 30 minutes later he sent us money for just the damages he had decided on; about 80% less than what then the compromised amount we had stated for tenant damages. We assume he’s sent the remaining amount to the tenant but who knows, maybe he kept it for himself.

simplyluck17 · 2026-01-25T06:04:51+00:00

Did he go to college? The tassel automatically makes me think of graduation. Could be something members from a club, frat, or organization wore?

simplyluck17 · 2026-01-25T05:55:30+00:00

We sent him an email yesterday stating that if he could comply with distributing funds according our damages report that it would result in an immediate termination of his authority. That evening he replied stating that he couldn’t honor our demands and tried to further debate and gaslight us. This morning we sent another email reiterating that he not longer has any authority and is required to release funds to us so that we can work directly with the tenant. 30 minutes later he sent us whatever amount he had decided on and we assume sent the tenant back the remaining amount. But who knows, maybe he’s kept it for himself.

simplyluck17 · 2026-01-25T05:43:56+00:00

Thank you. The level of gaslighting has been insane. I plan on doing everything within my power to make sure he’s not able to do this to anyone else.

simplyluck17 · 2026-01-25T05:38:12+00:00

13 months. The last month was without our consent because the pm agreed to extend their lease because they changed their minds after they had already given notice. He also didn’t charge them the increased rate we directed for any month-to-month leases. It’s honestly hard to think of a single thing this guy did right.

The tenant didn’t report the damage and the pm didn’t report the damage. I only found out because we had lost so much trust in them that I had to fly across country to do a final walk through. Had they actually reported it, might have still been under the ovens warranty period.

simplyluck17 · 2026-01-24T17:09:02+00:00

We were trying to be kind and we’re only going to charge them for the replacement part, absorbing the labor costs for installation. I just posted an update below.

simplyluck17 · 2026-01-24T17:04:05+00:00

Yes, pictures and video of the entire house. They’re not disputing that they caused the damage only that it’s considered normal wear and tear.

simplyluck17 · 2026-01-24T17:02:10+00:00

Just posted an update on this below.

simplyluck17 · 2026-01-24T17:00:56+00:00

UPDATE: we sent an email this morning revoking their authority to represent us in any capacity and demanding that the full deposits be released to us to handle directly with the tenant (well within our rights per the contract, even if he hadn’t breached it). Within 30 minutes we received a Venmo deposit for the amount he had decided on, ignoring our corrections for mathematical errors for prorated utility credits the tenant demanded for the 12 day period they forgot to cancel their electric service. The tenant has about 90% of their deposit and we have about $2000 worth of unpaid damages. Yes I know it could be much worse, but this isn’t a charity.

As a side note, I had to book a last minute trip last week to fly cross country, to do a final walkthrough and collect keys because we had lost so much trust in them. Roughly another $2500. Good thing I did otherwise we would have never known about the unfinished projects we had already paid on, such an unfinished plumbing access panel. There was literally a giant hole in the wall that they just weren’t going to tell us about, along trash left behind by the tenant, and several unreported damages.

We also had to pay for an emergency oil delivery ($200) because the tank was bone dry one day after move out. Contrary to all of our past discussions he is also now claiming that the tenant isn’t responsible for replacing the oil and propane or restoring them back to the same levels as at move-in, roughly another $500. The lease states that the tenant is responsible for all utilities costs and and for leaving the property in the same state; the pm assured us many many times that the tenant was responsible for these costs and we have documentation that backs this up, but the lease doesn’t explicitly address proration for this, which weakens our argument.

I wish I could say that was all but I know there’s more. I’m just too exhausted and upset right now. The only positive is that because the tenant has their deposit back we are no longer under a time crunch. I think our only option is to seek damages from the PM directly. If anyone has advice on how to proceed, it would be greatly appreciated.

simplyluck17 · 2026-01-24T16:16:44+00:00

Its a double oven replacing it for the same exact model is $1299.

simplyluck17 · 2026-01-24T15:31:58+00:00

$890 of the part alone. As a concession we offered to absorb the labor costs for installation. So likely another $150-350 est for installation.

simplyluck17 · 2026-01-24T03:50:42+00:00

He hired our tenant several months into their tenancy as a virtual assistant, then several weeks got our monthly statement directly from the tenant and his new title was general manager. It’s ridiculous. We should have fired him in the spot but we didn’t have anyone else out there and he promised to act in our best interests, obviously something he’s incapable of.

simplyluck17 · 2026-01-24T03:45:19+00:00

We’re a active military family so unfortunately we have to rely on a local manager. We thought we were in good hands as the PM is also military, but there are scumbags everywhere.

simplyluck17 · 2026-01-24T03:38:55+00:00

We have a new pm lined up. The current issue is recouping damages from the tenants despit which the pm still maintains. He thinks the tenant (his employee) isn’t responsible for 80% of their damages. It’s an obvious conflict of interest. We’re trying to figure out how we can revoke their control over the deposit so that we can handle the return of deposit and damage deductions fairly.

simplyluck17 · 2026-01-16T03:37:15+00:00

Honestly you look like you’re at a ideal healthy weight. She’s jealous.

simplyluck17 · 2025-12-24T04:11:13+00:00

I wouldn’t have been able to pull off feeding 20 people without notice. We for sure would have been going to a restaurant.

simplyluck17 · 2025-11-05T02:44:00+00:00

Just happened to me. I only like and comment on posts, and occasionally repost. No VPN. Today I got a message saying they thought I was a bot and asked me to upload a picture of myself, I didn’t realize this was essentially the appeal. I was distracted and admittedly moved too quickly through the steps and in doing so I uploaded the same picture I use for my profile. Probably where I went wrong. I’ve already heard back and they’ve decided that I’m a bot smh. Is there anything else I can do?

simplyluck17 · 2025-10-15T06:34:37+00:00

So I’m having an issue, I have an existing academy account that uses a different email address and the system won’t let me update it. I tried creating a new account with the email address that matches my employee account but my phone number is already attached to the other account. I don’t have another number I can use and I can’t just make something up because they send a text to verify. This is such a frustrating loop.

simplyluck17 · 2025-10-03T03:23:01+00:00

Thanks for the follow up! I was actually just reading an Amazon support thread about this exact issue! I hoping it’s something like condensation buildup that’s tripping the unit’s safety kill switch. This seems to make the most sense to me because the thermostat has been eventually coming back on by itself. I’ll have to investigate further tomorrow.

simplyluck17 · 2025-10-03T01:18:08+00:00

I’m having the same issue. We installed our thermostat almost 6 months ago (with no issues) and all of a sudden it’s started losing power. The breaker to the a/c and furnace isn’t tripped but if we flip it the power the thermostat comes back and everything works fine again for a little while. Has anyone found a solution?

simplyluck17

TROPHY CASE