You probably want to sue the landlord for violating your
lease or the Texas Property Code. Sometimes it is not easy
to figure out who that is. For example, what if the person
who broke the law was the manager of the apartment complex,
and the manager works for a management company that runs
the complex for the landlord? Do you sue the apartment
complex name? Do you sue the manager? Do you sue the
management company too? You certainly can. But remember
suing different people can cost you more money, and can
make the case very confusing. The person or entity that is
ultimately responsbile is the landlord -- the person that
owns the land. The manager is just an employee of the
management company who is acting on behalf of the landlord.
So the landlord is liable for anything the manager or the
management company does. A landlord you know at least has
one asset that you can try to collect on if you win (the
rental property iteself). So suing the owner of the land,
and not the name of the complex, the manager or the
management company is probably the best plan.
Finding the landlord -- the owner of the land
Finding out the name of the owner is not all that easy
either. Do you sue the name on the sign? Probably not.
Businesses use names called "assumed names" and they are
probably not the name of the real landlord. You want to sue
the actual person or business entity that owns the land as
listed on the deed.
There are a few ways to determine this information. First,
ask the manager or the person you deal with who the owner
is and their address. As we just discussed, you are not
interested in the owner of the management company (many
managers only give out this information). You are
interested in the owner of the property. It is important to
know that landlords have a duty to disclose this
information in seven days upon a written request by posting
the information in the office or responding to you in
writing. The only exception to this duty is when the
information is in your lease (so check this first). Tex.
Prop. Code 92.201. Even if you get information from the
landlord, it is best to check it against other records
(many landlords try to keep their true names hidden as much
as possible).
Second, contact the tax appraisal office in your area. All
tax appraisal offices attempt to maintain correct ownership
data on all real property in their district. Much of this
information can be searched online by the county the
property is in. If the county does not have a web
site, call or email them for the information. Again,
this information is not always correct, but it is easy
to search and free.
Third, the best way, but the most complicated way to find
out the name of your landlord is to check with the deed
records department of the county where the property is
located. Unfortunately, deed records are not user friendly
so searching for the name here will not be that easy.
Rather than organizing records by postal address, deed
records use the legal description of the property. Often
you can get that information easily using the tax appraisal
records as described above, and this will make your search
easier. Rather than trying to figure everything out at deed
records, ask a clerk for help. Explain you only want to
know about the owner of one piece of land. Clerks of these
offices will usually help.
In summary, landlords can be people or they can be business
entities. If a natural person owns the land, sue the
person, not the name of the business or the name of the
apartment complex. If the owner of the land is a
corporation or a limited partnership, you should sue them
in their official names. See the examples in the next
section.
Serving the right person with the court papers
Once you know the name of the landlord, you will also have
to know the name and address of the person to give the
court papers. Sometimes there is a difference between the
defendant, and the person that will get the papers.
For example, if Mr. X owns the property himself in his own
name, then he is the defendant, and you can serve him at
his home or business address. This is an easy one, but not
the typical way landlords operate. (List the address he can
be found at during the day. Papers cannot be served at post
office boxes.)
It is more often like this: Apartment Complex named "Forest
on the Swill" has a Manager named "Meany," and she works
for a Management Company "Rip O" that manages the complex
for the landlord which is Limited Partnership named "Forest
on the Swill Ltd. I" which owns the property. (Often
investors use limited partnerships to own property and name
the limited partnership after the name of the property
itself.)
Who do you sue and give the court papers to? Getting this
information is the hard part of course, but once you have
it do not be fooled -- sue the landlord -- the owner of the
land ("Forest on the Swill Ltd. I" in our example.) But who
are you going to have the constable or sheriff give the
court papers to?
According to Section 92.003 of
the Texas Property Code, if you have been given the
name and street address of a management company being used
by the landlord, then you must serve the papers on that
management company. (Again, keep the landlord as the
defendant, but list the management company as the person to
give the papers to.) If the name and street address of the
management company has not been supplied to you, then you
can serve the manager of the complex or any person that
collects the rent with the papers. So check your lease
agreement and other papers for this information. In our
example, if Management Company "Rip O" is listed in the
papers with a street address, list "Rip O" as the person to
be served with the papers and put in their address. If a
management company name and address are not listed
anywhere, then you can serve Manager "Meany" at the office
of the complex with the court papers. The defendant stays
the same: "Forest on the Swill Ltd. I."
Continue on to filing the case...