Expert Witness – Property Management Standard of Care

Full Name:          Jeffrey S. Lapin, CPM, ARM, DREI

Address:              Spring City, Tennessee

Email:                  jlapincpm@gmail.com

Phone:                 423-402-0636

Web:                     www.jeffreylapincpm.com

Profile:

As a Certified Property Manager (CPM) and an Accredited Residential Manager (ARM) with approximately 40 years of hands-on property management experience in all types of properties, and as a co-author and instructor of required courses for property management industry education and training organization certification, I am an expert in real estate management and maintenance, inspections and reasonable national standards of care for commercial properties (office buildings, industrial buildings, retail centers, etc.), multifamily residential properties and HOA’s including inspection and maintenance procedures, landlord premises liability, financial reporting and fiduciary duties.

As an expert witness since 2015, I have been engaged on a multitude of cases involving reasonable standards of care, fiduciary duties and related topics for commercial and multifamily residential properties (including condominiums) by attorneys representing both plaintiffs and defendants. I have testified in court and in depositions both in person and on web based platforms. I handle cases in all 50 States.

I have been actively and directly involved in the management of real estate since 1984, first as a property manager and later as a property management supervisor, management company co-owner and top executive for national management companies. I have recently (2021) retired from day-to-day property management activities.

Since 2011, I have been teaching webinars and classes in the education and training of real estate professionals through the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM®) and the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA). I was a co-author of the revised Maintenance and Risk Management course which IREM requires for professional designations.

As an instructor for both of these prestigious organizations, teaching accreditation courses in property maintenance, risk management, ethics and finance, I have helped hundreds of real estate professionals advance their understanding and application of these topics. 

In 2020, I was a contributor to the IREM® publication: Best Practices For Real Estate Management Services. This document contains the recommended best practices compiled by IREM  instructors for management companies with regard to client relations, management of the property, tenant/resident relations and also contains a Best Practices checklist.

As an Adjunct Professor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC), I have taught Real Estate Fundamentals as part of the Real Estate minor program at UTC.

I also teach prelicense courses as approved by the Tennesee Real Estate Commission (TREC) for the Tennessee Real Estate Education Service (TREES).

I am currently an active real estate licensee in California and in Tennessee. 

Please click here to see my full Curriculum Vitae.