[Landlord-UT-US] Shady(?) Property Manager Recommends We Sue Tenants for Treble Damages ($20K+). What do I do?

TLDR: Hired well-rated property manager after moving out of state for work. Had bad tenants evicted. $20K+ unpaid rent + damages. Property manager recommends we sue for treble damages (1/3) of which will go to legal fees. Is this an ok idea? Am I missing anything?

BACKGROUND Bought home then moved a year later for work. I hired a local property manager that had good reviews. Head guy named "Jim," they oversees 200 properties in the area.

PROBLEM Jim found these tenants ~3 years ago. A couple late payments over the years. Jim chalked it up to late payments or processing time but we'd always get paid within the month.

Last Nov/Dec we didn't get any payments. I reached out to Jim via email and phone. No response. In the bustle of the holidays I chalked it up to holidays and processing time. Come Jan, I get 1 text from Jim that they are mid-eviction and the tenants wouldn't be paying Nov-Jan rent. I finally get a hold of him but he blames T-Mobile for not getting my texts and calls and finally "switched carriers." Smells like BS, but from out of town I'm forced to rely on him.

Feb, tenants are out. The house is TRASHED. Feces + urine all over the carpets and walls. Dog bite marks on the blinds and doors. Several bedroom doorknobs replaced with deadbolts. Broken window screens. Light fixture missing. LED strip damage all over the walls ripping out drywall. Multiple punch/kick holes walls. 2 door trims splintered from kicked in doors. Trash, vapes, moldy food, and cigarettes everywhere.

The property manager claims he did walkthroughs and it was fine. They must've "just started trashing the place" in the last month or two. Obv can't hold him liable, but just smells like more BS here.

I flew out, took a week off work to coordinate contractors, clean. and repair the house.

PROPERTY MANAGER SOLUTION In the contract our property manager is to handle all eviction, recoupment, and legal etc. That's the only reason why im keeping them, otherwise i'd just switch companies. Since I'm out of town I just don't think I can be there onsite to handle legal myself.

He recommends we go through an attorney he works with often. He claims we can sue in regular court and can go after treble damages since they squatted post eviction, and did egregious damage. The rate is they get the 1st third of the recoupment. Base damages and missed rent would total around $20K.

Does this pass the smell test or will this all be a sham and I should just cut my losses? It seems low risk since they'll handle of it.

Anything I should be aware of? I know the common recommendations on the sub are "it's not worth the effort" and "small claims court + garnish." Out of state working idk if i have the bandwidth for small claims court and the limit is far below the damage.