Landlords Can't Collect Eviction Judgments

Go to court, get a judgement, then put a lien on their paycheck.

“You can have a debt recorded and as you state, years down the road, the tenant might want to get a loan and the lender will see that debt and ask that it be satisfied before lending.”

“It is very rare to collect anything. Occasional losses are part of the gig.. If the tenants are bad,, that means you chose bad tenants.. The more trouble you go to trying to destroy the tenants life the less likely you are to collect a penny..”

“It will also give them no reason to pay what they owe the landlord. If they screwed the LL, they screwed other companies too.. Getting wrapped up in MAKING THEM PAY is not good for your health..”

“That is not what a security deposit is for. If she really wants that money she needs to demand it from the tenant, then persue in small claims court if it isn’t paid. Keeping the security deposit is a good way to owe 2-3x damages to the tenant for keeping it wrongfully. She may not be entitled to it at all, if a bill was sent each month and paid in full by the tenant sister is probably just out of luck. Even if she is entitled to some money for internet, who’s to say the tenant would have wanted”

Thanks for the info and especially for the links!

I figured. Thanks for the response

“In the same boat. In Texas can i do something against the tenants? I got two court judgement against the tenants.”

“I am also a landlord for around 9 years but last 8 months had been really rough. Two evictions and one small claims court cases - all went in my favor with court awarding me judgement. Once the appeal time was over and when there was no hope for recovery I reached out to https://american-apartment-owners-association.org/solutions/rent-collection/ and they recommended https://syncomcorp.net/property-management-collections/ . They ask for full write-up, lease records, court judgement etc. Accordin”

“Curious to know if you were very thorough with your background and credit checks, checking personal/work references, credit score of a certain number, etc... and you've had 4 evictions despite being so thorough, or if you were more easy going about it? I'm genuinely curious, so forgive me if it sounds like there's judgement from me, as that is not my intention at all... just doing my best to avoid evictions and damage.”

“We’re in a landlord’s market right now. There are a lot of great people on the sidelines who are priced out. I haven’t had any problems renting to people who were recommended. Just do a credit check. I did have to turn one prospective tenant away, they had horrible credit and a bankruptcy.”

“I recently was looking into this. In California, you can file a writ of execution and have sheriffs put lien on their account(s). The account(s) get frozen so they can object if there are certain protected deposits, and then you get paid. You can also go after other known assets, eg car, etc. And as someone else mentioned, you can set a hearing to find out what assets they have available. You should know some of it from their application that they initially submitted though.”

“Child support, tax obligations, etc, I was surprised that rent judgments made the cut.”

I’m not sure if they are “garnishable”……

“1099-C after all attempts to collect. Forgiven debt to tenant is essentially income taxable on tenant. Issue them one and move on with your life.”

“I never sued a Tennant who left and owed me money as collecting is about all but impossible. BUT I have countersued and won the Ones who sued me. Seems to me credit agencies have access to the courts public records. Never tried to sell it.”

“I handled evictions for my law firm for years. FYI, in WA you have to renew your judgment with the Court every 10 years I believe. Years later, when they go to buy a house or car (it happens), you’ll get a call from their lender asking how much to pay off the judgment. Twelve percent per annum adds up!”

“I have one that is late on her 3rd rent payment and said she is moving out (thought she could give a 30 day notice in a 12 month lease). She had an excellent credit score and income. I will have my judgement. Will I get anything? Probably not. Will it make renting from another landlord more difficult, yes.”

“Offer to release them if they forego the last month's rent and security deposit. It's a little gamble on both sides, if you rent it quickly you come out ahead. If it takes you months they come out ahead (but then again you could have a judgment against someone who can't pay). But it buttons it up quickly and you both move on.”

“If it were me, I would definitely sue in small claims or landlord/tenet court, whichever your jurisdiction allows. There are clearly enough guarantees on the lease that you should be able to collect for full damages. I'm not a lawyer, so not giving legal advice here. Often, however, judges tend to split the bill, by cutting down your claim. And if the tenet shows up with a lawyer, then I'd advise you to ask for a postponement until you can get one of your own.”

“You can hire a private investigator to find them. As long as you have documentation you can win this case. However again collecting can be a pain, I actually chased one around for 10 years but did eventually collect on them when they bought a house and got an abstract of judgement. There are other avenues to collect but it's a crap shoot. Your best bet is to toss it over to a collection agency if you got their SSN.”

“I don't have the goal of making anyone else's life miserable. Well, except the future landlords of this particular tenant.”

“I see it differently. I don't have the goal of making anyone else's life miserable. Shit happens- people lose their jobs, lose their spouses, have financial problems, have medical problems, mental health issues and substance abuse issues.”

“This is probably true, but as a fellow landlord I appreciate the landlords of deadbeats that go through the process of getting a judgement against them. We kind of have a responsibility to make being a deadbeat renter as painful as possible. If they continue to get off scott free, then they'll be much more likely to continue the behavior, making all of us worse off.”

“To be fair, we aren’t in TX but you have to weigh out the odds of collecting against the cost of pursuing this in court. Would you hire a lawyer? What sort of landlord/tenant laws are applicable in your area? Are the laws more tenant or landlord friendly? Sometimes tenants are basically professional squatters. I had a family member who rented an apartment with first/last and a deposit. She lived there a year before they could get her evicted through the courts and she lived rent free for 9 month”

“Small claims is up to $20,000. Also, judgements can be renewed indefinitely every 10 years and judgments can be left in your will. Yes, I am that petty. I have renewal set in my calendar.”

You don't have a choice.

“They were not very responsible tenants as you may guess. Trashed the house paid no rent. Took a while to kick them out”

“How would you that ? Need lawyers?”

tx small claim is $20k. definitely worth it

“Most likely that amount is beyond small claims court, check your local limit. Fof a couple hundred dollars you can taint their records for 10 years with a court judgement, renewable at the end of that decade. If it's worth the cost and trouble is up to you.”

“I mean it depends on the tenant.... Ia broke tenant isn't going to be paying you anything.”

“Hey everyone, I’m looking for some real-life advice from anyone who has dealt with this before. A former tenant broke the lease, stopped paying rent, and left the house with quite a bit of damage and cleanup needed. We repaired everything and re-rented the property, so we did mitigate our losses. After applying the security deposit the remaining balance is around $19,800. I sent him a detailed itemized statement and final demand, but he never responded or paid anything. I’m ready to file in smal”

“Plus worst case scenario, they have to pay like 20% taxes, on whatever they owed you.. and you get zero. I would rather leave them with a judgement, where they can't buy a house, or new car, until they pay you.”

“Has anyone tried to go through the process of collecting rent owed? Do I have to wait til the tenants are out and then file a suit through small claims court? If so, I guess I’m banking on a judgement which doesn’t really mean I get the money but I will be able to garnish the wages, sell the debt to a debt collector, file the loss on my taxes or alert the IRS of their unpaid rent so they can be penalized? Looking for some guidance on what the process is or anyone experience submitted by &#”

“Landlords always get the judgement, collecting is different story. if they have jobs you can garnish wages but most tenants who skip rent don't leave forwarding address or bank info lying around”

“Winning the judgment is the easy part, actually collecting is where most landlords get stuck. If the tenant has no wages to garnish and no assets, a judgment is basically a piece of paper, you can go after wage garnishment or a bank levy but only if you know where they work or bank. Realistically budget for not collecting most of it and treat the judgment as a paper trail more than a payday.”

“Not good. In my state you might even be dismissed and told to refile in Housing Court.”

“As a landlord your primary concern should be getting y our asset back from people who are not fulfilling their written contract and replace them with those that are. As for the odds of collecting from Small Claims - if they aren't paying rent what are the chances of you actually able to collect on anything. Any good accountant would be able to write the missed rent as a write off. The 'going after them' mentality will deter you from your primary activity of leasing it back to someone”

“That’s what I assumed. Im having them evicted because I don’t trust them, but like you said realistically I can’t expect payment.”

“I think we end up collecting about maybe 15% of the money owed to us once tenant have moved out. The most likely success is to get on a payment plan that is manageable. At some point they will stop paying, but at least you got what you got. If you push the issue for a large number early, they will ghost you. It's a lot of work to try to chase someone who is moving, and often people job-hop even if you try to garnish. Eventually some of them get their act together, and if you have a judgment”

“In #1 and #3 - if there is a written lease then OP can simply go for collections(if payment is due and reasonable). Collections companies also first see not just blindly initiate the collection process. Let the tenant sue the OP for wrong doing in small claims court.”

“Great in theory, time consuming and pointless in practice. Many places have limits to wage garnishment so the person has something to live on. So the amount per week can be tiny, assuming you go to court and enforce it. Then the other problems like finding the guy, serving him and having them work cash jobs or just switching jobs too often. Worst is if they move away. Getting money out of people that defaulted on their rent is mostly a waste of time. Some might feel differently”

“I assume if I was renting and decided to be a deadbeat, a LL could win a judgment and have my wages garnished, no? Same with credit cards, if you actually have income and aren’t declaring bankruptcy. It’s always been my understanding that you can’t just not pay people unless you truly have nothing.”

“My rent was on autopay but the portal’s autopay malfunctioned so rent wasn’t paid. Landlord immediately sued for rent. This was in early January and I was consumed with prepping for the Feb bar so I didn’t catch the rent problem til early Feb when the autopay didn’t work for Feb either. I immediately paid all the rent so I thought things were fine. I’d moved back home to study so I didn’t know about the summons I got in the mail at my apartment. I didn’t show up to court cuz I didn’t know there”

“Sometimes you have to accept a loss as part of doing business. It may take longer to recover the money through collections, but if you obtain a judgment, there may be options such as wage garnishment depending on your state's laws. Keep in mind that collections attorneys and collection agencies typically take a percentage of whatever they recover, often ranging from 30% to 50%. While that can be frustrating, recovering a portion of the debt is often better than letting the tenants walk.”

“I mean is there a statue of limitations on something like this? He is showing up a little late. Ignore him, if he is serious he will sue in small claims court. Wait for that”

“...attorneys/lawyers are not allowed in small claims, unless it's an appeal. You can get an attorney outside of court to guide you, but they can't appear in court for/with you and you can't request fees. Pretty sure that's the case basically everywhere, too, not just CA.”

“You're misrepresenting how this actually plays out. Small claims - treble damages under SB 567 only apply to rent cap or just cause violations and even then it's discretionary for egregious conduct. A $20 increase with a text notice the tenant read and paid for 3 years isn't that. Realistic worst case for OP is the ~$720 back plus a $50 filing fee. That's it. Regular court with a lawyer - over $720? Come on. No attorney is taking this on contingency and if the tenant pays hourly”

“And file in small claims!! It’s just paperwork & a couple hours in court. If tenant is a no-show, (high probability they will be) you”ll win by default anyway. It may take take years but they’ll be unable to purchase property, it will be a red flag for anyone pulling their credit report & with the judgment you can file a writ of garnishment to attach their wages. You would need their employer’s info but point being you could get all your money back. More importantly, don’t let the scam a”

“Of course. That is in the lease already. But they are judgement proof. What to do? They live there for a few years and then say they are moving out. They might not even give proper notice. Some just simply leave and call when they are in another state already. The last month they simply do not pay the rent. I can't possibly evict them for non-payment or violating the lease. If I send them any bill for damages, they will not pay it. I would have to take them to court to get it and it is not e”

“The daily check-in just to stay on top of it gets very mundane. Also, your point about owner-required bids is so true. The pressure that owners put on you to get multiple quotes can be annoying. Does the owner ever push back on which vendor you recommend or do they mostly trust your judgment once you’ve done the legwork?”

“Small claims can only handle money judgements, not returning property. Owner would have to prove he was actually damaged. Only way I could see that happening is if the owner had a signed lease with a future tenant and that tenant's move-in was delayed specifically to the PMs negligence. If the PM was acting prudently, i.e. following typical business practice, the case would fall apart. I believe they are acting similarly to others in the area. Not only that, I wouldn't be surprised if th”

“Ah sorry I didn't see that Reddit threw me a r/plumbing question and I was treating this as a local /rental question.. LTB is what we call our tenant dispute board around here. I'm sure you've got an equivalent in your area - it's a seperate entity from small claims that deals specifically with landlord tenant issues. Do check with your neighbors about the landlord charging them too - you can't ALL be responsible for the actions of one person.”

“Small claims court. Costs 90 bucks to sue. He could win whatever 21 days worth of rent is, more than 90 dollars. Just have to make sure it isn't in the contract. Not saying he should but small claims court is extremely cheap if you ever get screwed over”

“Getting a judgement is not the same as getting money. If furniture got moved in it can get moved out. You will end up paying someone to do this sorry”

“Tenants moved out last month after their lease ended, and I returned majority of their deposit after doing a walkthrough, but the new tenants moved in and brought to my attention that a small section of the fence on one of the sides of the house has been torn up. Been quoted at about $4k to fix, is chancing small claims court worth it in this situation? I have pictures from the walkthrough but none of the fence outside, is that sufficient proof? Thanks al”

“If OP is certain there is a violation then they can sue for that extra month of deposit back in small claims court. I don't see why a violation would void the lease at the tenants convenience.”

“OK so you are justified in asking for the amount you paid over and above state law back. You cannot use this as an excuse to terminate the entire contract. If they refuse to refund you, or, to apply the excess to the next month's rent, you'd have to sue them in small claims court. One flaw in a contract does not automatically make the entire contract void. You can still be held liable for the entire amount of rent you agreed to pay. Altho”