Posted by John Merchant on November 10, 2004 at 14:37:34:
I’d lay odds that fewer than 1% of all jilted landlords ever collect from a bad tenant like yours.
So I’ve learned to write these things off as it costs me more in money, frustration and angst to chase them than it’s ever been worth.
Tenant evicted. Can we get the rent he owes. - Posted by Colin
Posted by Colin on November 10, 2004 at 13:40:34:
Hi folks.
We are in Florida. I apologise in advance if this is not the place to ask this question. We successfully had a tenant evicted who owed us $4000 in rent. They caused a good deal of damage which we are going to need to fix to make the property habitable again and they also damaged the electricity meter which we are now going to have to pay to have repaired before the electricity company will switch the power back on. What would be the best way to proceed to at least make an effort to get some money back or should we let it go and just write it off as a bad experience
Thanks Colin
Re: Tenant evicted. Can we get the rent he owes. - Posted by Maria-Fl
Posted by Maria-Fl on December 02, 2004 at 18:39:25:
Hi Colin. I’m in South Florida. Get your judgement and contact CSI-Creditor Services Inc. at 877-394-3413. They are who I use for collections. They have done a great job for me and even if you don’t get all your money, they will make the tenant so sorry. I just got another payment of $541, the money CSI keeps for their fee is added to the amount due and does not come out your principle. I write that into my leases. Don’t give up just get some help.
Re: Tenant evicted. Can we get the rent he owes. - Posted by Mark Reynolds
Posted by Mark Reynolds on November 14, 2004 at 09:04:03:
Since you evicted this tenant you must already have a court case filed. Ammend your complaint and ask for judgement for the lost rent, damages, etc. Make sure your judgement is recorded and that it shows up on the tenants credit report. Frequently the tenant will someday come back and want to pay in order to get his credit cleaned up. Don’t waste money chasing the guy to try to collect but the relatively small cost to amend the complaint is well spent.
I used to have a law firm that would take these judgements and collect for 25% of the recovery. Don’t know if that kind of guy is still out there.