Renters - HELP

[gabby4ever 1]

I had some renters i wrote about here a few months ago...

The problem is they had a contract signed with us until january, and a neighbour of mine called me and said they had a moving truck there and they left....i dont have the keys, phones are disconnected, etc etc....

My question is, is there anything i can do about it? They owe me like 2000$ ( a month and a half worth of rent) !!!

Thank you for anything you can tell me!!!!

[alienlovechild 75]

Check out your legal rights first. Check out self-help legal websites for your state first.

Example:

http://www.legalaid-ga.org/GA/index.cfm

[Heracles 417]

Do you have their personal details such as SSN?

If they're still in the same county you ca easily apply to have their wages garnished. Nonetheless, no matter where they have gone, they can be skip-traced and then served in their county. If it's under $2K or $3k, it's very easy to garnish their wage in a county court.

Edited September 22, 2009 by Booyah!

[The_Dude 1,142]

You can certainly sue them for breach of contract. However, there are several mitigating factors here. First is your expenses you will incur in suing them. Secondly, even if you get a judgement against them, good luck collecting the money off them. Now, this is based on my opinion that they are deadbeats.

[Heracles 417]

You can certainly sue them for breach of contract. However, there are several mitigating factors here. First is your expenses you will incur in suing them. Secondly, even if you get a judgement against them, good luck collecting the money off them. Now, this is based on my opinion that they are deadbeats.

They should at least punish these ####. Small claims is very easy and cheap to file in a county court. Most of all I would report it on their credit report. In particular to their next landlord, where they have may have very well lied to acquire a new lease; which is fraud. I'd chase people like that to the ends of the earth; just to stop them from screwing anyone else over.

Edited September 22, 2009 by Booyah!

[gabby4ever 1]

how do i report it on the credit report???

problem is, house is in louisiana, im in florida....

they owe me around 2000$, so if i had to fly over there to take them to court etc, ill end up getting paid 500$ after all the expenses....i am such an idiot for not getting their social....their grandma is living 2 houses down to the house i rent, so dumb i thought they will be ok....

i guess my big thing is, even if i dont get the money...id like to report them somewhere , to affect their credit report.....they cant do this over and over....

[Otto 83]

It's a civil matter (small claims court) - you can take them to court (they may/may not show up and you may/may-not even need to know where they are now) - can get a judgment against them but may be difficult to collect on them if you don't know where they are (or even if you do).

[Heracles 417]

how do i report it on the credit report???

problem is, house is in louisiana, im in florida....

they owe me around 2000$, so if i had to fly over there to take them to court etc, ill end up getting paid 500$ after all the expenses....i am such an idiot for not getting their social....their grandma is living 2 houses down to the house i rent, so dumb i thought they will be ok....

i guess my big thing is, even if i dont get the money...id like to report them somewhere , to affect their credit report.....they cant do this over and over....

I would be looking at contacting some lawyers in their area, who can do the work for you. If they paid you by check, you can get a judgment against that account. When the amount owed is under the small claims threshold, there is a a lot you can do and on the cheap. Matter of filling out forms really.

I would contact a lawyer over there and see what they suggest, since they know the local rules best. Depending on the state, default judgments can last from 10 to 20 years. They have no excuse for leaving you out to dry and not even contacting you.

Edited September 22, 2009 by Booyah!

[The_Dude 1,142]

how do i report it on the credit report???

problem is, house is in louisiana, im in florida....

they owe me around 2000$, so if i had to fly over there to take them to court etc, ill end up getting paid 500$ after all the expenses....i am such an idiot for not getting their social....their grandma is living 2 houses down to the house i rent, so dumb i thought they will be ok....

i guess my big thing is, even if i dont get the money...id like to report them somewhere , to affect their credit report.....they cant do this over and over....

I would be looking at contacting some lawyers in their area, who can do the work for you. If they paid you by check, you can get a judgment against that account. When the amount owed is under the small claims threshold, there is a a lot you can do and on the cheap. Matter of filling out forms really.

I would contact a lawyer over there and see what they suggest, since they know the local rules best. Depending on the state, default judgments can last from 10 to 20 years.

It's not worth the time, effort, and expenses to pursue it to be honest. You can get a judgement against them, but you'll either be paying travel expenses if you are representing yourself, or attorney's fees if you decide. Either way, your judgement would be a pitance compared to what they owe you. Furthermore, if you were able to get a judgement, you would have to track them down to get payment. If you put a lien on their bank account, I can't imagine they'd have the full amount there, so they would simply open a new bank account, or other means around it.

[Heracles 417]

Most lawyers offer a basic consultation that she can try to have over the phone. It doesn't hurt for her to ask what her options are.

Small claims are easy and pretty much a done deal.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

In many states, the tennant has more rights than the landlord. It's ridiculous here in MA. You have a snowballs chance in hell of collecting a dime. If you have a lawyer send them a letter, it'll cost you at least $250, and probably double that. The true deadbeats won't fear any threat of legal action. They'll move on and do it again somewhere else. The cost of pursuing it will be more than they owe you and you still have a slim chance of collecting anything. It's outrageous what goes on.

[HAL 9000 96]

how do i report it on the credit report???

problem is, house is in louisiana, im in florida....

they owe me around 2000$, so if i had to fly over there to take them to court etc, ill end up getting paid 500$ after all the expenses....i am such an idiot for not getting their social....their grandma is living 2 houses down to the house i rent, so dumb i thought they will be ok....

i guess my big thing is, even if i dont get the money...id like to report them somewhere , to affect their credit report.....they cant do this over and over....

Actually the judge would likely add your legal expenses on top of what they owe you if the lease agreement states they'd be responsible for these things. Small claims court filings are not immediate. Depending on where you file you may wait a few months... but you'll get your due if the paperwork is in check.

Will this end up in People's Court?

[BluesTraveler 0]

If they are running away in the middle of the night...what damage did they do to the apartment?

Small claims court you have to represent yourself, so is it worth it to travel there and fight them?

[DIARD 1]

I use to rent out houses as part of an old job, took a few people to court. All states are different but where I was in CA we were able to collect not only damages,past rent and court costs, but also rent from the time they left until we rented out the house again. You have to show a good faith effort to get it rented though (Ads etc). Most judgements like this go on credit reports under court judgements.

You can find them using a pi and garnish wages etc for the amount of any judgement. Also although the judgment may only be good for a set number of years, you can get it renewed. I agree with checking into a consulation with a local lawyer on the laws in Louisiana (though lawyers are not usually allowed to represent in small claims).

[gabby4ever 1]

thank you all for answering....

after "1000" phonecalls yesterday and a panic attack later, i finally managed to track her down....and of couse she said she was planning to call me etc etc...she said her husband and her are splitting up and she got fired from the job and couldnt pay anymore...

and i said, ok, fine, but you still owe me money from the past rent etc etc...

she said she will pay when she gets a job...oh well, i tried to scare her a little bit with people's court and everything...

we'll see now if she will pay....she told me the house is clean, everything turned off....locked....ill see if i can get somebody in there to check it asap.

thank you again.