Tenant stole my stainless steel refrigerator

[Dante Devine]

I have a single family rental property in houston Texas. I had a tenant move in and three months later, she moved out in the middle of the month and stole my stainless steel refrigerator, not to mention she never paid me for that month. She never told me she was moving, she just up and left. Of course I have a picture of her drivers license and her ssn. I was wondering if there is anything I can do with that information to make me feel better. Its not even really about the money, just that I don't think she should be able to get away with that. Can I put some kind of lien on her credit report or file a theft report with the police? Has anyone had any experience with this?

[Eric S.]

I don't let tenants steal from me and get away with it.

First, you need to research what the unit abandonment laws are for this city. I'm not sure that you have to file an eviction. Then, you also need to research what the law allows you to collect in the case of a unit that is abandoned. For example, in my city when a tenant abandons a unit, I can collect redecorating fees, advertising, and the lost rent until the unit is re-rented or until the lease expires. That can be a very large claim-thousands and thousands of dollars. I would also file a police report for the fridge. When you have a compiled list of all losses, I would submit it to a collection agency I use that reports to all 3 credit bureaus. You can look them up at www.gofic.com. It won't cost you anything, and they will share 50% of what they collect with you. At the very least, you know that the next time this person applies for a rental, they are going to have to explain why they have such a large open collection related to a rental on their credit report.

Just make sure that when you submit the collection, you document all the losses very carefully-the collection agency will require it because if the debtor questions the debt, which they frequently do, the agency will need to have proof substantiating the details of the claim.

Good luck and I hope you eventually get some of your money back. If you are going to continue renting, check out the book Landlording on Autopilot by Mike Butler. The guy is a genius and it is probably my favorite RE book. It will make dealing with tenants a lot easier.