Taking a tenant to small claims court (Part 1)

[Kyle J.]

The question always seems to come up among landlords, "Should I take a tenant to court for (fill in the blank) or because they left owing me $ for (fill in the blank)?" 

Generally, I say it depends on the amount, how much your time is worth, and whether or not you think you'll actually be able to collect anything even if you win.  In almost every case, I choose to let it go because my tenants usually leave on good terms, most of what they owe (if anything) is largely offset by their security deposit, and anything still left owing is not worth my time chasing.  It's basically just a business decision.

However, that all changed recently with one tenant in particular who left owing about 2 months worth of rent ($2,300).  I was actually prepared to let that go.....right up until I saw the inside of the house after they left and the damage they left behind. 

Before they moved in, this was a fully remodeled house with everything in perfect condition.  Here are a couple "BEFORE" photos showing the kitchen and one of the clean bedrooms:

Now here are a few "AFTER" photos showing parts of the same kitchen and bedroom (notice the large hole kicked in the cabinet and the bullet hole in the side of the fridge):

Now I don't mind normal wear-and-tear or even a little above normal wear-and-tear (like holes in the drywall) because I'm pretty handy and most of that stuff is pretty easy/inexpensive for me to fix.  But I draw the line at intentional damage/vandalism like you see in the photos above.  So in this case, I chose to file a small claims case against the tenant.  It's the first time I've ever had to do it, but I figured I would do it (if nothing else) for the principle of the matter and it'd be a good learning experience.  Plus, I believed I could actually collect a judgment from this tenant since I know where they work and should be able to obtain a wage garnishment.

Long story short, I had my small claims hearing today and the tenant didn't show.  I was actually hoping they would because I was so well-prepared that I knew I'd win anyway.  But nevertheless, I still had to present my case to the judge and in the end I won a judgment for just under $6,000. 

I have to wait 30 days in which the tenant has a chance to appeal the verdict (though they have no grounds in this case), and then I plan to go back to court and obtain an order for a wage garnishment.  I'll post a "Part 2" to this story after I do that to let you know how it turns out and if I'm able to collect anything.  So stay tuned.  :)

Any thoughts/comments/questions are welcomed.

[Stephen E.]

I took a former tenant to Small Claims Court recently, he had ruined the carpet in the unit and so damaged the walls that it had to be completely repainted as well as all the flooring replaced. The tenant voluntarily paid $2,000 and I got a default judgment for the balance of the damages which was just under $4,500. The tenant trades used cars and is an entrepreneur, so there are no wages to garnish. So I handed the account over to a collections agency that had given a presentation to my local landlord's group a few years ago. They are working on the account right now.

@Kyle J. I had the same attitude as did you, most tenants left little damage and what damage there was did not seem worth going after (no damage deposits in Ontario I am afraid). But I am emboldened by this experience. The entire process took three trips to the Court House, two to file papers and one for an assessment hearing once the tenant was noted in default. My out of pocket costs were $170. My potential upside is recovery of $4,500. That is not bad for what I would estimate as 10-12 hours work (including preparation of plaintiff's claim form, photographs, etc.) I have set a dollar limit of $500 for myself. If the damages are less than $500 I will cover them myself. If the damages are greater than that then I will sue them. I have done it once and can do it again.

Kyle's experience and my own shows that it is possible to obtain relief from small claims court, and that you can represent yourself. The law firm I had used for the eviction wanted $1,500 to take a small claims case to trial. I handled it myself simply for the cost of filing fees. The judge was very reasonable and even assisted - when he asked me what my costs were I said the $170 filing fees, then he pointed out he was allowed to award costs for inconvenience and lost time So I claimed and was awarded a further $300. My impression is that the courts are quite familiar with tenant damages cases.