UPDATE ; The Tenant out..Left infestation fleas the whole house

UPDATE ; The Tenant out..Left infestation fleas the whole house

Burleson, TX · Member since 2016 · 87 posts · 6 votes

This is has been horrible story for us...This horrible tenant had finally moved out, found out later from the neighbor he is under warrant arrest by the police the last 2 weeks before he is moved. He didn't even show up to move his stuff, he hired friend of friend to help him loaded his unpack stuffs. They couldn't load them all so left most junks in my house. Got all junks clear, then i found out ..fleas in the house, pull the carpets in the living room and converted garage room (The other rooms we have laminate flooring and ceramic). We got a lot of fleas bite, when we were working out there. And other thing they have an urn ashes, they left in the house. We contacted them to get it and they didn't come get it. Saw the documents in the house that this person is a criminal, has been in Jail in Louisiana and has been doing illegal business and sale stolen cars. 

Note : We did rent to daughter but his dad only listed as occupied list, we only screened the daughter who the one sign the lease. We got screwed by this horrible family.

Question ; Is it worth our time and an extra money to do small claim? they won't gonna be pay us. 

Thank you. 

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  • Burleson, TX · Member since 2016 · 87 posts · 6 votes
    10y

    oh we had exterminator guy came yesterday to spray inside and outside. 

  • Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
    Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
    10y

    Total waste of time and effort... move on ....

  • Houston, TX · Member since 2016 · 5 posts · 0 votes
    10y
    Not worth it for small claims court. In these situations, any judgment you obtain would likely be uncollectible. Most criminals are not concerned with civil liabilities.
  • Nathan MillerPro Member
    Property Manager · Grants Pass, OR · Member since 2009 · 429 posts · 201 votes
    10y

    Agreed, waste of time if it's not collectible.  Be sure to perform a full tenant screening (credit, criminal, and eviction) on your next tenants and save the hassle.

  • Burleson, TX · Member since 2016 · 87 posts · 6 votes
    10y

    Thank you. Yes, we learn big lesson.

  • Boise, ID · Member since 2016 · 4 posts · 1 vote
    10y

    I'm super new to this, but if the daughter was the one who signed the lease can't you go after her for the damages ect?

    The father maybe the criminal, the one who trashed the place, and hard to collect from, but the daughter  was the tenet, if she previously passed your checks you should be able to collect from her or take her to court.

  • Real Estate Agent · San Francisco, CA · Member since 2016 · 11 posts · 4 votes
    10y
    I agree with Jasen. The liability falls on the renter who is really the daughter. If her checks cleared before that usually means income. In my state and city, small claims costs are minimal. Also possibly state specific, small claims court by nature usually work well with plaintiffs with ample documentation. If it doesn't cost too much time or money, go for it. Big lawsuits are definitely a drag but small claims are generally much much simpler with the right prep
  • Investor · Bronx, NY · Member since 2015 · 24 posts · 10 votes
    10y

    Be happy they left. I would consider that a WIN. I believe your efforts are better spent fixing up the property and finding your next tenant.

    Apartment with fleas. I once lived in an apartment that had fleas. I left after a week. It usually takes more than one treatment. I did not want to take a chance at taking those fleas with me so I tossed everything.  I did not bother going after the property management office, but if your infestation is not treated properly your new tenants may go after you.

    A good way to check if they are still in the property is by placing small aluminum 8x9 baking pans with water and dish soap on the floor, spread them through out the rooms. Put a few small plugin lights in your outlets. Wait 24 hours. They'll jump inside the pan and die.

    That's how I was able to prove that I needed to get out of my lease. Even after the exterminator treated the apartment. The property manager came by and I had pans full of fleas. The next day she returned my deposit and my rent.

     Good Luck

  • Burleson, TX · Member since 2016 · 87 posts · 6 votes
    10y

    @Jasen Crisp, Yes Technically we can go after her, but I see she has the same character like her dad, the fact she moved out couple months after she signed the lease. So its obvious she set us up. The small claim cost $116, if i can be able to collect from her paycheck probably it will be worth it. I am not sure the procedure.

  • Burleson, TX · Member since 2016 · 87 posts · 6 votes
    10y

    @Astrid Cuas Thank you for the tip, definitely will try.

  • Atlanta, GA · Member since 2015 · 74 posts · 24 votes
    10y

    If you get a favorable judgment in small claims court, you would probably need to get a debt collection attorney to actually extract the judgment from the daughter (assuming she is not completely judgment proof and has the ability to pay). You might consider placing a few calls to local attorneys who specialize in debt collection to determine what their fee would be. Then you can decide if, based on the effort involved, the amount of damages you believe you would recover, and the fee or percentage due the collection attorney, it's worth it to go after her. 

  • Real Estate Professional · Lafayette, LA · Member since 2016 · 5 posts · 1 vote
    10y

    If you collected a deposit, which you should have. If the rent was paid up, which I am considering it was cause I did not read where you was going to evict, then count your blessings and move on. If there is no major damage other than flea infestation, just some clean up and freshening the place up, you are coming out ahead.

  • Real Estate Agent/Property Management · Houston, TX · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 827 votes
    10y

    @Yenlan Patton   Texas is a pretty debtor friendly state. You can't garnish wages for anything other than unpaid child support and unpaid taxes. Bottom line is it's better to cut your losses and move on.

    You can deduct the cost for pest control from the security deposit because that is clearly damage caused by the tenant.

  • Investor · Century, FL · Member since 2015 · 950 posts · 603 votes
    10y

    Easy way to get rid of fleas - clear the entire house and then bomb it. $10 for a pack of three bombs. Use them all at once. (leave cupboards open, pull the appliances from the walls, etc).

    I don't have any carpeted houses but if I did, I'd then have the carpets cleaned. 

    I did clear one house of fleas by sending my dog in by accident. They literally all jumped on him (poor guy). Capstar'd him at home. $7 to clear the house.

  • Hollywood, FL · Member since 2015 · 65 posts · 11 votes
    10y
    Move on from this..these are risk we agreed upon when we got into real estate
  • Bulawayo, Zimbabwe · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 253 votes
    10y

    cut loss and move on. it does worth, the time,emotional investment to recover

  • Burleson, TX · Member since 2016 · 87 posts · 6 votes
    10y

    Thank you all for the opinions, we are so behind getting the house ready, and just yesterday we found out someone threw the rock to my back big window. I am guessing this ex tenant, he went in to my backyard and threw the brick to my window. I couldn't lock the fence because the fence is broken from the wind. And I couldn't find any reliable contractor who show up the last 2 weeks, seems they all busy. Hate this criminal!.

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