Tracking down evicted Tenants?

[Austin Davis]

Hello BP,

I have a couple tenants that I inherited that ended up not paying rent and/or trashing their unit, which left me with many thousands of dollars out of pocket.  My property manager has gathered the paperwork needed for collections, but we cant figure out where they live to serve them the paperwork.  We found that when we sent the paperwork through regular mail, it must have forwarded to a new address, but the the tenant didn't respond.  We tried sending the paperwork certified, but certified mail won't forward for some reason.

Anyone have a good way of tracking people down?  I assume the private investigators in the movies that serve people paperwork are real, but wanted to check first to see if there was an easier way.

Thanks for your help!

[Corey Arnemann]

Hi Austin,

Good question. I'm going to have to side with Jeff B. on this one.

I myself in the last 7 years of property management with over 100 rental properties have had 4 tenants owe rent, and damage the property and disappear. When I found them, all that work to find them, only to discover they have no money and no job was even more of a waste.

A good habit to get into as a DIY landlord is to regularly check on the tenants financial situation, and life situations before they happen to avoid these costly expenses. Use Facebook, and perform property maintenance to get every opportunity to talk with the tenants.

I love when a tenant calls and has a maintenance issue even if it's nothing. It's an invitation to come into the property and see how things are going, ask questions about their life, etc... All the while, you are gaining information on them in case the worst happens.

Good luck with your court date!