In Georgia you have one month to send the information regarding the status of the security deposit. Yes; you send this information to the last known address (your rental property); if it is not forwarded you collect the envelope and keep it in your files UNOPENED as proof that you met the requirements for the state for notifying the tenant of this.
It is not unusual that deadbeats who owe rent and do damage to property will take off leaving no forwarding address. What can grind your grits is that some of these folks will turn around and sue for their deposit IF the landlord does not make the effort to notify them of their security deposit even if they leave owing thousands in rent and damages.
In Georgia you have one month to send the information regarding the status of the security deposit. Yes; you send this information to the last known address (your rental property); if it is not forwarded you collect the envelope and keep it in your files UNOPENED as proof that you met the requirements for the state for notifying the tenant of this.
It is not unusual that deadbeats who owe rent and do damage to property will take off leaving no forwarding address. What can grind your grits is that some of these folks will turn around and sue for their deposit IF the landlord does not make the effort to notify them of their security deposit even if they leave owing thousands in rent and damages.
You might consider using www.rentrecoveryservice.com to send a letter to the rental address stating what she owes you. It's inexpensive and you'll get her new address. You can also have it reported to the credit bureaus so she may decide to take responsibility for what she owes you if she realizes it's a black mark on her credit that might prevent her from getting a loan or possibly even a job.
Thank you for sharing that link, thankfully I don't need it right now but seems like a good resource to keep handy. @Mira Gorlovsky good luck and hope everything works out. I'm going to follow this thread, I'm curious to see how it pans out.
Unlawfully using a debt collection service to report or collect a debt without a court order is just irresponsible. The liability you assume is staggering.
@Renee R., how does rentrecoveryservice find people? I have two tenants that left damage and unpaid rent that I just let slide. But I'd LOVE to put something on their credit to make it harder for them to rent in the future.
@Ray Harrell The service runs the address through NCOA (National Change of Address), which is a database of addresses managed, I believe, by the post office. So, if they have a new address that they are getting mail at, the new address will show up.
You can't just jump to getting it on their credit report. You first have to attempt to collect. You also should have legitimate documentation i.e. photos, cost estimates for repairs etc. in case that's needed.
The liability is punitive damages and injunctive relief from your tenants. LLs and PMs are only authorized to enforce the court order they receive to collect. Evictions are a judgment excepted for reporting.
The Federal statute allows this to fall under Federal District Court jurisdiction, so punitive damages are set by the same framework.
@Brooklyn A., I don't think you need a court order to report someone to a credit bureau. Think about credit card, mortgage, car payment companies. Do you think they take all those customers to court before reporting to the credit bureau?
OK. Here's the rundown, briefly for any tenant that gets damaged by this kind of irresponsible business practice.
1) Tenant is reported by you, the furnisher of information, to a Credit Reporting Agency, a CRA;
2) Tenant pulls credit, sees your debt;
3) Tenant disputes the reporting to the CRA, under the FCRA, section 1681s citing you have no court order (therefore without authority) ;
4) CRA is required to investigate the dispute by the furnisher of information. Upon discovery of the lack of court order to enforce, the CRA stops reporting the debt and is required to notify all other CRAs to stop reporting the debt.
@Renee R. Most Junk Debt Buyers (JDBs) are lawyers who, quite famously, run afoul of these same statutes. I pull my credit 2x per year and you can rest assured I'd follow the above steps to a T and file suit immediately. 1681n and (o) provide civil relief, and I'd hang you with my attorney's fees as provided.
You might consider using www.rentrecoveryservice.com to send a letter to the rental address stating what she owes you. It's inexpensive and you'll get her new address. You can also have it reported to the credit bureaus so she may decide to take responsibility for what she owes you if she realizes it's a black mark on her credit that might prevent her from getting a loan or possibly even a job.
Seems that this service has an issue with FCRA compliance:
This is why I pull my credit 2x year. Should the tenant discover this and dispute it with he CRA as I outlined, the furnisher of information, the landlord, is fried chicken.
FCRA authorizes minimum of $100 per violation with max of $1,000 and authorizes trebled damages plus attorneys fees and costs. Ouch.