Past rent being set to collections

[Brent Kiger]

I have a question regarding how landlords have gone about collecting past rent due from a tenant that has abandoned the unit. My tenant stopped paying rent and we began the eviction process. Before we had a court date, my tenant moved out and abandoned the place. As a result I do not have a judgment against her. I’m trying to see if there is a way to send her past rent due to collections, fully understanding the odds of collecting are slim to none. Wondering if there is a collections agency that routinely takes on situations like this, and if so, what that process looks like.

Curious what other landlords have done that have experience with this.

Thanks,

Brent

[Kyle J.]

@Brent Kiger  I've taken a tenant to court for past due rent & damages, but in my cases the amount was worth it ($6k) and I was confident I could collect since I knew where she worked and was prepared to garnish her wages (which I did until I collected the full amount).  But the process for collecting on a judgment varies by state and whether or not the amount is worth your time is a personal decision.

I will point out that you don't actually need a judgment to sent the tenant to collections and put it on their credit report, so I would at least do that.  You'll be warning other landlords that she's a bad tenant, and - who knows - maybe one day she'll want/need it off her credit report and decide to pay you off.  It happens. 

Anyway, here's a couple companies you can report it through: Rent Recovery Services and AOA Debt Reporting Service.

Good luck.