I am looking for a bit of advice and guidance about a tenant who owes several months in back rent. I have already taken them to small claims court and we have agreed that they would pay the entirety in full by the end of this month, however, I have found out that they will not have the promised money. I am already thinking of evicting them next month but I was wondering in the meantime any possible way of getting the rent that is owed. I was thinking because I have the papers from the small claims court that I could file a lien but I am having trouble understanding how to file for something like that. If I could get any suggestions or advice it would really be helpful.
You should have filed for eviction when he missed his first rent payment and before you took him to small claims. Without the eviction you have no leverage to collect unless your state allows you to garnish wages.
At this point in time you are never going to receive another dime and need to no go through the eviction process to cut your losses and get control back of your property.
You should have filed for eviction when he missed his first rent payment and before you took him to small claims. Without the eviction you have no leverage to collect unless your state allows you to garnish wages.
At this point in time you are never going to receive another dime and need to no go through the eviction process to cut your losses and get control back of your property.
Rental Property Investor · Northern, CA · Member since 2012 · 5k+ posts · 5k+ votes
7y
I’ve never heard of taking a tenant who is still in your property and continuing to accrue debt to small claims court.
Normally you’d file for eviction first to get them out, and THEN take them to small claims court to recover whatever money they owe once you have a final accounting of how much they owe. In this case, they’ll likely end up owing you more money for which you’d have to take them back to small claims court to try to get another judgment for, resulting in double the work.
As for how to collect on the judgment, that’s always the struggle. It’s one thing to get a judgment, but it means nothing unless you can actually collect on it.
You don’t list what state you’re from and different states have different options available for collecting on small claims judgments. You mention filing a lien, but a lien is normally filed against property. What property would you file it against? (Hopefully not the one your tenant is living in since that’s yours.)
My favorite way to collect on a small claims judgment is wage garnishment, but that’s not available in every state. You should check if it’s available in yours those because it’s an easy way to collect. The money just gets withdrawn from the debtor’s paycheck and sent to you each pay period until the debt is paid off. (I collected on a $6k judgment that way.)
If I were in your shoes, I would stop thinking about filing for eviction and file it now to get this non paying tenant out as soon as possible before you’re out any more money.
If they are several months behind, file for an eviction. They aren't going to catch up no matter what they say. Contact a collection's agency AFTER you evict them and let them collect the money for small claims. They will get a cut, but that is your best chance of getting something.
Rental Property Investor · Salem, OR · Member since 2017 · 696 posts · 660 votes
7y
@Joseph Ret I agree with @Thomas S. GET RID OF THEM NOW! NEVER let someone get that behind.
That is 100% your fault (said as nice as I can but mean enough that you never let it happen again.) You left your front door wide open with a pile of cash sitting on the table and someone came and stole it...are they a thief, sure, is it your fault...YES it is.
The same thing just happened here.. DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT let them stay hoping you can get the back rent, it is gone, you can only stop the bleeding going forward.
Investor · Greer, SC · Member since 2014 · 13k+ posts · 17k+ votes
7y
File for eviction on Monday. You will likely never get a penny out of them. Cut your losses and get a good tenant that will pay rent and never them them get more than 2 weeks behind.
If you let them they will pay everyone else except you.
Investor · Columbus, OH · Member since 2016 · 139 posts · 136 votes
7y
Welcome to your first professional tenant.
File the eviction, and reclaim control of your property that's going to cost you thousands to turnover. You're not going to get anything out of them, the orange has already been juiced.
Investor · Narragansett, RI · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
7y
Depending on your state you may need to send the official pay or quit notice and then file for eviction. Get a lawyer to do it. You need one as your agreement may put you in a different position. Did you extend the need for notice by going to small claims or did you shorten it, I don't know. I encourage everyone to include the location they invest in their profile so it appears after your name. State specific advise is very helpful in these situations. It would not change the basic answer but it will give you more details.
I am looking for a bit of advice and guidance about a tenant who owes several months in back rent. I have already taken them to small claims court and we have agreed that they would pay the entirety in full by the end of this month, however, I have found out that they will not have the promised money. I am already thinking of evicting them next month but I was wondering in the meantime any possible way of getting the rent that is owed. I was thinking because I have the papers from the small claims court that I could file a lien but I am having trouble understanding how to file for something like that. If I could get any suggestions or advice it would really be helpful.
Thank you!
Evict the tenant immediately. That is the only thing you can do in these situations. You need to begin operating on a zero tolerance policy for non payment of rent. Every tenant must pay their rent by a certain date of the month. We do on or around the 15th depending on if we are open or not. Anyone who hasn't paid by that time is evicted, no questions asked. Sick, death in family, broken down care etc....None of it matters. If they don't pay they need to go. Chasing them down is a never ending cycle that never results in a more profitable business for you.
Lubbock, TX · Member since 2019 · 6 posts · 5 votes
7y
Treat your rental as a BUSINESS and not a hobby. If you don't get paid, EVICT.
The place I rent from in my town I've been at for three years. I forgot to pay rent one month, on the 3rd day they had an eviction notice on my door. Did I take it personally? No. It's a business. From my perspective, they are doing it right. Did I actually get evicted? No. But its hella scary getting a notice and says many words without you needing to do anything at all.
Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2015 · 435 posts · 421 votes
7y
Make sure you do the eviction correctly, or it can wind up a bigger mess than ever. And don't think that every real estate lawyer knows how to do evictions. You need to ask someone who knows, meaning a court worker, or a marshal, who does a TON of evictions. That lawyer should know how to do it right.
We do our own when we can, but you have to know a lot to do it yourself. You didn't know that the first thing to do was to begin the eviction process the first day possible after they missed rent. So I think you should hire a lawyer to do it for you.