Collecting Past Due Rent after Eviction

[Jane Ng]

I evicted a tenant in Oct for multiple lease violations, including non payment of rent. My PM says once the property is re-leased, they will send the evicted tenant's outstanding balance to a collection agency, but the chances of getting that money back seem slim.

What have other landlord's / PM's done to get some of their money back after an eviction? I am an out of state investor so I can't physically take them to small claims court.