Advice on retaining an attorney to go after deadbeat tenant?

Question

Our tenant beat us for about $8K due to not being able to evict her during Covid. We were recently able to extract her at the end of her lease. She skipped out without leaving a forwarding address although she is self employed and we seem to have her correct P.O. box address for her and her business(business does not have a physical location). Have her business and personal email and her mobile #(unless she changed it after moving out). Our lease says she pays all attorney fees if we have to collect moneys owed. I am in New Jersey- the lawyer is asking $750 retainer and says the minimum we pay him will be $1,500. Any thoughts or advice? First timer here.

Thanks in advance!

Charlie MacPherson · Answer

@Jeff Wirth I had to go after a deadbeat client who owed commission and refused to pay.  My amount was much lower ($700), so I went to Small Claims Court and it eventually worked wonders.  You'll have to check to see if $8,000 is within the limits for SCC in your area.  Here in Maine, it's $6,000.

We had a hearing.  He failed to show up, so they scheduled a second hearing.  He failed to show again, so I was awarded a default judgement.

They scheduled a payment hearing to see if there was a reason he couldn't pay.  He didn't show up.

The Magistrate said I could have a Capias (civil arrest warrant where a sheriff or constable would arrest the bum and physically bring him to court) or an execution (sheriff or constable can seize assets and sell them to satisfy the judgement) - or both.

I took both.  I sent the deadbeat photos of the orders and gave him a deadline to pay, which of course, he failed to do. (Seeing a pattern here?)

I went nuclear.  His wife was also named as a party on the lawsuit, so I told him that if he didn't pay by a new deadline, I was going to have his wife arrested at work and brought to court.

*BOOM*  A nearly instant payment.  Funny how that worked.

In Massachusetts, where all this took place, judgments accrue interest at 12% per year.  The deadbeat would also be responsible for additional costs, including sheriff / constable fees.

If that's true in your jurisdiction too, that ever accruing interest might motivate your deadbeat.  1% per month forever - and that's a long time!

Good luck.

Harry Gamble · Answer

@Jeff Wirth you shouldn’t have a problem getting a judgment against them, the question is whether it is worth it from the standpoint of executing on that judgment.  Some possibilities depending on your jurisdiction: Executing on personal property can be difficult; if they own real estate you get a lien on their property which will have to be paid if they refinance or sell; if you know where they bank you can garnish the bank account;if they have an employer you can garnish their wages. I’m not sure how to execute/garnish for a self employed. I would ask the attorney about these possibilities, what they think the chances of being able to recover in one of these ways, and get and estimate of their fee to do so. Then you can see if it’s worth it.

Greg M. · Answer

The USPS has an Address Service Requested option where they will provide the sender the forwarding address.

A quick search shows that Small Claims Court limit in NJ is $3,000, so you will need to hire an attorney or represent yourself in Superior Court. Representing yourself may not be a bad idea. It should be a pretty clear case.

I assume you kept her security deposit. If so, did you provider her with a breakdown of why it was not returned? NJ is supposedly awful about this and if you failed to provide the breakdown, you can get penalized harshly.

Jeff Wirth · Answer

Good point. Well she was doing fine with her rent up until Covid.  Her business still seems to be up and running at least according to her website so I think if she doesn't have a lot of money now, she will start to accumulate again as things move forward.

Scott M. · Answer

Amazing story @Charlie MacPherson  Wish MI laws were like that : )  Our laws make it next to impossible to collect from deadbeats.  You can win a judgement but then you have to collect and that is the hard part.

John Teachout · Answer

Sometimes if you mail a certified/registered letter with return receipt requested it will show the forwarded to address. ie, her last known address is probably her previous rental, mail it there and see if you can track it. Google is also a wonderful tool. Social media... Sometimes I think people like this need to be pursued purely for the principle of it. If you can get a legal judgement against her, that will follow her around until it's resolved.

There may be other than attorney options.

Colleen F. · Answer

@Jeff Wirth the other thing you can look into is if the Secretary of State has a business address registered. Not sure that is the case in NJ but just like you have to file your address for service of legal papers as a rental some states require business to have a physical address. Of course it could be your rental.  Is she good for it, does she have money and would she care about the credit ding? If she does then go for it.  Not sure what a typical NJ fee is for this type of thing, maybe someone will chime in on cost.

Bjorn Ahlblad · Answer

If she has money; go for it! If not; move on. I learned long ago don't waste money and energy suing someone with no money!

Jeff Wirth · Answer

No security deposit to refund- here in NJ the governor signed a bill allowing the tenant to request that it be applied to past due rent during Covid, which she did and we gladly accepted.  It got her current at that time but she soon fell back into not paying after that.

Jeff Wirth · Answer

Not sure about the physical address but I'll find out if it is required.  She cares about the credit ding as she was trying to turn that around when I first rented to her.  She was a great on-time pay up until Covid. Pretty sure she got some of that gov't assistance that businesses got and she was just taking advantage of the fact that landlords couldn't evict during that time.

Advice on retaining an attorney to go after deadbeat tenant?

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