Tenants trashed my rental

Fort Collins, CO · Member since 2013 · 109 posts · 36 votes

So my tenants trashed one of my rentals and moved out. Carpets were soaked in pet urine and engine oil. Countertops were damaged. Fist sized holes in every room. Doors ripped out of the wall and left the house full of their stuff. I’ve taken plenty of pics to document the damage. I spoke with the tenant and she admitted in a text that she knew she’d be forfeiting her deposit due to the carpets not being able to be cleaned.

All the damage has been repaired. The total is roughly $9k before subtracting her deposit.

My question is how do I present the bill? Do I just mail it to her new address or should I have it written up by an attorney and have it served?

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Nathan GesnerBusiness Member

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Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes

Yes. I normally mail it to them certified and include a deadline for payment in full or negotiation of a payment plan. I normally won't allow a payment plan of more than six months, but you may need to offer a year to give them time. Odds are, they won't pay you a dime because they obviously don't care about being good people.

If they don't meet the deadline, then you'll take them to court and seek a judgment. Then you turn the judgment over to a collection agency where you'll likely collect exactly $0.00 from them.

That's the sad reality of our business. You may get lucky and collect something, but don't expect it or you will be severely disappointed. The best thing you can do is learn from this. Find the flaw in your screening process. Are you inspecting? Did you accept someone with red flags when you shouldn't have? You can't stop everything, but you can stop 99% of the problems if you have the right processes in place.

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Steve K.
Realtor · Boulder, CO · Member since 2016 · 3k+ posts · 5k+ votes
4y
Originally posted by @Ben Cochran:
@Steve K. That’s great advice. Would you be able to recommend a local NoCo attorney that could handle the legal paperwork if needed?

Absolutely, Tschetter Sulzer should be able to help (based in Denver but operate up and down the Front Range as well as Grand Junction).

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Curtis Mears
Property Manager · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2014 · 728 posts · 596 votes
4y
@Ben Cochran
I had a similar situation with tenant. I sent an itemized list of expenses and sent it to him with 30 days to be paid. I sent reminder bills explaining what my next actions would be if not paid, going to court. I got lucky as tenants dad ultimately paid the bill. Like all things I landlord world, do not skip ahead in the process. Go step by step, and do not assume they will not pay. You have to give them the opportunity to pay first.
That being said, I think there could be criminal charges for intentional neglect, but you would have to consult attorney for this.
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Tina Nuckols
Real Estate Professional · Atwood, IL · Member since 2016 · 6 posts · 1 vote
3y
Quote from @Daniel Smyth:

@Ben Cochran
It's called a law suit.
Document everything and be sure you find 10k worth of damage beyond normal wear and tear.
Your lawyer should seek actual damages as well as punitive damages.
Damage done as a repayment for keeping the damage deposit. Wilful damage is also criminal.
You make sure the judge allows you an attachment on wages that cannot be dismissed in a bankruptcy.
These tenants need to learn the lesson they are trying to teach you!

Daniel, What about the property that they leave behind? Are we required to put that in storage? For how long? I'm in IL and I have a property that is worse than any pictures I have ever seen posted. I can't even get from one end of the house to the other. The windows are separated from the casing. And this is just the beginning.
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