I am brand new at this and just bought my first house which I rented out. The tenant was fine for the first couple of months, but now they will not pay me and just ignore me. The tenant was supposed to put the untility in their names, but never did; so I shut them off. The tenant and I spoke and they agreed to leave by the first of the year, but I want to try to recoup some of my costs from this. How can I get more money out of her?
Howdy Detroitinvestor:
I used to feel the same as you do about suing all the tenants that skipped out owing me money and ones I had to evict. I probably have $30,000 in judgements that I will sell for $3.00 and you pay the postage. I spent $55 per case just to file in court. I wish I had just one of those back. I collected on one judgement in almost 5 years and they were upper middle class folks and I still settled for 50% on the dollar and glad to get it.
If your tenant has real property you may have a chance to sue and collect if not I would just be glad when they are gone and get a better tenant next time.
Happy Holidays