Comm Lessee Runs away from Contract

General Real Estate Investing
1

My mom has a comm bldg tilt-up and one of the lessees took a hike, collected all of his inventory and left the keys with the manager with a note saying that his business is failing and that the $500 a month break on the rent didn’t help enough.

Two months ago he asked for a $500 discount on his $2500/month rent on a remaining 1.5 years lease contract. He got the discount for a 3 month period with the promise to pay it back before the end of the lease.

Now he’s gone without a trace. The managment company says to not bother chasing him, it’ll just cost $$$ hiring a lawyer, etc.

Other than changing the locks,
Is there anything we should do that wouldn’t cost $$$?
How about using a Skip tracer?

The guy is probably broke, but smart enough to take his inventory, which was probably worth a few months rent.
He did say in the note he forfeits his $3k deposit.

Are their any legal ramifications when a lessee disappears?
Are there any tax reporting considerations on losses due to this event?

rws

2

You can’t get blood from a stone. Take back possession and re-rent as quickly as possible. You can pursue the deadbeat and get a judgment, but I doubt you will collect on it.

3

yea try to re-rent asap. focus on the guy who skipped out later

4

How do you get a judgment from a court when the lessee has skipped out and left no contact info? Don’t both parties have to be present before a judge?

Do I have to hire a skip tracer to find him, then get him served with papers?

5

There are ways to serve without actually finding the person. Contact a professional process server.