Anyone who has ever received a monetary judgment from a judge knows that the court system does not collect your judgment for you.

The only thing the court system does is decide 'who wins and who loses' and who owes who money,...ie. judgments. But the actual collection of that judgment is the landlord's responsibility which is what prompts my next question.

How much of your personal time (after the tenant has moved out) are you willing to spend chasing that deadbeat around town in an attempt to collect your monetary judgment? I have done this before and it is a major time consuming hassle which I will probably never do again.

If you normally chase deadbeats, is getting some personal revenge on this person who screwed you part of the reason you do it?

I operate my business on the old adage that says "Don't burn your bridges behind you" which means no chasing of ex-deadbeat tenants and spend my valuable time moving my business forward and not backward.

I've known this for forty years, trying to collect a debt from an "evicted" tenant is a waste of time, money and effort. This is only something a landlord should do AFTER they have re-rented the unit/house and have nothing better to do!

But on another note, I won an eviction that later I converted the eviction "win" to a Money Judgement. Afterwards I held a debtors exam in the court room cafeteria. My x-tenant did not bring any requested documents. So I asked the judge to compel my x-tenant to return to court and all requested items. Of course the x-tenant blew me off and I asked the judge then for a Bench warrant -- a no show. Since my tenant car license plate sticker fell off. He got stopped by the local Cops and then arrest for his open bench warrant.

WMH,

Robert J,

What really irritates me about the court system is this,...when a deadbeat Dad is the facing the judge, the judge

will give the Dad a choice. Either pay child support (right now) or spend the weekend in jail. Guess what happens here?

Roy, I think you are paying that 30% for their time investment. You said yourself that you would probably never do that again so you will get zero if you just let it go, 70% is better than nothing and doesn't cost much time.

I spend very little of my own time. Our attorney handles that for us if I know where they work or bank. They simply file the garnishment or levy and the money starts rolling in a couple months later.

If I don't know where the live or work, I turn it over to our Collection Agency. They are very good: I get paid on roughly 2/3 of our accounts. Granted, they take a good chunk of it (50%), but getting 50% of something is better than getting 100% of nothing.

Revenge? No. As the Godfather says, "It's nothing personal; it's just business."

Or from a Christian POV: “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.”

Plus, I don't need that kind of attitude in my life. It clouds my thinking and makes me less likely to notice the positive opportunities in life. Their deadbeat lifestyle will most often result in many missed opportunities as well, and I see no point in conducting myself in a manner that gives me similar results.

Sid,

Mike A,

I have good luck collecting from them. Was actually thinking of doing collections on the side but need to talk go my local landlord attorney first.

I had the same attitude about collecting judgements as you do Roy. MYOB and Brad 20k changed my mind enough to try. I first spent about 1 hour on learning the court forms, fees, and court clerk office procedures.

I then spent 1 hour familiarizing myself on the methods of searching for the people.

After the initial 2 hour time investment, my time requirements dropped to 5 minutes total.

I collected $38,000.

The bigger payoff was that learning the processes improved my screening effectiveness and I now go for years between evictions.

I have improved and increased the amount I collect at move out to reimburse expenses to make unit rent ready.

Back in the days when I had many rental properties I always tried to get judgments when appropriate and then most of the time I collected on them. Now it is almost impossible to get a judgment and if one gets one almost impossible to collect on it. That means I haven't done this recently. It hasn't been worth my time and effort.

But back to when I was regularly getting and collecting on judgments. When there was an employer I would file all of the correct paperwork that required the employer to withhold a certain amount and send it on to the court system.

Once I had an employer who refused to comply. So, I then sued the employer, got a judgment against the employer, and collected on that judgment. The employer was very angry, but that was tough - he was violating state laws.

I also sued the local Section 8 housing authority more than once - when they didn't pay the appropriate rent for a Section 8 renter using a lame excuse. I won each time. Then the housing authority would refuse to pay the judgment, so I would garnish one of their bank accounts. They didn't like that at all, but tough for them. After more than one case like that when they would try to get out of paying the required rent for one of the Section 8 tenants renting from me, I would just say to them - well, I guess I have to sue you yet again. Usually that was enough that they would pay me what was due to me.

Another time I sued the dad of a college student renter. The dad seemed to forget what he had signed when I leased to his son. I garnished a bank account of the dad - and he was angry. Tough for him - he needed to teach his son to pay his bills.

On the other side of things, I occasionally helped someone defeat an attempted suit by a landlord or get out of paying a wrongly obtained judgment. Obviously I didn't do this unless I had convincing evidence that it was the renter in the right in those cases.

Thank-you Sisco (and Carolyn) for your replies. I wanted to hear from LL's who actively pursue judgments on their own time and not turn it over to an attorney or collection agency that confiscates half of what is owed to you. Especially if you are a DIY type, why not pursue deadbeats like Sisco does?

Based Sisco's reply, I may have to learn the legal ropes/tactics of pursuing deadbeats after a monetary judgment is obtained. I have talked with attorneys about this topic and their attitude is,...why would any LL with a $3,000 judgment think they could actually get paid by someone who could not even pay $500.00 in rent? Is there any logic here?

I would think of it as a long-term thing, Roy. The Collection Agency reports it to all 3 credit bureaus and someday, maybe, the tenant needs to buy a car or even a house...and there you go, a judgement that must be satisfied to proceed.

Your attorney could be giving you sound advice if you are dealing with someone who CAN’T pay $500.

WON’T pay is another matter, and much more common.

Sisco,

As you may remember, I use to be in the commercial photography business long before I ever became a LL. Back then, I use to sue commercial RE developers (deadbeats) who would not pay me what they owned me. I won every case I filed. This is where most of my knowledge of legal system originated from. In the commercial legal world, I would put a lien on someone's million dollar property (ie. shopping center) and that is when the deadbeat would call and say "I have a check for you". My biggest deadbeat payday back then (1990's) was $18,000.00.

Don't rent to deadbeats

and you won't have to chase deadbeats

"It usually ends up paying for fancy mani/pedi. spray tans, FL vacays and hair for the BMs."

Such crap crap crap. "USUALLY?" Not hardly.

Sisco as you know I've stopped posting here but I did want to at least acknowledge you and your efforts. I have tried to lead them to water and make them drink-- but they like the cool-aid better since it's dispersed by the same folks.

For the record and those id-diots-- you can bill the 25% collection fee if you do your own you can add the cost that are additional- like blanketing the banks and not to mention 15% interest.

I had one tenant I evicted, and she then filed bankruptcy...after I had a judgment. I filed with the bankruptcy court as a claimant, thinking I would never see a dime. About 13 months later I got a check for about 65% of what she owed (she owed about $3,200 so we got a check for about $2,100!

Garnishments - Where to start. I have a little while to waste so here goes.

First of all I want to thank MYOB for his many post a ways back about garnishment. I had already been thinking about doing it but he got me off the couch. Thank you MYOB

Is it worth it. That depends. If they owe you 35 cents most likely not worth it. If they owe you one dollar and 35 cents then go for it.

If I take someone to SCC trying to get a judgment I usually have my ducks in a row and win. I think I have only not won one time but that was not because I couldn't win - I just got tired of the court hearing.

I do my own SCC hearings and garnishments for anything $5000 and under - our limit here in MO.

My first Victum I had gotten judgment on and then sent garnishment through the sheriff Dept. He paid for a little while then quit his job. About 4 weeks later he had started working for the same company again. Wham. Now he started paying again.

As MYOB says I not only keep after them I also add the late fees, the mileage, the 25% collection fees a collection company would charge and I think another thing or two.

He owed me $5000 judgment but when all said and done he paid me a little over $7000 due to time and interest. I got it all.

My next Victum the court said he had paid me all the money and wanted me to sign a paper stating he had completed his sentence. I checked statutes and wrote back to the court "No way has he completed his payments". You have forgot to charge interest and another fee or two. That is when I also learned the court was doing their math wrong. As the Victum made payments the court would deduct it from the amount of the judgment. They did not consider the interest and collection fees. Our statutes says the court is to take out the interest and court fees BEFORE deducting the judgment. Its not often you get to tell the court "Hey you Scre-ed up". But when I showed them the state statutes they were very friendly and said " oh yes He still owes you a little over $1000. So he is back to paying again.

Now how do you find the deadbeats. Here in Missouri we can go to the city clerk and ask to see their water, sewer bills and get their address. This is good so far but some dingbat political maggot is trying to change that.

So you do not know where what city town they have moved to. No problem just go to the county collector, county assessor and ask about them. Again the records are open to the public. You can do this by phone. Call two or three different counties and ask about them. Works for us.

I had a unmarried couple that skipped out on me. I knew where he worked so sent notice through sheriff and hauled him into court. Got judgment on him for $15,600 but couldn't add her as she didn't get served.

So I go to the County assessor office and ask if they had her listed as owning a house, car or anything. Sure we do. She has a vehicle worth X $, Is buying a house and she lives at 123 Main street it City. Good enough, sent sheriff to serve her. Went to court and got judgment against her for $16,400.

So now I have two judgments with two court case numbers. So my question is can I collect on each of them, total around $32,000 or will I have to settle for a mere $16,000 +.

Time to stop.

Ken our state statue says 9% interest. However it goes on to say if we have a higher interest listed in our contract then we can charge that amount. My contract states 1% per month (12% per year, Therefore I charge them 12% interest.

The funny thing about the 2 judgments is they are 2 separate case numbers, Court held on 2 separate dates.

The 25% collection fee is as MYOB talks about.. If we hired a collection agency they would charge us 25% or in Sids case 50%.

Ken our state statue says 9% interest. However it goes on to say if we have a higher interest listed in our contract then we can charge that amount. My contract states 1% per month (12% per year, Therefore I charge them 12% interest.

The funny thing about the 2 judgments is they are 2 separate case numbers, Court held on 2 separate dates.

The 25% collection fee is as MYOB talks about.. If we hired a collection agency they would charge us 25% or in Sids case 50%.

Ken our state statue says 9% interest. However it goes on to say if we have a higher interest listed in our contract then we can charge that amount. My contract states 1% per month (12% per year, Therefore I charge them 12% interest.

The funny thing about the 2 judgments is they are 2 separate case numbers, Court held on 2 separate dates.

The 25% collection fee is as MYOB talks about.. If we hired a collection agency they would charge us 25% or in Sids case 50%.

Sorry about the multiple post.

1st time I have tried using my phone to do this.

We can charge 8%. I used to be able to add in collections fees but the last judge said that was a no go and the new judge follows that rule.

Used to be the collection agency added 30% to the total. That meant I collected all mine, plus interest and they got theirs as well.

Now they just get half of mine, plus the interest. It stinks, but I figured I would never collect most of the monies owed so anything I get is a bonus.

Regarding collection fees:

I think that you can add those fees in most jurisdictions. The challenge is finding the acceptable method of getting the fees included.

In my locale, the collection fees must be listed with damages, attorney fees, and court costs. If I list my expenses then request collection fees be added, collection fees will be disallowed.

Additionally, my lease states that tenant is responsible for court fees, attorney fees, and collection fees plus interest.

Busy back at cha on that.

The collection fee of 25% is 5% less than our old collection company charged. I now have in house collection and there's expense's associated with that. IT'S NOT FREE. Put it in your lease. Same with interest. 15% is for unsecured debt just like anyone else who is owed money.

Second when you get to court for the judgment-- especially if the tenant is there make sure your paper work explains that this agreement is enforced as long as all party's do what they agreed to do. Should there be none payment then all fees and additional expense to collect will be added to the debt. THEN add them. Our lease follows state law that any expense incurred and billed will be the responsibility of the losing party.

So when we blanket 30 banks to find accounts that expense is shouldered by the LOSER in the case.

One step we have found to work extremely well. When a tenant owes you say 5000.00 all inclusive. Cut 25% or 30% or even 35% off the amount owed. Forgive the interest if you want. Make it a winner for the tenant in every way. Make yourself look great to the court. "I mean judge how much do you want me to forgive?"

How many do you think will do as they agreed to?

With this stipulation: should so and so not abide by the payment plan agreed to here today all forgiven debt we be recalculated to the original amount including any additional atty fee's, collection fees or court costs.