MN Tenant Lost Lawsuit but Still Won't Pay
Investor · MN · Member since 2021 · 21 posts · 20 votes
Hello!
This is my first time posting here, and first time going through a lawsuit!
So... my roommate/tenant left before his lease was up (it was signed and agreed upon) and stopped paying rent. He left the place very messy and it took a lot of effort to get his stuff out and for him to pick up, which also made it difficult to find a new roommate.
I took him to conciliation court and won by default, but the court said they don't garnish his wages, or do anything to help me collect... and he still refuses to pay. I believe there is an option to issue a "judgement" and I have no idea how to do that yet (gotta do some research!) Does anyone know what I can do? Maybe go to a collection agency? What have people done in the past?
Thank you! :)
I'm not sure about in Minnesota, but in Texas one of the best strategy's is to record an "Abstract of Judgment" against the tenant in the real property records. The idea is that one day if the defendant tenant comes across enough money to purchase a home and then later sell it, the title company will collect funds from the proceeds of the sale to pay the judgment recorded by the plaintiff.
I'm not sure about in Minnesota, but in Texas one of the best strategy's is to record an "Abstract of Judgment" against the tenant in the real property records. The idea is that one day if the defendant tenant comes across enough money to purchase a home and then later sell it, the title company will collect funds from the proceeds of the sale to pay the judgment recorded by the plaintiff.
Hello!
This is my first time posting here, and first time going through a lawsuit!
So... my roommate/tenant left before his lease was up (it was signed and agreed upon) and stopped paying rent. He left the place very messy and it took a lot of effort to get his stuff out and for him to pick up, which also made it difficult to find a new roommate.
I took him to conciliation court and won by default, but the court said they don't garnish his wages, or do anything to help me collect... and he still refuses to pay. I believe there is an option to issue a "judgement" and I have no idea how to do that yet (gotta do some research!) Does anyone know what I can do? Maybe go to a collection agency? What have people done in the past?
Thank you! :)
Co-sign what the other gentleman said. Get a judgment. It will be on their credit with the aforementioned consequences plus make it hard for them to rent/buy a home or finance anything. Turn over to a collector to recapture the money. If this person has a long history of being a responsible just accept that you may never collect on this and count it as a loss
I'm not sure about in Minnesota, but in Texas one of the best strategy's is to record an "Abstract of Judgment" against the tenant in the real property records. The idea is that one day if the defendant tenant comes across enough money to purchase a home and then later sell it, the title company will collect funds from the proceeds of the sale to pay the judgment recorded by the plaintiff.
Thank you! I think I learned a valuable lesson with this tenant!
Hello!
This is my first time posting here, and first time going through a lawsuit!
So... my roommate/tenant left before his lease was up (it was signed and agreed upon) and stopped paying rent. He left the place very messy and it took a lot of effort to get his stuff out and for him to pick up, which also made it difficult to find a new roommate.
I took him to conciliation court and won by default, but the court said they don't garnish his wages, or do anything to help me collect... and he still refuses to pay. I believe there is an option to issue a "judgement" and I have no idea how to do that yet (gotta do some research!) Does anyone know what I can do? Maybe go to a collection agency? What have people done in the past?
Thank you! :)
Co-sign what the other gentleman said. Get a judgment. It will be on their credit with the aforementioned consequences plus make it hard for them to rent/buy a home or finance anything. Turn over to a collector to recapture the money. If this person has a long history of being a responsible just accept that you may never collect on this and count it as a loss
Yes, I think that makes sense. Any good collection agencies you recommend? What to they charge? I feel that at this point, it is more about the principle
Hello!
This is my first time posting here, and first time going through a lawsuit!
So... my roommate/tenant left before his lease was up (it was signed and agreed upon) and stopped paying rent. He left the place very messy and it took a lot of effort to get his stuff out and for him to pick up, which also made it difficult to find a new roommate.
I took him to conciliation court and won by default, but the court said they don't garnish his wages, or do anything to help me collect... and he still refuses to pay. I believe there is an option to issue a "judgement" and I have no idea how to do that yet (gotta do some research!) Does anyone know what I can do? Maybe go to a collection agency? What have people done in the past?
Thank you! :)
You need to speak with an attorney as it seems that you've skipped all the knowledge and facts and jumped straight into randomly doing things.
NOT LEGAL ADVICE but speaking from personal experiences (s as in plural), there is first the suite, and if done correctly a suite to award a judgement. Then with an award of judgement there is additional court fillings to achieve a garnishment, ALTHOUGH it is best to do a motion for discovery prior to that so when come into such, depending on findings of discovery, there may be more then just wage garnishments, such as financial accounts, other assets etc..
Now when you get a wage garnishment, it is not money rolling in right away either. There is a time period that employer has to start wage garnishment, so a person can job hop if they choose. And then back into court, additional suite adding for additional legal expenses, and round-n-round the fun goes. I have ridden that "fun-wheel" for several years on a judgement, it's become all but a hobby really, seeing how many years, how many times round it will go. I have collected enough to cover all expenses, and principle keeps racking up with the interest so in theory, some day, it will be a nice little capital stream coming in. But as of yet, nearly 10yrs in, still just a "hobby".
So maybe first ask yourself, is it worth it? In my case, it's tens of thousands and, as I said, it's become a kind of morbid twisted "hobby", lol, so there is that. But if a matter of hundreds or just few thousand, I'd say do something more productive.
Hello!
This is my first time posting here, and first time going through a lawsuit!
So... my roommate/tenant left before his lease was up (it was signed and agreed upon) and stopped paying rent. He left the place very messy and it took a lot of effort to get his stuff out and for him to pick up, which also made it difficult to find a new roommate.
I took him to conciliation court and won by default, but the court said they don't garnish his wages, or do anything to help me collect... and he still refuses to pay. I believe there is an option to issue a "judgement" and I have no idea how to do that yet (gotta do some research!) Does anyone know what I can do? Maybe go to a collection agency? What have people done in the past?
Thank you! :)
Congratulations, you are a bonafide landlord. Here, for $29 mess up their future (and save other landlords the grief of accepting this tenant) until they decide to pay you https://www.rentrecoveryservic...
Sounds like that's the only way with this dude.
When I first became a lender one of the first things that the bank required me to do was learn how to collect a loan. If you are going to make loans, you need to know how to collect on a loan. I've taken numerous people to conciliation court in Minnesota. Typically they aren't worth the hassle to hire a lawyer for smaller several hundred dollar overdrafts. Show up to court and get the default judgement. https://www.mncourts.gov/ is a great place to start as well as the county courthouse can be helpful but as you've come to find out they won't do the work for you. You can add all the filing fees into your initial amount owed and with the default judgement you will be able to report it to the credit bureaus which will show when anyone pulls credit on the individual. As far as collecting goes - You will need the Sheriff to serve them with the paperwork typically the Sheriff shows up at their work which can be embarrassing especially in smaller towns. One thing to note is that you cannot garnish the wages of an individual that has been released from jail/prison for 6 months which doesn't do you much good if they are a frequent visitor. I had one where he got released, put the date on my calendar and 2 weeks before moving forward he's in jail and the entire process resets. I wish you the best of luck in collecting!
How much does the tenant owe you?
Hello!
This is my first time posting here, and first time going through a lawsuit!
So... my roommate/tenant left before his lease was up (it was signed and agreed upon) and stopped paying rent. He left the place very messy and it took a lot of effort to get his stuff out and for him to pick up, which also made it difficult to find a new roommate.
I took him to conciliation court and won by default, but the court said they don't garnish his wages, or do anything to help me collect... and he still refuses to pay. I believe there is an option to issue a "judgement" and I have no idea how to do that yet (gotta do some research!) Does anyone know what I can do? Maybe go to a collection agency? What have people done in the past?
Thank you! :)
Congratulations, you are a bonafide landlord. Here, for $29 mess up their future (and save other landlords the grief of accepting this tenant) until they decide to pay you https://www.rentrecoveryservic...
Sounds like that's the only way with this dude.
That seems to be the easier method. How reliable is that Company?