Collecting On Fees Awarded in Conciliation Court

[Steve Sorensen]

I had a tenant that I evicted for being arrested with meth in a stolen vehicle on my property (and also for not paying his rent but I couldn't evict him for that...thank you Minnesota Covid protection laws!!). And before anyone gets sympathetic for this guy, he was working up until May, 2021 and got fired just for being a bad employee (meaning it wasn't a Covid layoff), then he was subletting the unit without my knowledge, pocketing the $500/mo. he was charging the subletter, and not paying me a dime knowing I couldn't evict him. Then of course he trashed the place once he actually was evicted. 

The court ruled in my favor and I'm now able to pursue him for about $9k for court, fees, legal fees, and damages. Does anyone have experience with collecting on these types of fees? What's the best way to go about it? What are the odds I actually see the money ever? I have his Social Security number and his state ID (he doesn't have a drivers license). I have an idea of where he works (not 100% yet) and I don't know where he lives now.

My lawyer that I used for the eviction and conciliation court case says he can try and collect, but at $425/hr, that adds up quick. He mentioned I can charge the tenant for those costs, but that sounds like a never ending circle...eg. I use my lawyer to collect the initial $9k, but he costs $5k to do that work, then I collect that $5k and accrue another $5k in lawyer costs and on and on. 

I've reached out to a couple collection agencies and haven't gotten responses yet, but sounds like they take about 1/3 of the total collection amount. I could potentially live with that because $6k is better than nothing, but looking to hear what other people have done in this situation.

Thanks in advance!