Collecting judgement awarded from dispossessory court?

Question

I just won my case to have my tenant evicted. I am in DeKalb County, Georgia. I won a judgement for $1360 and he has to vacate in 7 days.

I've heard of people saying garnish the wages, but he works for himself doing contracting jobs (I inherited the tenant).

What is the best way to collect on the judgement or at least make his life difficult if he doesn't pay it? Can I file a lien against him that will stop him from getting a loan if he applies for one? What would happen if I hired a collection agency? I want to at least make it difficult for him.

Thanks so much.

Joel Owens · Answer

William, I used to have a 20 unit apartment building and dealt with this all the time. He might have to vacate in 7 days but that doesn't mean it's when the Marshall comes out. Some counties get backed up serving the writ from the time of execution. So theoretically you could wait 2 to 3 weeks before he gets out. If you could get them out in the next few days you might have a rental shot for March but likely you have lost all of March's rent. What you have is a JUDGMENT PROOF tenant. You can try for a one time levy from their bank account instead of wage garnishment but it's a long shot. Collection company will not do squat as the contractors credit is probably trashed anyways so they won't care. An attorney will not do anything either except for charge insane fees and guarantee NOTHING that will quickly approach the judgment award total. You can use judgment companies but they will either partner 50/50 and pay for all upfront filing costs or buy the judgment for 10 cents on the dollar. Doubtful they will do either in your case as debtor is judgment proof. At this point you can sit on the judgment for years and hope their situation changes over time and you get some payment. You could also try to say if they pay 500 today on the judgment and leave immediately then you will settle for that amount. The tenant if they have nay money might come back with an amount like 200 or something. They get out early and do not damage the unit and you get a little coin now for a judgment that was going nowhere. Even if you start collecting on a judgment they can close down the bank account, go to a cash paying job, or file BK to wipe it out. Some states some investors have talked about garnishing their tax returns to get paid. I do not know if that is allowed in GA or not. No legal advice

Joel Owens · Answer

The judgment is usually a record that shows up on the credit report. If the contractor pays cash it is highly doubtful you can do anything to him that much. I used to have some contractor tenants that I inherited as well. Very shady and like throwing jello against the wall to stick. Not all contractors are bad it's just they do not have anything to attach and income is very volatile. Your approach is one that sounds reasonable. There are a couple of different ways to go after a situation like this. Hopefully you purchased cheaply this property. When analyzing for clients I go through lease by lease looking at tenant documentation and pay history. The fact that they were a contractor you might have done well to make the seller hold an escrow account for existing problem tenants where you were reimbursed for turnover. The seller can't get a premium price and then also expect you to deal with the problems. I will take on problems only if the price is right. If not someone is dumping a lemon on you at a premium.

William Edmondson · Answer

Joel, Thanks so much, your responses are always incredibly detailed and informative. He has told me he will be out by the 27th which is the required date (obviously his word means nothing to me.) Is there a way to file a lien against his person which will show on his credit report? All I can hope for is assume his credit isn't already trashed and this will make it very hard for him to get any credit. He always wants to pay cash for rent from the previous landlord's information, which leads me to believe he doesn't actively use a bank account. After speaking with him last night, I think he believes that if he moves out on time and leaves the place in excellent shape, he won't owe me anything. Which I'm fine letting him believe until he is out and the locks are changed. I don't want to risk confronting him and he loses it and trashes the apartment or something.