Tenant Owes Rent- What should I do?

Tallahassee, Florida
General Landlording & Rental Properties
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Tenant Owes Rent- What should I do?

Sam Zawatsky
Member since 2021 · 88 posts · 20 votes

So, I've got a rental property with tenants that I inherited. I noticed that they kept making more and more of a mess over time, and I have caught them lying to me about multiple things over the past 2 years. I gave them notice 3 months ago that I will no longer be renting to them, and they paid very late each month except for this last month. They kept telling me "sorry I'm gonna be late", and I didn't want to evict them with only 1 month left because I felt like they could be spiteful and do a lot of damage to the property. I do not have a security deposit from them unfortunately. So now they are supposed to be leaving in 2 days, and haven't paid rent for the last 5 weeks. They owe me $1300, and I feel like they are trying to get by and just leave without paying me the rent that they owe. I am considering my options on what to do, and I feel like I have the following options:

1.) Find out somehow where their new address is (not sure how to find this out affordably), and file a lawsuit against them in small claims court and hope they pay or eventually get their wages garnished.

2.) Allow them not to pay and just forget about it.

3.) perhaps something else that I haven't thought of.

Any thoughts?

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Tim Baldwin
Attorney · Pensacola, FL · Member since 2023 · 178 posts · 106 votes
2y

Unfortunately, this is a tactic used by scrupulous tenants who are not acting in good faith. Another unfortunate situation with a lot of these sorts of tenants is that they are "judgment proof", meaning, even if you were to sue them for damages, they do not make sufficient income or have sufficient assets to collect on your judgment. On top of that, you'll incur legal fees and costs to prosecute the case to get a judgment. Of course, you could file a small claims action yourself in Leon County and save yourself the legal fees. 

You could turn the matter over to a collection company (including law firms that do collections on contingency), but normally, they charge a very high percentage of what they recover, and you normally have to authorize them to settle for any amount the want to. Thus, if they charged 50% of what they collect, and they decide to settle for 50% of what they owe, you could recoup small percentage of what they owe you. 

Of course, if they don't vacate the premises by the date they are required, you should take the necessary step to terminate the tenancy, whether by a 3 Day Notice to Pay or if they are a holdover, by delivering demand to vacate with notice that they are a holdover and owe double rent per F.S. 83.58. Getting them out will at least help to stop the bleeding. Best wishes. 

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  • Tim Baldwin
    Attorney · Pensacola, FL · Member since 2023 · 178 posts · 106 votes
    2y

    Unfortunately, this is a tactic used by scrupulous tenants who are not acting in good faith. Another unfortunate situation with a lot of these sorts of tenants is that they are "judgment proof", meaning, even if you were to sue them for damages, they do not make sufficient income or have sufficient assets to collect on your judgment. On top of that, you'll incur legal fees and costs to prosecute the case to get a judgment. Of course, you could file a small claims action yourself in Leon County and save yourself the legal fees. 

    You could turn the matter over to a collection company (including law firms that do collections on contingency), but normally, they charge a very high percentage of what they recover, and you normally have to authorize them to settle for any amount the want to. Thus, if they charged 50% of what they collect, and they decide to settle for 50% of what they owe, you could recoup small percentage of what they owe you. 

    Of course, if they don't vacate the premises by the date they are required, you should take the necessary step to terminate the tenancy, whether by a 3 Day Notice to Pay or if they are a holdover, by delivering demand to vacate with notice that they are a holdover and owe double rent per F.S. 83.58. Getting them out will at least help to stop the bleeding. Best wishes. 

    2Reply
  • Theresa HarrisPro Member
    Member since 2019 · 15k+ posts · 11k+ votes
    2y

    Tim is right.  You should have given them notice as soon as they didn't pay rent.  Also when you bought the property, you should have got the deposit from the previous owner.  While you couldn't have used it for damages because you didn't know the move in condition, it would have covered the rent.

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  • Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
    2y
    Quote from @Sam Zawatsky:

    It's too late to do much. In the future, you should always start the eviction process as early as the law allows. Your tenant didn't pay, you allowed it to go on, so now your tenant knows for certain that you won't do anything to them and they will steal these final five weeks and leave you hanging.

    Once the tenant is out, change the locks and start turning the unit around quickly. Keep track of the expenses. Apply the deposit. Send your tenant notice of the charges using their forwarding address. If they didn't provide a forwarding address, send it to their last known address and then keep it on file if it's returned. If they owe more than the deposit will cover, let them know how much they owe, when it is due, and how to pay it. If they don't pay, decide whether to write it off or go after them.

    I could write a couple chapters on all the options, but it's too late. I highly recommend you educate yourself on how to handle problems before the problem is a problem. Don't wait for someone to squat in your home before learning how to handle squatters. Don't wait until the tenant moves out and abandons a car before learning how to deal with an abandoned car.

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