Evicted Tenant - owes me money

[Diran Deukmajian]

My rental property is in Los Angeles county. I hired a lawyer to get her evicted.  She didn't pay rent the last 3 months, plus I paid all the lawyer fees. 

do I hire a debt collection service to follow them until I get my money back?  Is it worth it? 

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Diran Deukmajian:

Yes, you should send them to collections.

Andre is correct that you may not get anything back. However, there's always a chance. 

The best part is that the debt will be reported to the credit reporting agencies and it will stay on the tenant's credit report for up to seven years. That will prevent them from qualifying for other rentals, a personal loan, or a home loan.

I have sent nearly 60 tenants to collections. A few of them came back years later and paid everything they owed because my claim was preventing them from qualifying for a home loan.