Collection of money without a formal eviction

[Bryan N.]

I've never had this problem, but I'm sure one day I will.  

Has anyone used a collection agency to get unpaid rent/fines/damages etc without going through an eviction process?  if so, how does it work?

[Eric Bowlin]

@Bogdan Cirlig Well I can't speak for how things work outside of MA..But after given a judgement, they are expected to pay. You can request a payment hearing where the court evaluates the status of the payments. Here, the court issues a Summons to the defendant to appear at the payment hearing. Often, tenants skip court. Ignoring a legal summons IS an arrestable offense and they issue a civil warrant. 

Here in MA, a law enforcement officer will not enforce a civil warrant. Civilian constables DO have authority to arrest (i.e. "compel" a person to court). A good constable is basically a law empowered collection agency that dangles the arrest warrant over the person until they pay. People think "arrest" and think of being "booked and processed" with finger prints and pictures etc.. Often, the tenant does not realize the 'arrest' just means they get brought to court that day and forced to listen to a judge tell them to pay.

The good thing is all my court, attorney, and constable fees were legally added into the judgement along with 12% interest for the year and a half it took to work through the courts.

At least...this is how it worked for me the one time I've had to do it.