Any luck collecting from former tenants?

[Rick Bassett]

I've been of the mindset not to waste my time chasing pennies from tenants that move out leaving minor problems but in the past year I've had 2 tenants that have moved out & broke lease early that have cost us $5k each. Of course, they refuse to pay a dime of what they owe.

One of them has nothing and the other moved out to buy her dream home.

Have seasoned landlords found it worthwhile to get a small claims judgement against former tenants like these and then turn them over for collections?

Rick