Tenant Filed Bankruptcy During Court Proceedings

[Cody McCraw]

I just recently started listening to the BP podcasts and haven't been on the forums yet so I really hate that the my discussion on this forum has to be a bitter one, but I've found myself in less than desirable situation as a landlord.  I filed suit a month ago against a former tenant who owes me for back-owed rent and property damage.  The tenant hired an attorney who asked for a continuance to dispute the charges.  I complied with the court by submitting a bill of particulars.  The attorney has now sent me notice that the tenant is filing for bankruptcy and that our upcoming court date will be stayed. 

Has anyone been in this situation before?  What can/should I do?

Background information:  A former tenant of mine moved out of my house in November 2016 after occupying the property for one year. Towards the end of his lease he got behind on the rent (+/- $2,000), but since he had already given notice to move out I didn't bother with the eviction process. Instead I convinced him to sign a loan agreement, which turned the back owed rent and any potential damages into a loan with monthly payments, including interest. During the move-out inspection I discovered a significant amount of damage to the property (+/- $5800), which he didn't dispute at the time. Two months into the repayment process, he quit paying so I filed suit in our local court. Since the tenant moved out I renovated the house and released the property to a new tenant. 

Thanks in advance for any comments or suggestions.

Cody

[Linda Weygant]

Originally posted by @Cody McCraw:

@Matt Clark @Linda Weygant Him and his wife are on the lease jointly, but he's the bread winner so I went after him.  He's got a $100k salary while she has $900/month disability.  I felt like a suit against her was pretty pointless since I would never be able to collect anything.  Do you think his bankruptcy filing affects by ability to sue her?  

 I think disability payments from social security are not attachable for garnishment, etc, so going after her might be pointless.  If you do, it's likely she'll just file bankruptcy as well and you're in the same boat, but more court costs out of pocket.

If the property is in a community property state, there might be some other angle to pursue on that, but now we are way outside my area of knowledge - but it's something to research further.