Collecting past due rent from a military tenant

[Jessica McCoy]

I recently evicted a military tenant for non payment of rent. After signing the lease, he and his girlfriend got married and caught the kitchen on fire, all in the same weekend. They moved their dog in, without paying the pet fee. I had the kitchen rebuilt, entire house cleaned and repainted within one weeks time. They were responsible for replacing the damaged appliances, paying the pet fee, and my $500 insurance deductible, as well as rent. They asked to stay in the house and continue their lease, and I agreed, but they basically never moved back in, and bounced the next months rent check.

I evicted them, but the eviction was served by mail, so we were not given an automatic judgment under Georgia law ( the tenant has to be personally served for an automatic judgment).

Now I will have to take them to small claims court in order to collect the several thousands of dollars they owe me.

Any suggestions on how to sue someone who is most likely staying on base, and thus not in my county but on Federal property? I am not even sure that a process server can get on the Fort property.

[Richard Balsam]

Sorry  to be the bearer of bad news… Under Georgia law, a tenant is not to even replace a lightbulb.  The fact that they started a fire, you must prove malice and intent, not the fact that a fire was started. There is a reason why you maintain property insurance. Your deductible is what you chose, not them. They are not responsible to pay your deductible. They are not responsible for replacing your appliances, again your insurance is designed for that. The fact that they skipped out on rent, is a different story. If they were transferred due to the military, I am not sure the legal basis of a claim against them or not. Many times, I collect past due rent by skip tracing them, and serving them the proper paperwork for  and evection and taking them the magistrate court. When they do not show up, you automatically win, and the judge will  review the amount of damages you described in the paperwork before he/she signs off on it. due. Once the judge signs the eviction paperwork, you hire a collections attorney  who will start the process, to dock their pay up to a set percentage described by law. I believe it is 25% of gross pay per month. It is an entire process, and the collection attorney will typically charge up to 28% of the amount collected per month, in addition to a set fee to start the file. Yes, you can add this collection cost to the damages to be awarded by the judge.  Unfortunately, there are no guarantees in property rental. I have lost tens of thousands of dollars over the last 15 years, of renters beating me out of rent, causing damage to my homes,  and including my holding costs, in addition to repair and upgrade costs.  In the long run, these costs are minor when  compared to the income I’ve earned. Of course, they are deductible against income in the year they occurred. Good luck.