Need Rent Collections Company-- Back Rent & Broken Lease

[VAL A.]

Tenant moved out 11/1/17.  Owed back rent and lease was through 4/30/18.  Severe damage to property, destroyed appliances, etc.  Owes $8,000+  No forwarding add.  Final letter sent to tenant in Nov 2017 certified mail, returned as undeliverable.

I've looked for collections help online and there seems to be one major company Rent Recovery Service with a Glendale, CA address.   Apparently initial phase is they send out "collection letters, do skip tracing, AND report to tenant's credit.    If no results, you then switch over to phase where an attorney is brought in and your fee is 50% of collection.

I talked with person at Rent Recovery and he says I need a collection company that has an attorney in New Mexico.   I had contacted another online company several months back who was in Florida...pretty aggressive with his followups to me but I never followed through as I wasn't sure if it was the right way to go.   In their contract they indicate that they may have to refer to an attorney and of course that changes the picture.

Can someone please simplify this for me?   I did contact an attorney directly in Albuquerque last week.  Their office called and said he would be contacting me--haven't heard back.  

My questions:   

Is there a company I can safely hook up with who will be able to take it through to a reliable attorney in New Mexico?

I have a 10 page lease, states tenant will be responsible for legal fees in this event, do I add that amount to my actual loss of $8,000 or how does that get figured in with the attorney since you don't know going in how much will be collected.

If you go direct to attorney, do they also report to credit bureau?   

I think the credit bureau reporting is important.  The former tenant has a good job of over 8 years with a telecommunications company.

I'm just afraid to sign a contract with a collection company and then find out I've done the wrong thing and I'm tied up with them but they're not legitimate.     

Please offer any WARNINGS along with answers to questions.   Thank you all in advance.