About to Collect On a Judgement!

[Kevin Sobilo]

I've heard many times that its not worthwhile to sue tenants or to try to collect on the judgements against them. So, I wanted to share a story where it appears I am about to successfully collect the majority of a judgement.

I had a tenant that I evicted a couple years ago. I had a judgment from when I evicted and a second one after she was finally out for damages.

When my tenant failed to pay the 1st judgment after 30 days, I recorded the judgement in the county prothonotary's office where it becomes a general lien on any property they own within that county.

I found that my tenant owned a vacant uninhabitable home that she had bought for about $14k a few years prior. Unfortunately, my tenant also had a judgement lien from a local college so I was in the 2nd lien position on that house. However, these types of judgments need to be revived periodically in court or they time out and the college's lien was nearly up.

I waited for the college's lien to be up. During that time, I found that the tenant managed to sell the property to a cash buyer who didn't do a title search or get title insurance.

I contacted this buyer. They were very nice, but their English isn't so good. After months of prodding them along and with the help of an interpreter they used when buying the house, I have finally gotten a written proposal for them to pay on the judgment from their lawyer.

They are offering to pay about 70% of the judgment amount, which I think in the collections game is a pretty good win. I still may negotiate it further, but the end is finally in sight.

Yes, this effort did take a long time in calendar days, but really not that much in terms of man hours. So, it was a worthwhile effort. In addition, they say you pay for your education, and through this effort I have gained a lot of good experience.

Anyone else who has had success with collecting, please share some stories!