Doing after lost rent/damages

[Brian Anderson]

I had a tenant stop paying rent in January. I had them evicted, but CA froze all evictions the week before the lock out was supposed to take place. I finally was able to get the tenant out after 5 months of not paying rent. The house was a total mess as well so we are getting it back to a livable state for the next renters.

Is it worth it to go after the previous tenant for the lost rent and small claims court for the damages? I have had some people say it’s not worth it and it will just cost me more money and time, but on the flip side I don’t want to just let this person get away with this and make sure it’s on their credit so it doesn’t happen again.