Tenant moved out without pay and before eviction court opens

[Nancy Halliday]

Two months before my tenant‘s lease is up, he stopped paying. I filed eviction (via PM company) right before Covid-19 shutdown but he was not served by sheriff’s office. During the shutdown period, his lease expired and we didn’t execute another one. He missed two months rent on previous lease, and stayed additional 3 months without lease, without payment. As of 7/1, he moved out and gave back keys. Our eviction court is scheduled to open in mid July. What option do I have? Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts and experiences with me. I do have his one month deposit which is not even close to what he owed. How can I get him to pay me back? He does not respond to my call or texts. 

[Joe Splitrock]

Originally posted by @Nancy Halliday:

Two months before my tenant‘s lease is up, he stopped paying. I filed eviction (via PM company) right before Covid-19 shutdown but he was not served by sheriff’s office. During the shutdown period, his lease expired and we didn’t execute another one. He missed two months rent on previous lease, and stayed additional 3 months without lease, without payment. As of 7/1, he moved out and gave back keys. Our eviction court is scheduled to open in mid July. What option do I have? Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts and experiences with me. I do have his one month deposit which is not even close to what he owed. How can I get him to pay me back? He does not respond to my call or texts. 

 It partly depends on what state you are in. You want to get a judgement against him, which is a legally binding order that says he owes you money. The judgement stays on his credit report until it is satisfied or cleared by some other means, such as bankruptcy. You can also potentially work with a collection agency, with or without a judgement to collect the money. Do not let him get away with this. It was very intentional that he didn't pay you and left before eviction courts opened. Some landlords would file for eviction, even though he left just to get it on his record...