Evictions & garnishments??

Question

I have been in the buy and hold game for a few years now and have never had to evict someone to the extreme of sheriff removal. Now I have 2 that have gone in front of a judge, given notice and still didn't move. A sheriff had to come in both cases. And in 1 even after sheriff removal i had to move her things and store them for 30 days. Now that I have the vacancies I haven't found a single tenant that meets my screening. I require 0 zero evictions within the last 5 years, a 600 credit score or at least 6 months at current job. I've had 6 applications and no one that qualifies. Im upfront about my requirements and people still apply. Is this the bad economy finally catching up with people or am I doing something wrong?
 
Those out there that are experienced in evictions have you ever gone for a money garnishment? I now have the option to attempt garnishment as both tenants are employed but have been advised by my attorney that I may not see anything if someone else beat me to the garnishment or I they quit. (It's $200 to get the garnishment)

Rob K. · Answer

I have had great success garnishing peoples state income tax refunds to get paid on a judgment. I don't know what state you're in, so it's hard to say if you can do that. As far as garnishing their income, I believe you can get 25% until the garnishment is paid. I doubt they would quit their job, but you never know. I would try and collect. You can also seize property. I know a court officer that seizes peoples cars all of the time to pay judgments.

As far as your criteria, I require no evictions ever (short sale or foreclosure are ok), a monthly income of at least three times the monthly rent, and I also look at their personality to get a feel for what they are like. I don't care about credit. Medical bills and student loans will bring a score down and many people have those. If they pay their rent, their credit could be 500. Who cares? With a 620 credit score, they can usually get a mortgage and buy a house. You have a very small pool of people to deal with if you require 600.

A lot of this depends what price range you're in also.

Some of my best tenants are people with great rental histories, but horrible credit. If they wanted to get a mortgage, they would have to die and come back to life as someone else. Fine with me. They can keep renting.

I also like tenants that have a history of staying in the same place. If they move every year, they will leave your place in a year also. If they owned a house for ten years and had a short sale or foreclosure, they might stay in your house for ten years also. Their credit will be less than 600, but so what? They know what it's like to maintain a house, they have shown that they've kept the same address for a long time, and they have accumulated so much stuff that they won't want to move again for a long time.

Rob K. · Answer

It's funny that we were just talking about garnishments. I received a letter from the state yesterday. I will be getting a check for $309 from a tax refund garnishment. Hopefully a few more will come rolling in.

If your state allows you to garnish tax refunds, it is the easiest way to collect.

For those in Michigan, it's a simple process. You can only file between November 1 and December 31. Go early since it's first come first serve and these people are deadbeats. Others might be trying to collect also. Go to the court where the judgment was issued. You will need defendant's name, SS #, and current or last known address. The court clerk might argue that you need the current address. This is not true. The address of your vacated rental will work. You fill out a non-periodic garnishment form and pay the clerk $15 and get the form stamped. Next, you send the form certified mail to the state along with $6. When the return receipt comes back, make a copy of it and send it to the court along with a copy of the garnishment form. You then send a copy of the form to the defendant. Now you are done and wait for your money. It takes less than an hour and costs $21. If you have multiple forms, your time invested is less since it's divided among them all. You can also send multiple forms to the state using the same cartified envelope.

This is slinging mud and only a small percentage of forms will result in payment, but for $21 and a little bit of time, it can pay off. Last year I received almost $2,000 for an hour of my time and $105 in fees. I was happy with it.

Stephen White · Answer

Great information from Rob K I'm literally taking notes! And I agree I would not spent any money on a wage garnishment. They're so rarely successful.

Ryan M. · Answer

I suppose if the people came back and wanted their stuff back I would write the address of the landfill and it say it can be picked up there. Conveniet for them, maybe not....true, yes.

I don't like to make things to conveniet when I get stuck for rent.

Michelle Marty · Answer

TN requires holding it for 30 days. The man that owns the building across from mine was setting things by the curb and said he was storing them outside for a conveinant pick up. Grey area maybe?

Steve Babiak · Answer

Ryan M. - LOL

Patrick L. · Answer

In FL it's pretty much impossible to get a garnishment.  If the person qualifies as "head of household" you can't garnish their wages unless they make more than $750/week AND sign a waiver allowing a creditor to garnish their wages.

Ryan M. · Answer

Does your state require to hold the stuff for 30 days?

I hold their stuff indefinitely in a landfill.

Michelle Marty · Answer

State tax refunds are a great idea! Unfortunately I'm in Tennessee (no state income tax)

Rob K. · Answer

Mike Franco In my state, judgments are only good for ten years, but can be re-newed for another ten. You might want to check on your laws.

I can only garnish the state tax refund and can only file papers to do so between Nov 1 and Dec 31. I like to do it on the first day so I beat out any other collectors. Child support comes first no matter what, so I have found that women are easier to collect from than men.

Evictions & garnishments??

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