How to collect a judgement without much information on the tenant

[Nelson M.]

Hello BP, I started investing back in 2015 with the purchase of a 3-family property around the Northeast Pennsylvania region and admittedly made some rookie mistakes. A few years later I found myself in court to evict a tenant who hadn’t paid rent in several months. The tenant didn’t show up and I won the judgement for a significant amount. 

I had always read stories about how unlikely it was to successfully collect a judgement so I held on to this for a couple years but I’m finally ready to give it a try to see if it’s possible to collect at least a portion of the debt.

The issue I’m facing is that I have very limited information on the defendant so I can’t file a writ of garnishment because I have no idea where they work or which bank accounts they have. Only thing I know is they moved to Mississippi and I was able to get the name of their current landlord but that’s about it.

How would you begin the process of collecting this judgment considering the situation? Should I contact the current landlord and try to get information on the defendant? The person doesn’t know that I have this info and I wouldn’t want them getting tipped off yet but might be worth the risk. Should I contact a RE attorney in MS? or perhaps just give the judgement to a collections agency?

Would appreciate any advice here. Thanks for your help! 

[Joe Splitrock]

@Nelson M. the idea that people never collect is a direct byproduct of them not trying to collect. You can absolutely collect money from a tenant, especially as time passes and they are trying to repair their financial situation. I would contact a collection agency. They will take a large fee, but only if they collect. They have methods to encourage the tenant to pay. 

Calling the tenants current landlord is probably not a great use of time. Collecting money from their tenant doesn't help them in any way. Give what information you have to the collection agency and let them do their job.