Damage to unit . Best course of action

[Robert Fountain]

In may of this year I decided to sell one of my units. I gave the tenant a notice to vacate.

The tenant did not pay rent for the last month and did about $5,000 with of damage / junk removal to the unit. Carpet is trashed, walls are damaged, doors ripped off hinges etc. security deposit covered rent but the rest is outstanding.

She left before final walkout and of course did not leave a forwarding address but I do have her name , SSN and date of birth from her rental application.

My thoughts are to send an itemized list of damages in a certified letter to my unit and hope she left forwarding address with post office. Eventually I can get her new address and then sue her on small claims. Chances are she won’t show and if she does, I have all the evidence so a judgement should be fairly easy. Now collecting the judgement is another story.

Has anyone successfully collected in a situation like this? If so, what was your strategy?

[Patricia Steiner]

So do it...a Small Claims Lawsuit it inexpensive and easy to file.  Some tenants have paid right away when they realize that all wasn't "forgiven and forgotten." Others surface when that judgement keeps them from getting that new car, phone, house/apartment.  

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