Anyone collect restitution awarded by a judge?

[Paul Sandhu]

If so, how long did it take you to start receiving it?

2 years ago I caught a guy that had broken in to one of my STRs. He was actually asleep on a bed when I went in to check on what was supposed to be an unoccupied house. I had been in the house the day before when I noticed it had been broken in to.  The HDTV was missing and smaller items were staged by the  back door.

When I came back the next morning someone had braced the front door with a 2x4 at about a 30 degree angle. I picked it up and held it like a bat, then I walked through the house to find the person that put the brace there. I saw a bedroom door was closed, wasn't sure what to expect behind that closed door. 1 or more people with blunt or edged weapons or a firearm?  A very similar scenario happened about a year earlier than this, there were blunt weapons by the bed.  So I turned tail and quietly walked backwards out of the house, with the 2x4 ready to swing.  I stepped outside and called the police. $350 worth of my stuff was missing (and I had receipts for it all), he had drugs in his possession. The judge ordered him to pay restitution of $350 to me. He spent 18 months in jail, and got out about 2 weeks ago.

[John Underwood]

I've never even done that for any of my long term rentals.