Tenants Trashed SFH on their way out

[Nicole DeLeon]

Hello,

We recently had tenants move out, and in 10 years and 8 properties, we've never seen anything like this. The home is large, so there was a large deposit and a pet deposit totaling $2400. There were flies everywhere, actual pet poop all over one room, and evidence of more pets than allowed as seen by abandoned property everywhere. The 800-junk bill alone was $1100. They left half their belongings behind, food and even alcohol. Every drain and toilet was clogged. The A/C was barely functional and required an over $2000 repair due to mold. Needless to say, it was disgusting, and I don't know how people live this way. The place needed paint and carpet along with a LOT of other TLC. The total to get this place back into rentable form was $18,000.

Of course, they refused to give us their forwarding address. Although we have several properties, this is not our main occupation. We both work at other jobs. Our property manager isn't a full-time manager. She just helps us rent the homes. But I think we're going to need help here.

The limit for small claims in this county is $10K. Do we hire a lawyer to get a judgment? Are there collection agencies that specialize in this sort of thing? Any recommendations?