After eviction plans

[Michael Sheridan]

So I was curious what every one did after you successfully get someone evicted or do cash for keys or whatever. But if a tenant still owes you let’s say $5000 in between back rent and/or some damage to unit. Does anyone recover that money themselves by suing former tenant or does anyone just send it to collections and move on.

Just curious to hear everyone’s thoughts and if anyone has gone through this what they did to resolve?

[Dominic A.]

Yes, but be prepared that you may never see this money; that's the risk. When it's this much money though it might be worth the effort and costs.
Definitely stopping things before the total rises higher is the right move.

Most places will require a hearing process. In that case, you'll need to file with a state/tenancy board or small claims court. Once you have a judgement in your favour (which should be the straightforward result) THEN you can pursue it. There are court fees and costs for collection agencies if you're not chasing it yourself (often it just means someone buys the debt from you at a greatly reduced rate and takes on the effort of getting paid).

You can also ask nicely, but evictions usually indicate the person isn't planning to pay anytime soon (especially if they need to find rent money for a new place). 

[Alvin Sylvain]

If you went the Cash for Keys route, then you have already figured to be out whatever they still owe you.

If you had even the slightest inkling that you might ever see the money they owe you, then you wouldn't bother with Cash for Keys. Cash for Keys means you've already decided to cut your losses and get them out in the most expedient way possible.

[Nathan Gesner]

If you offered cash for keys, your offer should have included some sort of accounting for the unpaid balance. In other words, if they owe you $5,000 in unpaid rent, offering them $2,000 to leave means you are essentially writing off the unpaid balance of $5,000. Cash for keys is terrible and should only be used rarely and in unique situations.

A better idea would be to write off the debt if they are out by 11:59PM on [DATE]. IF they fail, you'll hire an attorney to evict and come after them for every dime.

An even better idea is to not negotiate at all and just hire the attorney to go after them.

An even better idea is to have policies and procedures in place that prevent you from letting them get this far behind. I start the eviction process 11 days after rent is due, not six months later.

When someone leaves owing money, you should expect to never receive a dime. Hand it over to collections and move on.

I started using Capital Accounts LLC for my collections. They've already recovered more for me than the last three collection agencies did in the past 12 years. They have an online portal to enter collections or track progress. They reach out to me at least once a month or any time they send me a payment. Definitely worth checking out.

[Eliott Elias]

I've had success once by threatening to take them to small courts claims. They trashed my house, if the person cares about their credit they will want to take care of it. Be open to negotiating and understand if they can't come up with the full $5000

[Sylvia H.]

Quote from @Michael Sheridan:

So I was curious what every one did after you successfully get someone evicted or do cash for keys or whatever. But if a tenant still owes you let’s say $5000 in between back rent and/or some damage to unit. Does anyone recover that money themselves by suing former tenant or does anyone just send it to collections and move on.

Just curious to hear everyone’s thoughts and if anyone has gone through this what they did to resolve?

I have sued in small claims and was successful. The woman paid back the money and was never late. This was a case where a woman broke her lease and left the deadbeat boyfriend in the apartment and I had to evict. I went after her because they were jointly and severally responsible for the rent. She had the good job and credit. If she chose to sue him after should could try but he wasn't working so that would have been futile.  This is why you don't rent to people with bad credit and no job. I knew she had the stability and if anything went south I could go after her and I did. Sounds like you may want to cut your losses if you gave them money to get out they aren't going to pay you back rent. Best of luck