Team,
Recently wrapped up an eviction with the help of my property manager. Tenant paid for two years, and then stopped. Boyfriend (who wasn't on the lease, was arrested on site by the SWAT) I assume, paid most of the bills. Upon going through the house to get rid of old junk, I went through some old papers that were left behind, of which were addressed to a name I didn't recognize. I immediately got suspicious and retained these papers. After a few trips back to the home to work on repairs (they trashed my house), I checked the mailbox and saw new mail addressed to this same name. Upon seeing this name again, I looked it up online and found that the person it belonged to had a number of articles from our local news station for a number of crimes, to include forgery, identity theft, impersonation, etc.
After looking the name up on Facebook and scrolling through the page for about an hour, I saw that this was my former tenant. There were tons of mugshots online, articles, etc. I went through her Facebook, and turns out she runs a CPN business (credit profile number, for those who may not be familiar... people use fake names and SSNs, and credit profiles enroute to obtaining housing, cars, credit cards, etc.).
I'm very bummed because I was gathering contractor quotes to have these damages added as judgements that could be garnished from her paycheck by the state, and now we've hit a dead end. Since she was never who she said she was, even the eviction papers aren't addressed to the right person.
What should I do? I'd like to continue to sue for missed rents and damages, but I have no clue how to go about it anymore and don't know if it will even be worth it after the ~$20k she'll owe in both, anticipating an attorney will charge close to this or more.
Do I chalk this one up? My property manager recommends i notify the FBI but I'll be honest, I really just want my money. Open to your opinions.
