How do you know there are not judgements against the owner or a mortgage, or perhaps back taxes.

Property has over 20k in judgements against it and needs a good 20k worth of work, but is worth close to 130k right now, it will be worth 170k-180k once its rehabbed.

Yes, it will be difficult to find them to take them to small claims (it's your job to locate them to be served by the Sheriff), but your chances of actually being paid the arrearages are slim even if the judgement from the eviction hearing finds that they are due.

I got a default judgement in my favor in less than 2 minutes.  

Each judgement file only had two pages in it.

@Chris Seveney I don't think it is so bad that you should give up on short sales.... just use your good judgement. 

That's not bad advice per se as I see a lot of overpriced SFs and multis selling around campus, but that's kinda a sweeping judgement to make just bc there's a lot of new student apartments going up.  

Would I be able to get a judgement even if she has left?

I have been seeing a lot of posts lately about unethical,bad, lying realtors. The poster comes on here and rips apart the character of the unnamed person. Sometimes as the post progresses and the information about the...

But if there is a real medically related issue the case can be made...ultimately it is a judgement call as far as what would be deemed defensible.