Judgment entered
Small claims today went much smoother than I had expected.
The defendants did not show up, so a default judgment was entered for the full amount plus $165 for filing fees. The defendants have 30 days to dispute the judgment, otherwise I can begin to collect.
To be more specific, I showed up 30 minutes early. There were two cases being heard, and the other plaintiffs showed up 10 minutes after I did. A few minutes later, the court clerk stopped in to explain that one of the defendants called to say that he was going to be 10 minutes late — but the clerk didn’t know which defendant because he didn’t leave his name.
Ten minutes after the scheduled starting time, the judge came in. He was very curt, asked for my name and asked if I knew whether or not the defendants would show. I said I didn’t. He then went out to check if they had arrived, on returning stated that he was going to enter a default judgment because they failed to show. He then sarcastically said, “Good luck collecting” and that was it. I’m not sure if he made that comment because he knew the defendants from elsewhere or simply because it’s not always easy to collect.
I am fairly confident that I will be able to collect. Besides garnishing salaries, I am going to go after an insurance company that pays the girlfriend a substantial sum every year on her birthday due to an accident she had when she was very young.
Do any Shmandlord readers have tips for or stories about collecting money from a judgment?
February 20th, 2007 at 10:38 pm
Some countries allow the lists of tenants who have defaulted to be kept and checked by future landlords. Being put on such a list would make it very difficult for the deadbeats to rent another property. Unfortunately, this is illegal in some countries.
On tactic which produced instant results was for a tenant who tried to skip without paying even though he could afford to. His job required him to travel internationally. I told him that if I did not receive full payment (plus costs) in cash or cleared funds within 48 hours I would have a stop order placed on his passport (this would prevent him leaving the country). I got paid.
February 28th, 2007 at 1:21 am
Hmmm, no, I prefer to screen then bribe my tenants to behave…it works well too. Maybe this is something you could take up next time…Movie tickets are so simple but work wonders…! Better luck next time!
March 17th, 2007 at 9:47 am
Unfortunately, I think the judge’s “good luck collecting” comment might be right on the mark. As I’m sure you’ve found, laws in almost every state are geared specifically toward protecting the tenant, not the landlord.
I’m not sure I’ve followed the thread correctly…is this judgment against the “pain in the wrist” guys or the ex-tenants that you found living in a hotel?
If the problem tenants are living in your property still I hope your priority is to get the *out*. These situations only get worse - they never get better. Good luck! I’ll follow along to see what happens…
July 30th, 2008 at 11:07 am
Depending on which state you live in, sometimes it makes sense to have your judgment “recorded” in the county in which the tenants live. If they ever buy property, it can attach as a lien. But seriously, it depends on the state. So this could be an option, but maybe not.