State Specific Question About: VIRGINIA (VA)

A tenant did not pay rent for almost five months and have left the house without leaving here new address. I have got a court judgement against her. Please advise how can I recover my almost eight to ten thousand unpaid rent?

Thanks,

Mahmood, Wa Salaam a laycum! Welcome to the Board. Sounds like you have recently undergone an education in LLing, and you need some basic training. First go up on this page and click on the blue words Landlord/Tenant State Laws--chosose VA and them PRINT out all the VA laws. Put in a 3-ring binder so you will have them at your fingertips.

-You never shd let tenants get THAT late with the rent. How many months rent does that $8-10K cover? Each state is dif but each state has a number of days you have to wait before sending them a Pay or Quit notice (3 days, 5, 7, 10, whatever). Always notify them to pay as soon as your state allows!

-So now you have gone thru the eviction and you have the judgement. First REGISTER the judgement. Do not fail to do this. Then after some 30-60 days, you can run their credit again just like you did when they applied. By that time they will have established a new residence and new credit obligations(elec/gas/water turned on in their name, etc). Also on the application they shd have put their employer. You can contact them for wage garnishment. You can also contact the other references on their application (relatives, emergency notification, etc) for the tenant's whereabouts. Sometimes I say they had a Security Deposit I need to know where to send the acctg and any money return.

-Failing all of that, you can(if the judgement has been recorded) hand them over to a collection agency(be aware that the agency will charge half of everything they recover). Insh-Allah you will find them and recover your money.