Ok, I filed for damages against a tenant, and as of today they tell me I that I will receive a default judgement. But from what I am understanding that really does not mean I will get my money right? Can someone tell me what my next step should be or if I need to get a lawyer, or if I should just count it as a total loss??

; State Specific Question About: WEST VIRGINIA (WV)

A money judgment is a piece of paper that constitutes a formal court ruling that the defendant owes the plaintiff a specific amount of money as of a specific date.

That piece of paper is not money, and you cannot deposit it into your bank account or pay your bills with it.

What you can do is to try to collect on the indebtedness that the judgment shows. You might be able to garnish wages, or levy against a bank account, or have the Sheriff seize a car and sell it at auction, or ....

Or if you accumulate enough judgments, you can insulate the outhouse with them.

Debora, as Mike said, getting a judgment and COLLECTING a judgment are two different beasts.

You've heard of garnishments and seizing assets? You need the judgment to do that. But...if your state is like mine, you get to PAY for the privileged to have the sheriff serve the appropriate papers to the employer / banker. Unfortunately, when debtors realize they're about to have "their money" swiped, they quit their jobs or close their bank accounts. You find out later AFTER you've paid the fee. Never hurts to contact their employer / bank and see if they're still around.

You can also report the debt to the three credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) using the Mr. Land Lord service and hope that somewhere down the line the deadbeat tries to buy a car, a house or tries to rent from a good land lord who pulls credit and gets DENIED. That MIGHT prompt them to get smart and pay you off. Or they'll just spend the rest of their years at "Buy Here, Pay Here" car dealers and renting from mom 'n pop land lords who give keys to anyone with a wad of cash.

It's truly frustrating. I have about a 35% collection rate on judgments, and from what I understand that's above average. I use Schaffer Collections in Columbia, MO. They take 40% of the amt collected, but you don't pay unless they collect. I'll take 60 cents on the dollar vs. 0 cents.

Debra,

Careful...your wording reeks of the "I'm gonna teach this deadbeat a lesson..." mentality. May I humbly suggest, that based on past experience, this is a futile, frustrating goal.

You must understand that people like this are 1 step shy of being criminals. Why "one step shy?" Because they haven't been convicted yet and the courts say it is a civil matter. If the same person stole a pack of gum from a store, they could be charged with and convicted of shoplifing. But, as you say, with the land lord we may end up eating thousands of $$$ in damages and see zero result for our efforts.

I say this to encourage you to go after what's owed. I don't think the account number is necessary; just the name and bank should be sufficient if there is at least one active account in his name. But don't get your hopes up that you get much money.

And realize--now--that you'll NEVER change these people's attitude. You and I would never screw someone over like this. It takes "a whole 'nuther type of doofus" as my grand dad used to say, to treat people like this.

We aren't behavior / attitude police. We're land lords.

Default judgment is a start. You should be able to find a lawyer who will open this as a collection for a low amount (like $100-200 just to file the legal papers and do some skip tracing) and a % of the money you actually recover. They should also be able to recover some interest and fees for you. You don't end up with 100% this way but you should end up with somewhere in the ballpark of what SID said. If you were in MD I could get you a guy who will take 30%.

Turn the judgement over to reputable collection agency or collection atty. From there, let them do the work and enjoy any rewards from it without the hassle.

In CA, you do not need the bank account number, just the bank name.

I hope the bank account for internet business is in your tenant's name. Otherwise, you are out of luck.

I don't know about other states, but my Court/Sheriff does not give any advance warning of a bank accout levy. The papers get served on the bank first, and generally, the bank is not going to play any kind of games. Whatever money is in the account the moment the papers are processed, you get (bank takes its fees first, of course!!).

I once had to get the timing of a bank levy down perfectly. There was a payroll bank account that got funded on payday, and as soon as the employees all cashed their checks, the account balance was zero. So I had to levy as soon as the account was funded and before the employees raced over to the bank at lunchtime to cash their checks. Fortunately, I was able to use a private process server to serve the papers exactly when I wanted.

Debora,

Collecting is an entire skills set.

You need some LOCAL input, preferably from LOCAL LLs.

We don't burn up attitude or energy pursuing them, (this can really turn a LL into a grump!) we just keep them on the list and keep hauling their keesters into court.

Here some ideas that we use. Ask if they apply to YOUR court and YOUR judge.

In my court, pursuing additional action thru the court is free.

We keep dragging them in to court for follow ups (Proceedings Supplemental). I have them sign my document listing their PERMANANT ADDRESS, such as parents or grands, with permission to "deliver notices to that trusted person".

This way I can still get proper SERVICE ("you've been served") and get my court hearing even when they disappear.

If they forget to show up, we can request a BODY ATTACHMENT (arrest warrant) for FAILURE TO APPEAR. Technically, they have to pay the amount due to get out of jail.

Love it!

Also ask about this: in MY state, I can ADD collection agency fees to the amount owed.

We do not use collection agencies. The 2 agencies serving our area are not interested in LL/T judgments because they are next to impossible to collect.

Locally, not a single LL in our assoc has collected a penny thru agencies.