What is the name of your state? AR
I have rental property and recently did not renew a tenant's lease. Upon them leaving which they did in five days upon a 30 day notice, not only did they not pay the last months rent they did much damage and malicious damage. In ten years of being a landlord I have never had anyone do damages to the extent of what these people did. I have filed a police report and have taken pictures and video. The cost I am trying to collect is over $3000 even though the actual repair costs are over $5000. I am depreciating some of the replacement costs such as the flooring. The malicious damages are extensive suce as:holes kicked through the closet door, the burners on the electric stove being shattered, the entire countertops in the kitchen being burned up by setting hot objects on them, the garbage disposal being burned up, the commode had an object ( a toy) crammed up into the neck that could not be removed and it had to be replaced, the rollers were stolen from the racks of a new dishwasher, and the topper of it all, they actually tried to burn the place down or at least make us really sick. They rolled up paper in the drip pan of the refrigerator and set it on fire by lighting a book of paper matches and sticking it in the paper. They also poked holes in the evaporator line so the chemicals would drain onto the fire either causing a house fire or causing toxic fumes to make us sick when we went down there. Oh yeah, I should mention this is a duplex so if it did catch on fire there was a whole other apartment which would have been involved.
I have never had someone intentionally try to do me harm in this way. I don't know which way to go about collection damages. Do I go to crimminal court and get a judgement or small claims and try to collect first? I want to do both, I just don't know which to do first. Thanks for any help.
I have rental property and recently did not renew a tenant's lease. Upon them leaving which they did in five days upon a 30 day notice, not only did they not pay the last months rent they did much damage and malicious damage. In ten years of being a landlord I have never had anyone do damages to the extent of what these people did. I have filed a police report and have taken pictures and video. The cost I am trying to collect is over $3000 even though the actual repair costs are over $5000. I am depreciating some of the replacement costs such as the flooring. The malicious damages are extensive suce as:holes kicked through the closet door, the burners on the electric stove being shattered, the entire countertops in the kitchen being burned up by setting hot objects on them, the garbage disposal being burned up, the commode had an object ( a toy) crammed up into the neck that could not be removed and it had to be replaced, the rollers were stolen from the racks of a new dishwasher, and the topper of it all, they actually tried to burn the place down or at least make us really sick. They rolled up paper in the drip pan of the refrigerator and set it on fire by lighting a book of paper matches and sticking it in the paper. They also poked holes in the evaporator line so the chemicals would drain onto the fire either causing a house fire or causing toxic fumes to make us sick when we went down there. Oh yeah, I should mention this is a duplex so if it did catch on fire there was a whole other apartment which would have been involved.
I have never had someone intentionally try to do me harm in this way. I don't know which way to go about collection damages. Do I go to crimminal court and get a judgement or small claims and try to collect first? I want to do both, I just don't know which to do first. Thanks for any help.