What can I do now?

[avenuesofcollection]

What is the name of your state? Maryland

I had some tenants who left us with approx $10,000 in damages, $7,500 in back rent, and a $1,500 water bill. We took them to court and won a judgement. We tried multiple times getting them back in court to give appropriate information so we could get payment. They never appeared, they repeatedly denied being the person in question in order to receive summons - finally, the courts issues a body attachment for the person. Question is - now what?

we know where the person is - but have been told by our lawyer that the sheriff treats body attachments as the last thing to be tracked down following a litany of other types of warrants, arrests, etc. What can we do? the person still owes us the $20,000 (which would be tremendous help in paying our own bills).

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state? Maryland

I had some tenants who left us with approx $10,000 in damages, $7,500 in back rent, and a $1,500 water bill. We took them to court and won a judgement. We tried multiple times getting them back in court to give appropriate information so we could get payment. They never appeared, they repeatedly denied being the person in question in order to receive summons - finally, the courts issues a body attachment for the person. Question is - now what?

we know where the person is - but have been told by our lawyer that the sheriff treats body attachments as the last thing to be tracked down following a litany of other types of warrants, arrests, etc. What can we do? the person still owes us the $20,000 (which would be tremendous help in paying our own bills).

Have you thought about turning the judgment over to a professional debt collector? You will not get the full amount owed you but you will be relieved of the hassle of trying to collect.

 

[adjusterjack]

What can we do?

Sell the place and get out of the landlord business. I don't know you and I don't know the back story but my experience (20 years a landlord) suggests that you let things slide for way too long before evicting.

It's highly unlikely that you will ever see any money from those deadbeats, even if they do get picked up.

Owning a rental is not for people who are faint of heart and don't have lots of money in the bank.

 

[quincy]

avenuesofcollection, I am curious. Was this a commercial lease or a residential lease?

Here is a link to Maryland Courts information on collecting judgments:

https://www.mdcourts.gov/legalhelp/collectingjudgment

 

[Litigator22]

What is the name of your state? Maryland

I had some tenants who left us with approx $10,000 in damages, $7,500 in back rent, and a $1,500 water bill. We took them to court and won a judgement. We tried multiple times getting them back in court to give appropriate information so we could get payment. They never appeared, they repeatedly denied being the person in question in order to receive summons - finally, the courts issues a body attachment for the person. Question is - now what?

we know where the person is - but have been told by our lawyer that the sheriff treats body attachments as the last thing to be tracked down following a litany of other types of warrants, arrests, etc. What can we do? the person still owes us the $20,000 (which would be tremendous help in paying our own bills).

You allowed your tenants to get into you for $20K and suddenly recouping the loss is a matter of "tremendous" urgency deserving top priority?! To answer your question: Now what? I suggest that you pose it to your lawyer.

 

[quincy]

The rent, water bill and damages might not be that outrageous if the leased property was a commercial building.

 

[avenuesofcollection]

The rent, water bill and damages might not be that outrageous if the leased property was a commercial building.

Residential

 

[quincy]

Residential

Thank you for answering my question.

I cannot quite understand why you did not act faster to evict your tenants. That is an incredible amount of back rent and property damage.

The link provided above tells you how to collect on a judgment but I still think it might be smart for you to turn over collection to a professional debt collector.

Good luck.