Rent garnishment

[quincy]

Thank you for all of the replies. Yes I meant garnishment.

We all appreciate the thanks.

Good luck in your collection efforts.

 

[Bng808]

Just wondering if any of you have had any experience with this, and if so if there were any draw backs? I seems like it would be more productive than a bank garnishment or property lien. However, I have not heard any being done here at least in my district, so I'm assuming there are drawbacks to doing it.

 

[LdiJ]

Just wondering if any of you have had any experience with this, and if so if there were any draw backs? I seems like it would be more productive than a bank garnishment or property lien. However, I have not heard any being done here at least in my district, so I'm assuming there are drawbacks to doing it.

The only real drawback would be if the tenant and landlord made some other sort of side deal to get around your levy of the rents. A tenant wouldn't normally have much incentive to make some sort of side deal with the landlord, but it could happen.

 

[Taxing Matters]

Just wondering if any of you have had any experience with this, and if so if there were any draw backs? I seems like it would be more productive than a bank garnishment or property lien. However, I have not heard any being done here at least in my district, so I'm assuming there are drawbacks to doing it.

The main thing is that it is likely that the garnishment is not continuous. That's the way it is in most states. If that's the case in Hawaii, you'd need to serve each tenant with a new garnishment every month. I don't consider that a draw back exactly, just more of a hassle.

The only real drawback would be if the tenant and landlord made some other sort of side deal to get around your levy of the rents. A tenant wouldn't normally have much incentive to make some sort of side deal with the landlord, but it could happen.

A tenant doing that puts himself in the potentially bad situation of having paid the landlord and then being ordered by the court to pay again to satisfy the garnishment order. So if the tenant is at all smart he or she won't try do some side deal to pay the rent to the landlord.

 

[quincy]

Just wondering if any of you have had any experience with this, and if so if there were any draw backs? I seems like it would be more productive than a bank garnishment or property lien. However, I have not heard any being done here at least in my district, so I'm assuming there are drawbacks to doing it.

How much is the judgment for?

It seems to me that a garnishment of the landlord’s bank account (fund garnishment) would be far easier and less time consuming than trying to get several fund or wage garnishments for several different tenants.

Is the landlord employed as anything but a landlord (does he have another job)?

Unless you know or suspect the debtor is planning to sell or refinance his property soon, a property lien could mean a very long wait to get paid.

On what island are you located? You can contact Legal Aid of Hawaii (creator of the video I posted earlier) and they should be able to direct you to an attorney in your area who can assist you (http://www.legalaidhawaii.org).

 

[LdiJ]

The main thing is that it is likely that the garnishment is not continuous. That's the way it is in most states. If that's the case in Hawaii, you'd need to serve each tenant with a new garnishment every month. I don't consider that a draw back exactly, just more of a hassle.



A tenant doing that puts himself in the potentially bad situation of having paid the landlord and then being ordered by the court to pay again to satisfy the garnishment order. So if the tenant is at all smart he or she won't try do some side deal to pay the rent to the landlord.

I don't disagree in the slightest. I just wanted to bring up the possibility. I have actually seen that kind of side deal happen in a garnishment situation. The ones I saw were structured in such a way that that the payor had little risk.

 

[Bng808]

Once again, thank you for all of the helpful information. The Judgement is for $10,500.00. To our knowledge he has multiple judgments against him already, so I'm fairly sure his bank accounts are tapped. Allegedly the IRS is breathing down his neck also.

 

[bracknelson]

What is the name of your state?
Hawaii

I currently have a judgment against my landlord. Can I collect the judgment amount, in regards to the rent they pay him, from the other tenants to satisfy the judgment? If so, how is this done?

No, you can’t do this because you have your judgment, not other people.

 

[quincy]

Once again, thank you for all of the helpful information. The Judgement is for $10,500.00. To our knowledge he has multiple judgments against him already, so I'm fairly sure his bank accounts are tapped. Allegedly the IRS is breathing down his neck also.

You also have to worry about him filing for bankruptcy, then. You will not want to delay in your collection efforts.

Does he have any assets worth attaching (e.g., car)?

 

[Taxing Matters]

You also have to worry about him filing for bankruptcy, then.

Maybe. That's always a possibility in any debt collection situation. However, just because the IRS might be collecting doesn't portend bankruptcy. The IRS liability might not (at least yet) be eligible for discharge in bankruptcy. That would have a significant impact on whether and when the debtor might pursue bankruptcy.

You will not want to delay in your collection efforts.

Absolutely. In any any debt collection situation the faster you act to collect the more likely you are to get paid. Time is not the friend of a debt collector.

 

[quincy]

Maybe. That's always a possibility in any debt collection situation. However, just because the IRS might be collecting doesn't portend bankruptcy. The IRS liability might not (at least yet) be eligible for discharge in bankruptcy. That would have a significant impact on whether and when the debtor might pursue bankruptcy.



Absolutely. In any any debt collection situation the faster you act to collect the more likely you are to get paid. Time is not the friend of a debt collector.

I was thinking less of the IRS and more of the “multiple judgments against him already.” A bankruptcy filing often follows judgments.

 

[zddoodah]

Just wondering if any of you have had any experience with this

I have, but not in Hawaii.

and if so if there were any draw backs?

Not sure what you mean by this.

I seems like it would be more productive than a bank garnishment or property lien.

That would depend on the amount of the judgment and how much the debtor has in the bank at the time the bank levy is served. Property liens, however, tend only to be effective if the owner of the property seeks to sell or refinance.

However, I have not heard any being done here at least in my district, so I'm assuming there are drawbacks to doing it.

Efforts to enforce civil money judgments are rarely newsworthy, so I don't think this is a reasonable assumption.

 

[quincy]

Bng808 was referring to getting money from the tenants rather than the landlord.

 

[Bng808]

Unfortunately his vehicles are more of a liability rather than an asset.