Recovering arrears after eviction - Landlord Forum thread

Recovering arrears after eviction by Lapimi (Ga) on June 11, 2012 @17:06

I am a first time landlord. I rented by condo in Dekalb county starting March 1st to a tenant, his wife, and daughter. I live out of state so all correspondence has been via email/txt with the exception of one phone call. I have a friend in Ga who dealt with the physical logistics when the tenant just moved in.

After paying the first month's rent, the tenant has not paid since. Excuse after excuse after broken promise to pay has led me to finally file for eviction late last month. My last contact with the tenant was about 4-5 weeks ago - after which I gave up and decided to just go through the court.

The Marshall's office served the eviction notice last week and the tenant has until this Friday to respond. The only problem is I don't know if he is even still at the property or not and I have gotten to the point where I don't want to communicate directly with the tenant because of constant lies. I don't have his SS# or DL# or any alternate address for him. Is there a way to recover the owed rent for April, May, June if/when the eviction is final? I do have his work/company address and telephone number from his email signatures, and I also have what I am guessing is his previous rental address on the check I received the one and only payment from March.

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Re: Recovering arrears after eviction by Bryan (Ia) on June 11, 2012 @21:41	[ Reply ]

You can most likely get a monetary judgment, but collecting is another mater.

Re: Recovering arrears after eviction by MrDan (Georgia) on June 12, 2012 @17:19	[ Reply ]

If the Sheriff Department served your tenant personally, then you can ask the court for past due rent, damages, late fees, etc. If the tenant shows up to court, or answers the eviction complaint, you can ask the court for money due to you. If the tenant does not answer or show up, the court will only give you posession of the rental. Why did you not have the tenant served at work for the eviction? If tenant does not show in court, file new law suit and have tenant served at work. With your being out of State, your best course of action is to have an 'Eviction Attorney' handle this.