collecting money - Landlord Forum thread

collecting money by queene (pa) on June 21, 2012 @12:59

I have a tenant that signed a lease for 6 months. On the 5th month he stopped paying rent & utilities. I sent the T a letter asking for payment within 10 days or I would have to evict him.

T left secretly before the 10 days were up, leaving most of their belongings behind. Keys were not returned to me & phone calls reached a closed phone.

T owes me over $700 - how do I go about collecting my money & can I begin to clean the property for a new T? Do I still go through the eviction even though T has gone?

queene in PA

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Re: collecting money by Jake on June 21, 2012 @14:13	[ Reply ]

You will need to follow through with the eviction.

Re: collecting money by Anonymous on June 23, 2012 @04:43	[ Reply ]

Were the utilities in his name and if so did he have them disconnected? If he had them disconnected I would proceed with storing the tenants possessions because in most states you cannot dispose of them immediately you usually have to store them for at least 30 days (check the requirements for your state). I would them proceed to get the place ready for renting. Since he is gone you do not have to do an eviction since the purpose for an eviction is to get the tenant out and he is already gone. You will have to file in small claims court against the tenant but unless he has a decent job the odds of you ever seeing the money is very remote. At least it is on his record though. I would probably wait a few days and see if he returns for the rest of his stuff. If he did not disconnect the utilities then I would proceed with an eviction because if he comes back he can claim you did not give him due process.