Anyone know how to report a non-payment tenant?

seems kind of unfair if you are only reporting bad tenants to the credit bureau

shouldn't you also be reporting the good ones that are paying on time

I would say that this would qualify as throwing good money after bad. He is unlikely to pay even if yo do report him to the credit bureau.

You will have to sue and get a judgment first

You cannot just report someone to the bureaus. They demand volume before they will give you an E-oscar terminal they won't do it for just one person.

So how do I go after this guy and get my money?

Trinimd1 said: So how do I go after this guy and get my money?

Small claims court?

PS. Wasn't there a security deposit which you kept?

tripleB said: germanpope said: seems kind of unfair if you are only reporting bad tenants to the credit bureau

shouldn't you also be reporting the good ones that are paying on time

An apartment lease doesn't qualify as any category that would increase your FICO score. It's not revolving, installment, or consumer finance credit.

Typically apartment-lease histories are only important to future landlords. Since most people tend to live in a place for at least one year, its not that difficult to supply references for the last few years of apartments you lived in to the new landlord you are a potential leasee of. Thus having on your credit report wont help you too much since they will want to call your old landlord anyway.

I am not one that buys into existing paradigms --- just because that is the way it is

it seems to be a bit hypocritical to use Credit destruction schemes and not provide positive reports too

germanpope said: Trinimd1 said: So how do I go after this guy and get my money?

at this point, there is no reason for us to assume that you weren't breach of your contract to provide a place that is livable

you could be a slumlord in violation of various codes and laws

why should we help you?

Well to get the story straight I was not in breach of the contract. The place is a beautiful apartment that is livable. I am not in violation of any codes. I would live in the apartment in the condition it is right now without any problems.

Why the attacks on a simple landlord trying to get his money?

Does it hit home for you?

Trinimd1 said: ... Why the attacks on a simple landlord trying to get his money?

Does it hit home for you?

... it is not attacks .... you just haven't proved your case as to why you should be helped here

Trinimd1 said: What are you talking about?
Rent is due at the beginning of the month.
Plain and simple.

tell it to the judge

Ecuadorgr said: Trinimd1 said: So how do I go after this guy and get my money?

Small claims court?

PS. Wasn't there a security deposit which you kept?
I betcha he didn't run a credit check either!

if you send his bill to a collection agency they can report negatively on his credit.

Trinimd1 said: Credit check ran fine.
Tried to work with the tenant and gave him 4 months to pay security deposit.

You mean you did not get the security deposit in advance, along with the first rent? You don't really get the "security deposit" concept, do you?
Anyway, I still think small claims court is for you (I assume you are owed under $5k?).

there are many debt collection services that will report to the bureaus. No need to get a judgment first.

Sometimes you can just purchase the collection letters/negative credit reporting for about $20.

Try mrlandlord.com or other landlording forums.

acollectionagency.com is another place that will report for you very cheaply.

lets get those deadbeat tenants!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

SlimTim said: Germanpope, do you harass doctors, dentists, hospitals, and utility companies about not reporting "positive" information to credit bureaus?

seems a bit odd that when people are asked to use their brain to consider what their actions really mean, they consider it harassment

now maybe it never occurred to you that a scheme that is set up to tarnish a person's reputation should work both ways

it's only a discussion on fairness
if you are going to use one of these national schemes to tarnish people's name, maybe you should also be required to report the good stuff too

if you are a utility and you report someone for being late on their bill, are't you putting them in a false light if you fail to report that they were on time for the previous 300 payments?

Utility drops plan for credit reporting --- good and bad info was going to be reported

if you consider a discussion about fairness to consumers to be harassment, that's your choice

_________________________________

germanpope said: Trinimd1 said: ... Why the attacks on a simple landlord trying to get his money?

Does it hit home for you?

... it is not attacks .... you just haven't proved your case as to why you should be helped here

It's obvious you have some gripe against a landlord getting their money. Perhaps you should walk away if you don't have any input to give other than trying troll him?

Anyways, in my experience the amount of time and money it takes to bring a bad tentant to court usually isn't worth it. Very rarely to landlords receive money in their favor.

Basically, you're unlikely to get your money back. If you're in a vindictive (or civic) frame of mind, you can go to small claims court and get a default judgment against the deadbeat (I'm assuming you have a lease with his signature on it, and a copy of his personal license, plus some proof that he actually lived there -- e.g. a rent check)? Then, sell the judgment to a collection agency for pennies on the dollar.

That will get him reported to the credit bureaus and warn off future landlords. You, however, will still be out the money. You will also be out the time and money it takes to file a claim in small claims court.

If you really want to try to get the money back, and assuming you know where he banks, you can try to serve a lien/garnishment on his bank account AFTER you get a judgment from the court. This too requires time, money, and probably a lawyer. In other words, it's a huge hassle, and not worth it unless you are out a lot of money.

I don't know if you can report him to the major credit bureaus, but you might be able to report him to PRBC, an alternative credit bureau that reports on rent payments, etc. However, since most creditors don't check with this bureau, it's more to make yourself feel better.
Here's the link: http://prbc.com/partners/dataprov.php

Trinimd1 said: I have a tenant that broke his lease and took off. Never paid me my rent.
Does anyone know who I should contact (other than a lawyer) to report him to credit bureau?

thanks

I've had a couple rental properties for 20+ years and ran into my first major problem with a tenant like this a couple years ago.

Per what others have already said, from my experience you need a court judgment in your favor before most collection agencies will take this on or before it can be reported it to a credit bureau. For a small landlord, it appears you can only report to credit bureaus through a collection agency or a group organization you've joined (a landlord association, etc.). I can't speak for the quality of mrlandlord.com, recommended by another FWer, but it looks like this is among the services they offer.

I went through the entire small claims process and it was an excruciating experience. Unfortunately, the property is far from where I live, so this made it more difficult and expensive for me.

The former tenants threw every delay they could and fabricated a lot of lies about the condition of the property and about me. Be prepared to be attacked in court and for the former tenant to grossly exaggerate any potential complaint he/she has against you.

I ultimately won a judgment for back rent and collected it, but I was not awarded anything for late payment fees or my expenses. The entire process cost me hundreds of hours of my time, so it was most definitely not cost-effective. I felt I had to do it as a matter of principle. I would be very hesitant to do so again.

I hope that a letter to your tenant warning to sue and report him/her to the credit bureaus will be enough in your case to encourage him/her to work something out with you. Hopefully you can come up with a forwarding address.

Keep in mind that if the former tenant has nothing to lose, there's also probably nothing for you to collect.

Good luck.

p.s. A good book I've found is The Landlord's Troubleshooter by Robert Irwin. It gives a lot of tips for preventing problems from happening and tells you what to do if they should happen anyway. Also, NOLO Press has a good book about how to prepare for small claims court. Check out NOLO's web site -- there's a lot of useful information for lay people about navigating the legal system.

ziffy said: Hey germanpope, I just report you to the Behavior Bureaus for outstanding obnoxious behaviors in this forum.

your very welcome