File suit... it IS the right thing to do... even if you might not end up collecting anything... its going to make it that much harder for him to do this again for years into the future. You know the saying... actions have consequences.

Having a collection on his credit report may not pay the damages... but it will give you peace of mind he hasn't gotten off scott free.

And many landlords can and do run credit histories on potential renters to catch those who don't take paying their bills on time seriously, before they allow themselves to become another victim of a deadbeat.

Being poor has nothing to do with being dirty, or a deadbeat. Many poor people take their obligations seriously, THOSE are the people you want as tenants.

Unfortunately, the woman is not the deadbeat(she's just weak). Her boyfriend is the deadbeat. As I said, he's living off the government check she gets. He does nothing. He gets junk, sells it for $40 & spends $60 in gas running all over the place looking for more junk (his girlfriends' words, not mine). He makes no money to help support the household. He has no paycheck, he lives off her. She has been told by many people to get rid of him(her words) but she won't. We told her that if she got rid of him, she could stay, but she won't. I told her that I hoped that her boyfriend was worth losing her home over. They are a package deal. And because he broke the rules, they all have to go. The only one on the radar is her, because of her check. Any money he gets is cash. I don't think he evens cares about a credit report. We were told, recently, that he is on probation. Could be a rumor. He's lived in so many places and as long as he doesn't get a paycheck he thinks he can't be found. I did a little investigating to find out that he moves around a lot. I wish I had done a background check. I know better now. I told her that for every step forward she takes, he drags her back 5 steps. Oh yeah, I could file suit, but the only thing that will come out of that is, we spend all the money on lawyers & the people's taxes pay to defend them. Either way, we lose. Remember, they're poor & they would get a public defender to help them. We have to pay our own way, They have no money so we will not get a dime.