[fbdeb]

I have a rental home in Texas. My former tenants owe me back rent, late charges and damage charges. It states in the lease that they have to give a 30 day written notice when vacating the premises. I did not receive a written notice. It also states in the lease that if written notice is not given they do not get their deposit refunded. The house was left filthy as well as things missing and broken. They also left junk items and trash. I lost a days wages cleaning the house (it took 3 days) to get the house in a presentable state. They owe me approx. $800. For unpaid rent, late charges, etc. What legal rights do I have to try and recoup some or all of my losses? Report to credit agencies? Lien rights? Small claims court? I have never been in this situation before and need some guidance. I would appreciate any help you could give me.
Thank you

[Fr_Chuck]

You sue them in court, you can use small claims court if the total amount is still under the max allowed for small claims..

Now I don't believe TX allows garnishment so even if you do win, the odds of actually getting any of the money is most likely pretty low. The judgement should show up on the credit report.

[rockinmommy]

Well, unfortunately Fr_Chuck is basiacally right. Here in the great (landlord friendly) State of Texas we can easily get a judgement in a case like this, but it's not easy to actually recoup the money. No garnishment.

BUT, in my opinion it's still worth getting the judgement - for multiple reasons.

First, you're on the right track... itemize everything they owe you. From everything you listed I find it hard to believe that it adds up to only $800 dollars. In Texas you can charge for your time to clean/repair stuff. I usually use about $25.00/hr and have never been questioned about it. That's pretty much what "make ready" services charge where I live.

Then you file a case against them in small claims court. It's very simple. Find out which Justice of the Peace serves the jurisdiction your property is in. If you call any of them (if there's more than one in your town) and give them the address they'll tell you which one to go to. Then they'll have a packet you get and fill out. You'll need to have address(es) for the people so they can be served. I usually like to have them served at work because it's harder for them to dodge service that way. But if you can give the court a home and work address it's best. Hopefully you took lots of pictures and/or have witnesses to the condition they left the place in. THEY have the burden of proof to show that it WASN'T like that if they choose to fight it, but I like to have ALL my ducks in a row.

Once you get the judgement it will go on their credit report - which will eliminate them from being able to rent in many cases (of course there are lots of landlords that don't check or don't care). You can turn the judgement over to a collection agency. They'll take a percentage (pretty high - usually 40%) of anything they collect, so if you plan to go that route make sure you include in your suit "any fees associated will collecting this debt". That way the additional amount gets tacked on. There are also companies that will "buy" judgements. They don't pay you until they collect, of course - or sometimes they'll pay pennies on the dollar up front. I've heard they have a higher collection rate. They do more leg work to actually track the people down, unlike the collection agencies that will typically just bugthem to death on the phone until they change their phone number.

Hope that helped. Let me know if you have any more questions.