[hjmontijo]

Hello everyone, Thank you for stopping in. I have a single family home that I rented out to a family for over a year. Well a little over 6 months ago I did have to kick them out for not paying rent for almost 2 months. Unfortunately they left my house completely trashed and messed up.

As I have never taken anyone to court ever for any reason, I just want to know what exact steps I should take. Where exactly do I file a claim here in Las Vegas? How long is the process?

The thing is I do not have any receipts for all the work that I put into the home before they moved in (i lived in the home before renting it out) I do of course have pictures of before they moved in and after they moved out. Would I be able to sue for the max amount without receipts? They really trashed the house, ripped up carpet, broke windows, left animal feces in the home. left holes galore.

Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[ddrhazy]

Why did you wait 6 months to go after them? Did you evict them or did they just leave on their own? How much did you spend on repairs?

You do not necessarily need receipts to show what work was done before, but you should be able to show the costs of the repairs in small claims.

Do you have before and after pictures? That will help you. If you had a walk through done upon initiation of the lease that will also show the condition of the house.

[jlawrence01]

Before you go through the effort of suing the individuals, make sure that they have something to recover. You can get a judgment for the damages BUT getting the money collected is a completely different thing.

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by jlawrence01

Before you go through the effort of suing the individuals, make sure that they have something to recover. You can get a judgment for the damages BUT getting the money collected is a completely different thing.

This.

Don't sue poor people. It's impossible to recover anything. OP will end up spending more money in legal fees and won't recover a penny. Most of the time, this lawsuit is used by the landlord with the trashed property to "punish" the tenant. The only person who gets punished is the landlord.

Next time, do a better background check. I only rent to co-workers, for instance. If they trash the property, I know where to find them.

[Girlesq]

Make sure to send them a written demand letter first via certified mail detailing the damages and what amount you need to settle prior to filing a suit. Then go to the courthouse and there is a self help center that can walk you through the steps of a small claim case.

[WestieJeff]

I think it's worth it to sue. The costs aren't that much, usually under $250, even for a $5,000 claim.

If you get a judgement, that will show up in their public record searches for a long time and affect their ability to rent in the future.

I agree the likely hood of collecting is low, but the public record will haunt them for I believe ten years. If they get tired of it haunting them, they will pay.

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

This.

Don't sue poor people. It's impossible to recover anything. OP will end up spending more money in legal fees and won't recover a penny. Most of the time, this lawsuit is used by the landlord with the trashed property to "punish" the tenant. The only person who gets punished is the landlord.

Next time, do a better background check. I only rent to co-workers, for instance. If they trash the property, I know where to find them.

[ScoopLV]

Well, that's one way to look at it. But I refuse to throw good money after bad. Nothing is going to happen to the lowlife property trashers. So why spend even $250? That's $250 that can be used towards cleaning the trashed house.

[jlawrence01]

Or you can spend all the money filing suit and getting a judgment.

When you get all of the court documents after you get your judgment, you cut them into quarters and place them next to the toilet and use them when you run out of toilet paper.

[WestieJeff]

He knows his tenant. If you can discern where they work, it's very easy to get a wage garnishment. If your renter works odd jobs or is self employed, that obviously lessens the likelyhood of collection.

There are lots of ways to collect, it's not impossible.

I would remind them in the demand letter that any judgement will show up in a public records search and future landlords will see that if they run a background check.

But if this was six months ago, you're already way behind the eight ball.

[Packrat1]

Why didn't you have Landlord insurance on the property?