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I am in NC, and had a tenant in my rental home (we are not intentional landlords, we rented bec. we could not sell) who did a good amount of damage, mostly due to extensive pet staining on the carpeting, which needed to be replaced.
After giving her the accounting of damages, minus her security deposit, she still owes us almost $2000 (maybe 1500, I don't feel like finding the file right now!). Of course I have not heard from her and it's been over 30 days. I imagine I must take her to small claims court.
Any hints/tips etc?
Someone here gave me a suggestion of cutting out some of the worst damaged parts of the carpet to use as evidence if needed, and I have done so, they're in a sealed bag in my garage....Anything else I need to know?
I went to the small claims website for the county the property is in, and there is said that the claim needed to be filed in the county of the plaintiff, does this sound right? So I went to my local county website and, of course, no info there. The other county had forms to fill out online and such, not so with my local county.
I can't get out to go to the court or wherever, til next week, so was trying to do as much research as possible (and was hoping for forms) on line before then.
THANKS for any help!
Will the experience stop you from accepting pets, ask for a larger pet
deposit, just curious? Its going to take a while to recover that money
even with a judgement.
You can go to court and get a judgement, it guarantees nothing.
You'll need to do a wage attachment to see any reimbursement.
Sorry, but LLs get so rapped up in proving their case
in court, but thats just part of it.
Last edited by virgode; 08-06-2009 at 08:38 AM..
Reason: addition
If you get a judgment and they don't pay you need to record the judgement and look at how often you ned to renew it. It will effcet many things in the future for that person such as buying a home which encourtage them paying the judgement of the court.In amny sates they do not aloow wage attachmentsfor such judgements.
Thanks for the info. Will look into wage attachment if it's available here. I will not rent again, the house is for sale. DH never wanted to rent, but we could not sell at the time, but he has experienced a lot with renters as his parents rented out a few homes they owned in Detroit....the stories he had told me before all this.
you file in the jurisdiction (normally) where the defendant lives, works or does business. In your case it appears that you file where you (the plaintiff) lives, or possibly it's where the property (or transaction, as it were) took place.
Many small claims courts offer a self help "workshop". See if yours does. Basically you send a formal demand letter certified mail stating the debt owed and time frame to pay, typically 10 business days from receipt of letter. If they do not pay, you file your claim, have it served, file the affidavit of service. A hearing is scheduled at which time both parties appear. Be sure to have your documentation and "evidence" in triplicate such as a copy of the walkthrough, photographs, invoices, bids, etc. A ruling will be made. If you are awarded a judgement (by the way this automatically is recorded in most places; it's the satisfaction or renewal of judgement that you must do eventually). There are various means by which they may satisfy the judgement; make payments, have their wages garnished, attach a bank account, seize a cash drawer.
I am in NC, and had a tenant in my rental home (we are not intentional landlords, we rented bec. we could not sell) who did a good amount of damage, mostly due to extensive pet staining on the carpeting, which needed to be replaced.
After giving her the accounting of damages, minus her security deposit, she still owes us almost $2000 (maybe 1500, I don't feel like finding the file right now!). Of course I have not heard from her and it's been over 30 days. I imagine I must take her to small claims court.
Any hints/tips etc?
Someone here gave me a suggestion of cutting out some of the worst damaged parts of the carpet to use as evidence if needed, and I have done so, they're in a sealed bag in my garage....Anything else I need to know?
I went to the small claims website for the county the property is in, and there is said that the claim needed to be filed in the county of the plaintiff, does this sound right? So I went to my local county website and, of course, no info there. The other county had forms to fill out online and such, not so with my local county.
I can't get out to go to the court or wherever, til next week, so was trying to do as much research as possible (and was hoping for forms) on line before then.
THANKS for any help!
Your tenant is a jerk. This is why people are so reluctant to rent to people with pets, which makes it hard on the rest of us.
I just moved out and my cats left stains and scratched up the carpet, and I have no problem paying for the replacement. (Landlord is only charging me 6/10's of the cost of new carpet since it had a 10-year life and I was there for four).
Unfortunately, he is also trying to get me to pay for things I didn't do--stuff that broke (a cabinet door that fell of the first week we moved in, a part of the shower mechanism that was never replaced after a major repair) that his maintenance guy kept promising to fix but never did. That took me aback a bit, because this landlord was a pretty good guy and I cannot for the life of me understand why he's trying to pull that stuff. I responded to him in writing by certified mail stating what I would and would not take responsibility for. I hope it doesn't go any farther.
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