I own a duplex, and recently had a tennant screw me over, Left owing lots of rent, did huge amounts of damage to the place, etc.
He’s been promising to pay me back, I finally made a contract/payment plan he agreed to, but he never signed it and has stopped responding to my calls and emails. Obviously I haven’t gotten a check from him, either.
I recently heard a news report from a landlord who has gone through this many times, and simply gets the information reported to the credit agencies. Says within a few years, the tennants want to buy a car, rent a new place, etc, and call him and ask for the negative report to be removed. He says he’d be glad to, as soon as he’s paid back. Says he’s gotten paid every cent he’s been owed so far.
So how do I do that? Nothing illegal, obviously. I just want to report my former tennant’s debt to the 3 credit agencies here in the US. Do I need a judgement from a small claims court first? Or do I contact the credit agencies directly?
The easiest way is to hire a collection agency. They already have accounts with the credit bureaus and will report the debt. The downside is, if they collect, they take a cut before giving you the money.
Yeah I considered it, but don’t want to give the collection agency a big cut. Many expenses out of my pocket for repairs. I’d rather do it myself and have to wait 2-3 years and get the full amt back.
I’m pretty sure you just call them up and report it. The burden of proff lies on the tennat. Which I’m sure he won’t dispute since he wont have any canceled checks to prove he paid the rent.
Personally, I rent my properties through a management company. They take a fairly large cut, but it’s worth it not to have to worry about the hassle.
Also the do a pretty good job keeping the place rented.
Nope, you have to have an account with each credit reporting agency. CRA’s are barred by law from accepting claims from average citizens, they would be swamped with them and the legal ramifications for any false claims could get expensive. Before the OP could turn the debt over to a CA and have the debt reported on the debtor’s credit report, he will be required to obtain a court judgment. The OP should visit the Creditboards.com forum, there are some excellent tips for helping small debtors collect what they are owed.
One landlord told me he went to small claims court. He didn’t need to hire a lawyer. He just laid out the situation for the judge, explaining the debt and the damages. The judge ruled in his favor. Then he asked the judge, “What now?” The judge said, “This unpaid judgement will go on his credit record (all the credit bureaus watch the court records for this.) In a year or two, he’ll want to buy a car or something. When he tries to borrow money for it, he can’t. He’ll have to pay the judgement to clear his record.”
You own a place, a tennant had a lease, you were in dispute with the tennant sufficient for them to leave, you drew up a contract was drawn up for him to pay arrears but he didn’t sign.
You heard something on the radio, and now you ask on a message board.
How do you screw this person’s credit? I’d advise them to invest with you.
AskNott has it right. You can’t just call up a credit bureau and report someone, but judgments get reported automatically. Plus you can try to garnish wages and execut the judgment against the debtor’s property.
AskNott and I are in the same state, so that sounds right for Indiana. However, I’m sure that the California laws are much different (I believe the landlord-tenant laws are heavily in favor of the tenant).
Carmen, Hawthorne is being an ass, that’s all. And for the record, there was no dispute. THe guy was happy in the apartment, got in a fight with his wife, and they moved out with no notice and unpaid rent. As for posting on the forums because I wanted some suggestions, that’s called covering my bases. This is not the only place I’m asking for help, so take your attitude to the flame pit because it has no business being in a civil conversation.
To everyone else, thanks for the information. It’s very much appreciated.
The burden of proof in disputes over credit does not lie with the tenant.
If you report to the credit reporting agencies, they take you at face value.
If you are wrong and the tenant disputes with the credit reporting agencies, they STILL take you at face value. The CRAs are NOT arbitrators.
If you report incorrectly, the recourse available to the tenant, or the person whose report winds up with this black mark on it, is to sue you personally for damages.
This is fine and dandy, since they’ll lose, but try to make sure you don’t ding the wrong guy’s report.
If you got me on accident and I was having a bad day, I might apply for a mortgage refi and then pursue you in federal court for the interest I won’t save with the new mortgage I wasn’t able to get.
If I was really annoyed I might be inclined to sue your business for less than the cost of an attorney’s fees to defend your interests in this matter. Remember, you can represent yourself personally, but your business requires a lawyer…