Garnishing a Tenant’s Wages for Back Rent or Damages

Depending on the disorder in which your material goods sits, you can probably collect back rent and hurts from former tenants through wage garnishment.

Garnishment of wages is done through the courts, after a discrimination is made against the debtor. The debtor’s employer is ordered to withhold a part of his or her wages, and turn them over to the court, to be disbursed to the creditor.

The question most landlords question is if the amount of money in question is worth the time, distress and expense of the court proceedings required. The best way to determine this is to obtain an accounting of the fees involved: usually there are court expenditure, process server fees, filing fees, and attorney’s fees—unless no attorney is involved.

As with exile proceedings, many landlords hire a landlord/tenant law specialist to file garnishment papers the first time, and then choose whether or not they can handle the process themselves. And that’s a private choice, just like deciding what dollar amount makes the court action “worth it.” Every landlord is different in this respect. Once you determine the out-of-sack expenditure, you can then make your choice.

Obtaining a discrimination is one thing, but if the tenant has no means to pay it, you may never see the funds owed to you—and working hard to collect them could be a huge waste of your time. And it should go without saying that your former tenant needs to be employed in order for his or her wages to be garnished.

There are other factors to consider in making a choice to garnish a tenant’s wages:

• Do you have the tenant’s new pocket up? If not, filing will be very hard.
• Have they went out of disorder? Again, filing becomes extra complicated.
• Do they have other garnishments, such as for child support payments? Other garnishments must be satisfied first.
• Is the tenant’s income below the poverty line? If so, they are exempt.

If you choose to file for a Writ of Garnishment, you’ll need to gather all the tenant paperwork, including the lease application, the lease or rental agreement, proof of rent payment, proof of any notices to Pay or Quit, exile papers, and notes from conversations and electronic communications.

The contents of this article are intended for general in rank purposes only, and should not be relied upon as a substitute for obtaining legal advice applicable to your situation.

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