I am a landlord (prob should not be). I have 4 renters that owe me (total of $7202.00) past rent, late penalties/court costs and accuring interest on the judgements. None of them are currently living in our properties. The first one came to me from a rehab place. I felt sorry for him and wanted to give him a chance-he was quite a charmer. I did not charge late fees etc. I could not take him to small claims.. as we could not give an address. He stole from the property and from other people. He signed up for classes and he was scheduled to get some free? money...he promised he would pay once he received the money. He did not pay and he does not answer my phone calls. He owes $2574.00. The second one came from the same rehab place. He owes the least..only $473.00. The third lady I have a judgement against but she has other judgements so I come after them. I know where she works/lives and she owes $2913.00.The last lady I also have a judgement against. However her Soc. Sec. cannot be garnish. She is in her 80's and was working when she rented but got hurt at work and has a law suit pending...I don't know if it is settled yet. I'm not sure where she is living but I'm sure I can find out She told me she would pay me waht she owed when her settlement came. She owes $1242.What can I do? Can I commision a collector to take the debt and pay me a %? I cannot understand people...what makes them take advantage like this? I need the money.
Optional Information: State/Country relating to Question: Illinois Already Tried: Small claims, I have judgements on two but isn't bringing in any revenue. I'm not sure I can locate the other two.
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With regard to the lady who is waiting for a settlement to come through, you can requeste a lien on the settlement proceeds to protect your interests. However, if she was hurt at work, her matter will fall under the workers' compensation umbrella. WC cases are different than other injjury cases, and your former tenant may exhaust her benefits before any lump sum payment is available. Therefore, you will want to try to get a lien on the paments she is receiving (roughly 2/3 of her salary - no taxes attached) so that you can ensure you get paid. There may be some limitatons on this, so have an attorney draft the lien agreement.\
You will be able to find an attorney to do this through your county's Bar Association, and it will not be expensive.
With regard to the other judgments, selling them might be your best shot as seeing any money. You will get far less than the judgment amount, but you will have closure. There are specific judgment buyers that you will be able to find by doing a Google Search. They may or may not be interested in your judgments, given the circumstances.
One other potential option, would be to sue the rehab facility for misrepresentation, if they misrepresented the quality of the renters they were sending you. This would be particularly useful, if the rehab facility had a duty of finding placement and assisting in the transition from facility to normal living. Their misrepresentations about the persons they were assisting, could make them liable to youl for the judgments on record.
Best of luck!
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