Monetary Judgments
When you obtain a monetary judgment against your tenant, you may be surprised to hear that the judgment itself is only as good as the piece of paper it is written on. You must collect on the judgment in order to obtain any funds.
Ways to Collect
There are many ways to accomplish this including, but not limited to, garnishing wages and levying bank accounts.
It is important that when commencing a tenancy, you have all incoming tenants fill out applications and provide their social security numbers, bank account information, paycheck stubs, and employment information. If you evict these tenants in the future, you have the relevant information to collect on the judgment that you obtain.
Abstract of Judgment
Furthermore, the filing of an Abstract of Judgment is also an important tool when a judgment is obtained. The filing of an abstract is the process for formally recording the judgment.
Filing an Abstract of Judgment:
- will impair your tenant’s credit for at least ten years
- will also prevent your tenant from buying or selling real property, financing a vehicle, or possibly obtaining a credit card without first paying off your judgment.
Keep in mind that judgments are only valid for ten years. As such, the judgment should be renewed for an additional ten years before it expires.
Defaulting tenants need to be held accountable. Obtaining the above information and going through the outlined steps are ways to hold tenants accountable and collect on your judgments.
Dennis Block, of Dennis P. Block & Associates can be reached for information on landlord/tenant law or evictions at any of the following offices: Los Angeles: 323.938.2868, Encino: 818.986.3147, Inglewood: 310.673.2996, Long Beach: 310.434.5000, Ventura: 805.653.7264, Pasadena: 626.798.1014, Orange: 714.634.8232, San Diego: 619.481.5423 or by visiting www.evict123.com. Now, you can also read Dennis Block on Twitter, www.twitter.com/dennisblock or text him at (818) 570-1557. “Landlord Tenant Radio Weekly Podcasts can be heard at any time at www.EVICT123.com or download the app “EVICT123”.