Recovering A Judgment By Levying A Landlord Security Deposit

Recovering A Judgment By Levying A Landlord Security Deposit

By:


I am not a lawyer, I am a Judgment and Collection Agency Broker. This article is my opinion, from my California experiences, and laws are different in every state. If you need legal advice or a strategy to use, you should contact an attorney.

Your debtor seems secretive, and does not have a regular employer. You cannot find their bank account, and they seem to work in cash. However, they rent a nice place, and they placed a security deposit with the landlord. Is there a way to garnish that rental security deposit? The answer is maybe.

Everything depends on which county, which state, the judge, which debtor, the landlord, and the recovery procedures taken already to recover the judgment.

To levy the debtor's rental security deposit, you would get a writ of execution from the court, and pay a sheriff serve the levy. The levying officer sends the judgment debtor a copy of the memorandum, and serves the third-party levy on the landlord.

The security deposit that a renter paid, is not really theirs, until after the landlord returns it (if any is left) to them. The landlord might own all or some of the deposit, at the end of rental or lease, for damages, unpaid rent, etc.

One might serve the landlord with an order, to levy any money owed to the debtor. But, at the time of service, there is no money due, because they are still renting the property.

Most of the time, security deposits are not refunded to judgment debtors. The debtor will find out their security deposit has been levied. After they move out, they sometimes don't pay their last rent payment, which leaves the creditor nothing. Sometimes the security deposit is simply the first and last month's rent, that also leaves nothing for the creditor.

Garnishment the rental security deposit of commercial renters debtor can work better, because the deposit requirements are higher, with more restrictions.

Garnishment a rental deposit is most often a weak enforcement tactic. Often, one gets more results by serving an information subpoena on the landlord, requesting a copy of the rental application, and a copy of the front side of the last check received for the judgment debtor's rent.

That may provide an employment or a banking lead. Keep in mind, some judgment debtors pay with money orders and debit cards. One might find the judgment debtor is a Section 8 renter, in which case the debtor could be judgment-proof.

In California, there is a somewhat vague law, CCP 695.030. There is a debate whether this law applies to rental security deposits. If any valid party or the landlord contests your claim, it is best to drop the issue, unless the deposit is worth fighting for in court. Not opposing valid claims, and simply dropping them, may be a sound general policy.

If one wants to argue in court about your right to the judgment debtor's rental deposit, you could bring up CCP 701.020. Arguably, the security deposit the landlord is holding is, by law, property of the debtor, held by the landlord, and therefore subject to levy. See CCPs 695.010, 699.710, and 1950.5.

A judgment debtor can replace a depleted security deposit. If the debtor is a sneak, and you document the other methods you attempted to enforce the judgment, and showed how the debtor is uncooperative; some judges might approve a rental deposit levy.

There may be one more reason to try to levy a rental security deposit, if you maintain a policy of not challenging landlords who resist. It may alter the landlord's view of their judgment debtor renter. I have heard of cases of judgment debtors paying off judgments within days of a levy served on the landlord for their security deposit. This is more than a coincidence, however your mileage will vary.

About the Author:
http://www.JudgmentBuy.com - the fastest solution, where Judgments and debts get quickly recovered by the best - matched for free to your debtor. JudgmentBuy.com is the fastest way for collection agencies and creditors to find each other.

Mark Shapiro - the judgment expert, with the best quality free leads for enforcers, collection agencies and contingency collection attorneys.



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


Tags: , , , , ,

|

Loading...
Related....
Videos...

Recent Legal Articles

Comments

Still can't find what you are looking for? Search for it!

Loading

Site Navigation:

Copyright 2005-2011 ArticleSnatch, LLC - All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy | Terms of Service.