What if you sue, and they don't have money

Question

ex.i sue a renter for non payment and charge them for the court fines

if the judge gives an amount the renter has to pay, what happens if they can't pay it. does the renter go to jail

Answer 1

winning a judgment and collecting it are two entirely different things.

you have the same array of tactics available to you as anyone else trying to collect a valid debt.

no one is going to jail, this is a civil matter.

Answer 2

Rule #1 of lawsuits: NEVER sue a poor person.

Answer 3

No, they cannot go to jail. After you are awarded a judgment, if they can't or won't pay, you can enroll it with whatever court handles that in your county, and it sits out there as bad mark on the person's credit. You have to renew it every so many years though, and hope they want to clean up their credit one day and you might get something then. Of course, they can also put the judgment in bankruptcy if they qualify.

You can try to garnish their wages if they have any, but you'd need to ask an attorney if that's possible in your state - some states will only garnish for certain types of debt.

  

Answer 4

This is why most Landlords go for recovery of property only.  Most already know the person is broke and that was why they didn't pay all or part of the rent.  But your judgement for money is good for seven years if you can find their assets.  You can do what is called a discovery where they come to court and you ask them for bank account numbers and vehicle license plate numbers etc.  But most do not go through all that work for a few dollars they use it on their taxes as a loss instead.  We always tried to avoid spending the money to go to court in the first place.  We would offer them their deposit back if they moved during the three day notice.  Be surprised how fast they moved. This also helped keep the really bad ones from destroying the property although if you use this technique make sure to run the water and flush the toilets several times before you hand the check over.  I always have a police officer present as well this helps to keep jerks in check.  

Answer 5

How about you just have them evicted?  No the renter will not go to jail, this would be in a small claims court because of the amount I would think.

Answer 6

No one can be imprisoned for debt.  If they have nothing; you get nothing.   If they get something that is attachable in the future & you can locate it, then maybe you'll get something.