Q: Tenant got (way) behind on rent, then moved out (mostly). Can I take possession. What about rent?
A:
If the tenant has quit possession, you can take possession of the unit. To recover rent, you'll likely have to file suit and get a judgment. That may prove difficult if you are unable to locate them and serve them with a summons and complaint.
Depending on how much they owe you, it may be an exercise in futility to try and get a judgment. That is especially true if they had no way of paying you rent. They may not have any property to secure the judgment to or wages to garnish. Whether hiring an attorney to sue them is worth it entirely depends on how much money they owe you and whether you want to risk spending a bunch of money to possibly get nothing back.
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