Tenant bankruptcy and bad check

[september]

I had a tenant who sent me a rent check for the month of January 2004. That check was returned to me around the 20th of the month as non-negotiable and do not re-deposit. When I attempted to contact my tenant, she informed me that she had taken out bankruptcy.

We had a good relationship and came to a mutual agreement that we would cancel the lease, and I would put the house up for sale (which I wasn't planning on doing until April, when her lease was up), but that she needed to send me a valid check for the month of January. She agreed to this via an email. The day we discussed this, was the day I received notice of her bankruptcy from her attorney.

It is now a month later and I still have not received a check. I cannot contact her because of the bankruptcy, and I have not had any luck getting in contact with her attorney.

The tenant wrote a bad check, which she had told me she would make good on. Is there anything I can do to get my money? I don't want anything more than the one month's rent?

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Originally posted by september
I had a tenant who sent me a rent check for the month of January 2004. That check was returned to me around the 20th of the month as non-negotiable and do not re-deposit. When I attempted to contact my tenant, she informed me that she had taken out bankruptcy.

We had a good relationship and came to a mutual agreement that we would cancel the lease, and I would put the house up for sale (which I wasn't planning on doing until April, when her lease was up), but that she needed to send me a valid check for the month of January. She agreed to this via an email. The day we discussed this, was the day I received notice of her bankruptcy from her attorney.

It is now a month later and I still have not received a check. I cannot contact her because of the bankruptcy, and I have not had any luck getting in contact with her attorney.

The tenant wrote a bad check, which she had told me she would make good on. Is there anything I can do to get my money? I don't want anything more than the one month's rent?

Regardless of what the law is it is equally important to remember the effort involved to obtain money -- and in this case, it may be impossible to get blood from a stone. You can oust her but the rent might be gone. It is most common for debtors to use bankruptcy to discharge the following debts:

Most common debts bankruptcy is used to discharge:

(1) Back rent

(2) Bills from utilities and credit and charge cards

(3) Certain court judgments

(4) Other charge card bills (gas, department stores, etc.)

(5) loans via family and friends

(6) subscriptions, e.g. magazines, newspapers

(7) Professional bills (e.g. medical, accounting, legal)