Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

Re: damage caused by former tenant

There is no legal reason why you cannot go to small claims court unless the claim for damages exceeds $5000. Most courts have free small claims legal advisors and it is not uncommon for them to give out bad information like this.

You can file a small claims lawsuit, but you need to make sure it is served in a timely manner. If you get a judgment, it will go on his or her credit rating.

The difficulty comes in collecting the judgment. If the person now lives and works on Arizona, you will need to register the judgment with an Arizona court and then use Arizona law to do a wage garnishment or other collection procedures.

Re: damage caused by former tenant

I've seen your post before. You need to go to the small claims court and pick up a complaint. Then you can come to my office and I'll help you fill it out. Or, we'll do it through the mail. Then you get a process server to serve him in Arizona, or you serve him by mail, certified return receipt. I don't know why the small claims court personnel tell you that you can't sue an out of state defendant for damages he caused while in California. It is unheard of by me, anyway. If worse comes to worse, you can sue him in the Superior Court, limited jurisdiction. The filing fee is about $150.00 bucks. Stop talking to the small claims people and proceed with the suit. If you wait too much longer, you might have a statute of limitations problem. Call me, and good Luck.