Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Michigan
Evicted Tenants Mail
I had to evict my tentants and they did not change their address with the post office, their economic stimulus checks came to the house and I picked them up. I then contacted them to let them know that I had them and asked what they wanted to do, I told them that if they wanted to make a payment towards the $2100 judgement that they owe me then I would send them the checks or I would send them back to the gov't and they might get lost in the mail, they now say they are going to take me to court for tampering and stealing their mail (I peeked in the window of the envelope to see the amount of the checks), they now have the checks in their possesion. They meet me at the bank to cash them and make a payment but then changed their minds once they had the checks in their hands. Did I commit a federal offense? I did call the local police dept prior to taking the checks and they told me to take them to the district court where the judgement was but the court was not able to do anything with the checks, they told me to contact the previous tentants and work something out. Please advise.
Also do you know of a better way to get my money besides garnising their wages? Collection agency?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Evicted Tenants Mail
Technically you should not have even peeked into their mail. Generally you are not allowed to even take someone else's mail, but it was abandoned at a house owned by you, so you were just holding on to it. I doubt a prosecutor would pursue charges against you since you didn't open the mail and actually contacted the tenants to alert them to their checks, and gave it to them promptly.
With regard to the collections for past due rent and/or damages, you can only garnish after you get a money judgment - not just an eviction judgment. A collection agency would keep at least 1/3 of what they collect, and would only be able to get more money faster by harassing the former tenants. I would recommend trying to garnish their wages and/or their income tax refunds for 2008 until your judgment is satisfied. If the former tenants purchase any real property, you could also place a lien on their house until the judgment is paid in full, thus preventing them from transferring the real property or refinancing without paying you first.
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