Reporting a Walk-Away - Posted by ellis

Posted by ellis on September 26, 2005 at 10:10:13:

I can understand your sentiment as I, too, have gotten back most of my investment. However, she left me holding the bag on the lot rent as well as her water fees. Additionally, the damage she inflicted to the mobile has reduced it to a handyman special. Thanks for your input; I’ll check MrLandlord.com and see what it can do for me.

Reporting a Walk-Away - Posted by ellis

Posted by ellis on September 25, 2005 at 15:02:28:

Just had one of my buyers walk away from a mobile she was purchasing from me, thereby defaulting on her contract and promissory note to me. She walked with no notice, no indication of a problem, no anything! Still owed me money on the mobile. Only way I found out was through a call received from the PM. I would like to submit a report to Experian, Trans Union, etc so this would show up when her credit report is run. Can anyone give me pointers as to how to go about this? Would a simple letter suffice?

Re: Reporting Nate+Steve+a little added - Posted by James

Posted by James on September 27, 2005 at 05:40:01:

I think the only thing not mentioned is that, while this deal is now in the black, and you need to consider the time value of money, and vice-versa. You also need to go through the motions to be able to do it right next time you are truly put in a bad spot. This is the time to learn something about how the process works, since you neeed to know the steps to sucessful judgements, and get your questions answered without anything riding on this case, and no pressure. Just think if the JP tells you its a good thing you did XYZ correctly sometime in the future, and you look back to today as the occasion when you learned about those steps. If you want anything to land on a credit report, remember that the SS number is the key, so dig that out, and if you don’t have that, add it to your paperwork for just such an occasion. DOB is another unique numerical identifier. Make sure that is on your paperwork from now on, too.

That is about the only value I see in prusuing it, not to ‘get back’ at her, but to have a free lesson in JP processes, since you profess not to know. I still graphically recall my first small claims all those years ago. It seems like another century.

ummmm, wait, it WAS a different century!

Nate hit it first - Posted by Steve-WA

Posted by Steve-WA on September 26, 2005 at 11:27:04:

the direct answer to your question is get a judgement - small claims. Easy, just call your court clerk - they’ll provide the how-to.

Sailor is correct that you have to be a big player/member of their club to report directly.

Everyone else is telling you to move on - that too is true, but you have to follow through on the legal action, or you are a pushover - how long will your business work if you are a pushover? It will get out.

$.02

Re: Reporting a Walk-Away - Posted by David H. Tx

Posted by David H. Tx on September 26, 2005 at 08:45:54:

The anger and frustration of her walking away and damaging your property is normal. However don’t waste time dwelling on it, use your time wisely and sell again for more $$$$.

Re: Reporting a Walk-Away - Posted by Ronald Thompson

Posted by Ronald Thompson on September 26, 2005 at 07:14:15:

What are you kicking about? The walk-away just gave you a gift! She gave you everything she paid you and you get to re-sell the place. Most likely you are in the black on this property already, so re-sell and make even more money than if the deal had played out as agreed.
Look on the bright side, you didn’t have to repo.

Re: Reporting a Walk-Away - Posted by Sailor

Posted by Sailor on September 25, 2005 at 22:53:27:

Unless you are a member of the major credit reporting agencies, you cannot report to them. Since this was a purchase default, & she was not your tenant, you may not be able to use landlord type reporting services. It is frustrating, but be careful to not do anything that could bite you on the fanny later. It is up to you to decide if you want to pursue this defaulting buyer, but the most profitable thing you can probably do is re-examine your deal & try to figure out when & how it went wrong. What can you do to make the next deal better? After a while you get the hang of tenant/buyer behavior. Sometimes you can even tell w/in hours of a payment being late that the whole situation is headed south. I just had that happen this weekend, & I think I caught it early enough that I won’t be out-of-pocket much. I like the kid, so am sorry to lose him & have to go through the hassle of re-renting, but the good news is that the tenant is taking his pit bulls w/him–

Tye

Re: Reporting a Walk-Away - Posted by Karl (Oh)

Posted by Karl (Oh) on September 25, 2005 at 21:41:06:

Ellis,

What did the credit bureaus say when you called them and asked them this question?

Karl Kleiner

Re: Reporting a Walk-Away - Posted by Ryan (NC)

Posted by Ryan (NC) on September 25, 2005 at 20:45:34:

You can get this done at MrLandlord, I’m looking at doing the same thing but not sure if it?s the right answer considering they have paid us what we have in the trailer. The damage they did to the walls aggravates me but we’re going into the second sale with no money invested except for a few repairs.

Best wishes,
Ryan Needler

Re: Reporting a Walk-Away - Posted by Nate-WI

Posted by Nate-WI on September 25, 2005 at 18:17:25:

If you file a judgement against her then that would show up her credit report.

Re: Reporting Nate+Steve+a little added - Posted by Sailor

Posted by Sailor on September 27, 2005 at 07:54:08:

I’d check your state law 'cause I’m not absolutely sure you can get the MH back, keep all the proceeds of the next sale, + collecton a judgment for everything owed by the previous buyer.

I do understand that following through on this is good practice (back in the 70’s I interviewed for a job I didn’t want just as practice for one I did want, & when I was offered the 1st job on the spot I turned it down). However, it always concerns me when there is a potential for someone to come back & nip you on the backside. Good luck!

Tye

Re: Reporting a Walk-Away - Posted by ellis

Posted by ellis on September 26, 2005 at 10:23:55:

Good advice, and well received. I have plenty to do right now and a new ad in the paper. More $$$$$$, here I come!

Re: Reporting a Walk-Away - Posted by ellis

Posted by ellis on September 26, 2005 at 12:56:00:

Thanks for your comments, Tye. I guess I really shouldn’t be surprised that she walked - things had been up and down with her for several months. What was surprising though was that she personally delivered her payment to me for the month of August and was excited that she had a new job and things were going well with her. Then a couple of weeks later to get a call from the PM telling me she’d walked was a bit of a head scratcher. Oh well, it’s probably better to just press on and resell the home. Things have a way of catching up to those who mess a person over; it doesn’t have to come directly from me. Will give this some thought to see if it’s really worth pursuing. I’m not a pushover, but my time is worth something to me also.

Re: Reporting a Walk-Away - Posted by ellis

Posted by ellis on September 26, 2005 at 10:12:54:

I haven’t called them yet as I didn’t know if it was the correct track to take - so I asked the question of all you wonderful people.