At Apartment School, we have been getting a ton of questions about what an apartment complex can or can’t do regarding back rent, collections, and towing vehicles.
We are going to go over what a complex can and can’t do regarding these things, the steps you can take to prevent them from happening in the first place, and what to do about it if it happens to you.
Firstly though: Yes, an apartment complex can send you to collections for not paying rent, causing damages, or any other expense you incurred while staying at the complex that you did not pay.
The complex does NOT have to inform you that they are sending you to collections either. They can simply total up all the expenses that you have incurred, late rent, damages, etc., and send that information to the collection agency.
Moving Soon? Get quality cardboard moving boxes for less! – Click Here – Fast and Free Shipping!Now, the apartment complex has to have Proof that these payments were not made by you. This is almost always in the form of a detailed invoice that the complex has drawn up to show the non-payment and other damages that happened.
But chances are, if the apartment complex is going to go to the length to take you to collections, they are going to have the records handy of non-payment.
Additionally, collections are literally the last resort for the landlord. At this point, they have tried literally everything to get the bills paid that are outstanding and their only recourse is to take that person to court.
It is a time consuming, frustrating process, that costs the landlord money, so they want to avoid it at all costs, just like the tenant.
Unless you have done something so egregious that the landlord refuses to even communicate with you any longer, almost every single landlord is going to work with you to get your back rent paid so nobody has to go to court or through the collections process.
Additionally, know as a renter that a landlord is very rarely going to take you to collections over a few hundred bucks. They would MUCH rather work out some sort of deal with you so they can get at least some of what is owed to them, make your old apartment rent-worthy again, and just move on with life.
However, if you have several thousands of dollars of back rent accrued, and you caused damaged and significant cleaning fees to your apartment, you can bet the landlord is going to sue you to make his property whole again.
The best advice for this, obviously, is to make sure that you pay your rent and don’t do damage to your landlord’s property. But if you DO find yourself in a situation where the landlord is looking for you to make your debts current, speak to them, preferably in person, so that you can work out some sort of deal that keeps both of you out of court, and a collection off of your credit history.
Can An Apartment Complex Garnish Your Wages?
The Apartment Complex themselves cannot garnish your wages directly, but a Debt Collection Agency can sue the person, obtain a judgment, and get a court order to garnish wages from your employer and tax returns.
If your landlord sends your debt off to a collection agency, many times the agency themselves will go to court on behalf of the landlord. It is this collection agency that is going to act on behalf of the apartment complex and get the judgement to garnish your wages.
If your situation with your landlord and unpaid debts gets to the point where your wages are garnished, know that your employer WILL know about it.
In fact, they are required to tell you the amount that they have to take out of your paycheck to give to the creditors. Virtually every single person wants to avoid this awkward and embarrassing situation if at all possible, which is a HUGE reason why you should talk to your landlord about making some sort of arrangement before it ever gets to this point.
Can I Get An Apartment If I Still Owe Another Complex?
You may or may not be able to rent a new apartment if you still owe your previous landlord money.
There are a couple reasons for this.
The first reason is that on your application, your new landlord is going to want to know the last place you stayed, what the name of it was, the number of the complex, and the reason you left.
If they follow up with the previous landlord, they are quickly going to find out that you owe them money, for whatever reason, and that would be a good reason to pass on you as a new applicant.
The second reason would be just looking at your credit history. If you have an outstanding debt that has been sent to the collectors, you can be guaranteed that this is going to show up on the credit report that the complex runs when you submit your application. Which again, would be another reason for the landlord to pass on you as an applicant.
Even if you have paid your outstanding debt to a complex 4 or 5 years ago, it is still going to show up on your credit report that you didn’t pay your bills and had to be taken to collections.
This doesn’t fair well if you are looking to rent a new place. The best thing to do is to make an arrangement with the landlord on an informal basis, setting up a payment plan or whatever you work out, anything to avoid having that mark be on your record for another 7 years.
Not only can that past debt make it harder for you to rent a new apartment in the future, but it will also make it exponentially more difficult and expensive to do things like getting a credit card, buy a car, or finance a house.
Anything, where cash or capital needs to be extended to you, is going to be made much more difficult.
If you DO have some outstanding debt, the best thing possible you can do is to keep it off your official record. Pay your debt but pay it directly to your landlord. Burying your head in the sand and forcing them to take the legal route is a surefire method to making your life harder for the next 7 years.
Can An Apartment Complex Tow Your Car For Expired Tags?
The other question we have gotten at Apartment School is whether or not your landlord or apartment manager can have your car towed if the tags are expired on it.
While your landlord doesn’t have a legal right to tow your car, for this reason, they may call the police on your car simply because for insurance purposes, they don’t want cars that aren’t registered with current plates in their parking lots.
Your landlord isn’t the cops, and they shouldn’t act like cops. But what they ARE going to act like is stewards of their own property. Cars with expired plates and tags tend to be a sign that something isn’t quite right with the situation.
Your landlord doesn’t want that problem at their complex. They are wanting a nice, peaceful, problem-free environment in which to conduct business.
Most of the time when it comes to expired plates, the manager or landlord will give a notice to the tenant, telling them about the situation of your tags or plates, and give you a certain amount of time in which you can get it rectified.
But as long as it is stated in the lease that your car can be towed for a variety of reasons, the landlord is within his rights to call for the authorities to tow it, because it is private property.
If they don’t do this, and something happens regarding the car and the expired plates and tags, the landlord’s insurance can go up dramatically. So, they have a strong reason to make sure everyone’s vehicle is current and registered.
If you DO have a car with expired tags, go to the DMV or Secretary of State and pay for your tags. More than likely it is going to be much cheaper and hassle-free than getting your car out of the impound or tow lot.
Can An Apartment Complex Tow Your Car?
In virtually every state, an apartment complex can tow your car as long as there are sufficient signs stating the parking rules and the rules are listed in the lease.
Additionally, they don’t even have to tell you that they are having your car towed. If it is blocking other people from parking, or maybe it is a guest’s car who is always taking up someone else’s space, then they can simply call a tow company and have the car towed. This is 100% legal and within the rights of the landlord as they have private property rights.
If this happens, you will have to go get the car out of the impound or the tow lot, which is probably going to cost you a couple hundred buck at the least.
This is a pretty steep price to pay for parking where you aren’t supposed to, so the best thing to do is follow the parking guidelines that your apartment complex has laid out for the tenants.
Even if there are no signs for the apartment complex, there are still some situations in which the manager or even a tenant can call to have a car towed.
The best thing to do is use common sense when parking your car, or your guest’s car, and make sure you aren’t doing anything to antagonize management or the other tenants at the complex.
The tow lot is always going to give you a reason for why they towed your car, and if you think that it was towed improperly, you can talk to the landlord or manager about why it was towed and what rules the vehicle was breaking.
An apartment complex can send you to collections if you have unpaid debt that is owed to them. Usually, they are going to use a debt collection agency to handle the suing process and collections process but know that they can and will do this if there is reason.
Additionally, they can end up garnishing your wages, which can make its way to your employer, which is something that you want to avoid at all costs.
Finally, when it comes to property that a landlord can remove, realize that the apartment complex is private property. If there is something regarding a car, whether it is illegally parked, taking up someone else’s paid for space, or doesn’t have plates or tags, this can be a reason for your car to be towed.
