The most effective method to collect from a dead-beat debtor is often "wage garnishment", a legal process that allows you to collect a certain percentage of net salary until the judgment is paid off. It's available in every state -- except Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania.
      You can't garnish someone who is on disability. Tax and child support garnishments always take priority. 

      Wage garnishment may not be quite as good as a bank levy only because the money trickles in a little at a time and you may have do repeated garnishments in order to get all of your money.  However, many tenants do not have bank accounts so wage garnishments can be a creditor's best collection source.        

Garnishment Basics

      Garnishment specifics vary from state to state. But in nearly all states about all you have to do is fill out necessary court forms and have them legally served on the party, in this case the employer of the debtor you want to garnishee.
      Many court documents, including garnishments, can now be served by first class mail. However, some states still require a county sheriff, constable or court officer to deliver legal "service". Some others permit any competent adult.
      Once the employer has been legally served, they must take money from the former tenant's paycheck and send you a check, either directly or through the court.

It's illegal for an employer to ignore a garnishment or to fire an employee because of it.

       If any employer fails to comply with the garnish order they can be held liable for the full amount of the judgment themselves.  Sometimes an employer will try to protect the debtor for various reasons, such as a friend or relative.  Usually, a letter drawing the employer's attention to his potential liability is enough to get them to cooperate.
      Federal law limits the amount of wages you can garnish, in most cases, to 25 percent of a person's net weekly earnings after taxes, Social Security, and other required deductions are taken out.
      Some state laws also limit how much you can garnish. For example, in New York, you can get only 10 percent, and in Wisconsin, you can get only 20 percent of the wages. If more than one creditor is garnishing, the total amount cannot exceed the maximum set by law. Consequently, if another creditor is already garnishing the debtor, you may have to wait in line. Some government obligations, including child support, always move to the front of the line.
      There is only a short window of time (usually a week or two) before another garnishment order can be placed against the debtor.  Accordingly, when the current garnish order from the other party expires you might be able to slide yours in soon after.  If you don't get all your money from the first garnishment, you can simply get another "application for earnings withholding order."  A writ of execution is valid for six months in most states, so, you won't necessarily need to get a new one every time.     

Can You Do It Yourself?

      You can use an attorney or a collection agency to garnish an ex-tenant's wages, but experienced property managers often do it themselves.

      If you are uncomfortable with filling out and filing forms with court clerks, you may want to use an attorney or collection professional. If your property is titled to a corporation, or you are acting as a property manager on someone else's behalf, an attorney is almost always necessary to perform legal work. Check your state law.

      If you own or manage a large number of units, it's probably cost-effective to use an attorney or collection agency.

      If you're comfortable filling out legal papers-for example, you do your own evictions-you should be able to garnish wages yourself. It is not nearly as complicated as an eviction.

Is it worth it?

      Before filling out the garnishment forms and paying the court or sheriffs fee, evaluate whether garnishment is worth your time and money.
      With small judgments, it's often not worth it. Figure out how much it will cost to garnish, including your time. If this amount exceeds the judgment, don't garnish.

      There is no minimum a former tenant must owe for you to garnish their wages. But, as a general rule, if the judgment is less than a few hundred dollars, it's probably not worth spending the time and money. Depending on your state, the fees may end up costing more than the judgment. For example, in Florida, you must pay a $100 deposit (refundable only if the sheriff can't serve the employer) and a sheriffs fee. But in California, you pay only $7 for the garnishment forms and $21 for the sheriff to do the service.

      In some situations you can almost predict that the former tenant will quit the job once his salary is garnished. A car washer or restaurant busboy probably won't stick around, and you can probably anticipate the other kinds of jobs that will produce the same result. Consider how long the person has been at the job, the job's skill level, and whether the nature of the job would make it likely that the former tenant would quit and move on to an employer you don't know about.

      Sometimes the employee's salary is too low and you won't be able to garnish. Federal and state laws prevent you from garnishing the salary of a person whose weekly earnings are below a certain level. Sometimes you won't know the former tenant's salary until after the forms have been served and the employer calculates how much to withhold.

      If the former tenant's job is in another state, you'll have to file even more legal forms. You'll also have to sue the debtor by filing a judgment in that state's court.

      When you get a court judgment, tell the court clerk you want to "execute;" or enforce, the judgment by garnishing the former tenant's wages. Ask the clerk what forms you need, the fees involved, and what steps to take. If your judgment is mailed to you, go to your rental housing association or the court clerk to get the forms you need and to ask about the fees.

The forms you need vary from state to state.

      For example, in many states, like Tennessee and California, you'll need to get what's known as a "writ of execution". In Arizona, you'll need a "Writ of Garnishment." In some states, like Florida, you'll need both. In Georgia, you'll need an "Affidavit for Continuing Garnishment" and a "Summons of Continuing Garnishment''. Michigan requires a "Request and Writ for Garnishment", included on one document.

Fill Out Forms

      The forms authorize the employer to withhold money from the debtor's paycheck for you. You may need the name and current address of the former tenant, their Social Security number, their employer, the amount of the judgment, the fees, etc. You can get most of the information off of your court judgment.

      When filling out the forms, make sure you get the name of the debtor's employer right. Don't use a shorthand version. If the employer isn't accurately named in the forms, it may be legally able to refuse to garnish the ex-resident's wages.

File Forms with Court, if required

      Depending on what state and county you're in, you'll need to file the forms with the court. For example, in Georgia and California, you must do this. But in New York, you can just fill out the forms and give them to the sheriff, no court filing is required. If you must file the forms, you'll need to pay a court fee.

      In some states, you must wait until the former tenant has a chance to appeal the judgment before you can file garnishment forms. For example, in West Virginia, you must wait 20 days after getting a judgment before filing the forms. In Michigan it takes 21 days to prefect a judgment and in California, you must wait 30 days.

Give Forms to the Sheriff or other authorized person to serve the employer

      Once you file the forms in court (if required), give the completed copy of the forms to the court officer who will serve them. Your officer will then serve the garnishment forms on the employer. Depending on may factors, it may take a week or so before the forms are served. Once the employer has been served, they must comply with the garnishment order.

      In most states, the clerk of the court will then notify the former tenant of the proposed garnishment. In some states, like Florida, you don't have to notify the ex-resident. In other states, like Colorado, you must serve the forms on the employer and the former tenant yourself. If your state requires you to serve the forms yourself, ask your attorney for help or ask the clerk of the court how to serve the forms. Michigan allows service by first class mail.

Pay Service Fee

      You'll need to pay a sheriff's fee to cover service costs. For example, in New York, the Sheriff's fee is approximately $60. In Michigan it varies, usually from $12 to $32. Once the forms are served, don't expect a refund, even if the former tenant offers to settle and you never actually garnish wages. A sheriff's job is to serve the forms, not to ensure collection of the money.

Collect Money Each Month

      Once the employer has been served, they may have to wait a certain number of days, depending on your state's law, before taking the money out of the former tenant's wages. For example, in California, an employer must wait 10 days after getting the garnishment forms. In Illinois, an employer must wait 30 days. This gives the former tenant a chance to challenge the garnishment. He may successfully claim that the garnishment imposes an undue hardship on him because he can't support his family.

      After the waiting period is over, the employer should begin taking out money from the former tenant's paycheck (assuming that they don't challenge the garnishment). Remember that if the former tenant has other judgments against him that are already being garnished, they will take priority.

      Depending on your state, the employer will either pay you directly or send payment to the court, which will then send you a check. Or the employer will send the check to the sheriff, who will then send the check to you. You'll get a check either every month or every other month.

      In some states, like Colorado, you can only garnish for a certain time period. Then you must re-file new garnishment forms. In many states, though, you only need one set of garnishment forms, and you may continue to garnish an individual's salary until the judgment is paid off.

How to Track Down Where Former tenant Works

      To garnish an ex-resident's wages, you must find out where the former tenant works. The first place to start is with the information from their rental application.

      Call the most recent employer on the application and ask if the former tenant works there. If he doesn't, ask for a forwarding phone number. Be sure to get the full company name so that you have the correct formal name to put on the garnishment forms.

      A supervisor may have information on a former tenant that's not available through human resources.

      With the Social Security number, you can re-pull the applicant's credit report. Sometimes the person's present employment is listed on the report. It is sometimes possible to find a debtor's Social Security number, if you have enough other good information about them.

      Call them and ask in a polite tone where you can reach the former tenant. Sometimes this works, and the reference will tell what ever they know. If the person asks who you are, you can identify yourself without disclosing your objective.

      Be careful what you say about any current or former tenant when you call the employer or contacts. Be professional and don't mention that you're collecting money the person owes you. The debtor could sue you for slander, defamation or saying untrue things that damage their reputation.