Landlord Question and Answer Forum

Hi All, My lease with my ex-tenants recently expired. There was extensive damage to the property and the property was filthy. The tenants moved-out without making any attempt to clean or restore the property to the condition that they received it in at the inception of the lease. I have spent $900 to have the whole house deep cleaned, $4,000 for painting and repairing the ceiling, removing nails from all walls, patching holes in walls caused by the nails, repair hole in ceiling caused from toilet leak, $80 trash removed, and $1,416 install new carpet. I have offset these charges with the tenants' security deposit and sent them a Security Deposit Accounting Statement showing they owe in excess of $4,000 net of their deposit. My tenants have not provided me their forwarding address. I have communicated with them by e-mail. I have informed them that I will send the billing and break-down of charges as well as their move-out checklist to their last known address; and that afterwards I would be sending the billing and supporting documentation to a collection agent or filing a claim in court. My questions is: In the State of Maryland, can I legally use a collection agent to collect the debt or must I use the court system first to obtain a legal judgement before involving a collection agent? Thanks for your response! S Reed