Owed Rent-unable to pay

[nikkibaby1801]

I was let out of my lease early by my landlord to take care of my mother that just had surgery. Shortly after leaving the apartment I too became ill and was hospitalized for a week and needed surgery. I missed almost a month of work and racked up some pretty serious hospital bills. I am back to work now but am using all of my income to take care of my mother. My landlords last rent check bounced in my account due to insufficient funds and now he is giving me 10 days to pay it in full or he is going to press criminal charges. I have no way of getting the money. If I am found guilty and I am still unable to pay what will they do to me from a legal standpoint? What are my options?

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

In many cases, owed rent becomes a civil matter (i.e., evicting someone and then turning around and suing them for owed rent).

If a judgement is won, the tenant can be removed from the rental unit (this does affect you since you've already left) and (depending on the state you live in), the landlord can file for garnishment of your wages.

However, if you deliberately wrote the rent check knowing that you did not have enough funds in your account to cover this, this can be grounds for criminal charges too.

Gail