Lost Lease Contract and Promissory Note

Good day!

We had a delinquent tenant of our condo, and she owed us her rental payments. After many failed promises to pay, she already got out of the unit. However we want to recover the rental payments she owed to us. Seeing that we could no longer recover such as we do not hear anything from her anymore, we hope to file a case against her.

Unfortunately, our personal copy of the Lease Contract was lost. We also let her sign a Promissory Note received and signed by her before, however, it was also lost. But we were able to capture a photo of that Promissory note thru our phone. Can we use such image of the Promissory Note as evidence of her indebtedness to us? Or what action will you suggest to us to make her liable? What cases can we file against her, if there's any? We may not be able to recover the money she owed to us, but we want her to have a record of this deceit so she can no longer do the same to others.

Her failure to pay does not necessarily mean deceit. You can file a collection case (or small claims case if the debt is less than P200,000.00). https://www.alburovillanueva.com/proven-ways-debt-collection If the lost documents are notarized, then you can retrieve a certified true copy from the notary public who notarized them (or from the court where the notary public submits his notarized documents). However, if they are not notarized, since only photographs of the documents remain, you may have to present witnesses who have personal knowledge of those documents, as they are the only ones who could affirm their existence and due execution. It is always harder to prove the authenticity of documents without presenting the original.