My uncle (older not so bright but very nice) bought a house using owner financing back in June. He has never been able to live there because when he tried to turn the gas on the utility co. refused because of leak in the pipes. Many other serious problems with the house none of which mentioned in the seller disclosure. After consulting with a few attornies for him, I have discovered that it is impossible to get justice in America except for the rich. Apparently, the lawsuit is potentially going to cost half as much as the house is worth if it was in perfect working order. I am fairly well read and have a degree in business and have decided to try and help my uncle file a lawsuit, but noone at the local district court is willing to even tell me which forms I need to fill out since that would be “practicing law”. All I want to do is have a day in front of a judge for christ’s sake. Now so much time has passed that apparently the owner has filed a forclosure on the house and is sched. to be sold next month. What I need to do I understand is file an injuction on the forclosure sale until the hearing is scheduled in district court, which I need to file a suit in. Can anyone tell me what I should walk into the district court and ask for in order to do this, since they act like they can’t even point me to the right documents to fill out?
Too bad this has happened. Some of the blame is in your Uncles court too. A property inspection before closing would have pointed out the gas line leak among other things too.
District court is where the big dogs play for big bones and the lawyers get lots of the meat. You can file in small claims but are limited to $5000. That does not sound like enough. I do not know if they can stop a foreclosure.
How much did your Uncle put down ? If not a whole lot he may just want to let it go and get another house. I am sure you have tried all avenues with the seller except court. How about mediation ? Seller probably will not agree to this however. He feels he has all the cards and would only deal if forced to do so, I am sure.
Hope some of my rambling helps a bit
Thank you,
Ted P. Stokely Jr
11505 Sw Oaks
Austin, Texas 78737
512-301-9171 home
512-587-6177 mobile