Had tennant who left owing rent & option payment. Have signed lease agreement and lease/purchase agreement. Court date next week. Former tennant has lawyer, we don’t. Have never been in court before. What should we expect and do you have any advice on how to present our case?
Thanks,
dlb
.
Get an attorney who specializes in real estate.
Get an attorney who specializes in real estate.
Mike
He never paid the option payment you agreed upon? Why was he ever given keys??? This should be up front at lease signing, not owed after move in.
The attorney will try to prove that you did not do repairs even if you were notified, payment was paid but you never credited the renter account, or the lease was illegal/invalid due to terms in it. Take all docs you have. Worse case you get nothing, best case you get a judgement.
Who’s actually sueing whom, here?
And just to clarify…
Get an attorney who specializes in real estate.
Raj
If you have never been to court for this type of thing I also would suggest you get an attorney.
The judges tend to take sides with the ones who do have an attorney anyways. So give up a couple hundred dollars to at least have a fair shot.
As far as what you should expect, you would need to give up more information of the situation.
This is not really your question but a general point is to never let your opponent out lawyer you. Even for a routine case if the oppisition has a lawyer you must have a lawyer. Always. If you say the sky is blue and a lawyer says the sky is blue, the judge will give more weight to the lawyer saying the same thing. NEVER let anybody out lawyer you.
Well, we do not have a lawyer b/c we have
- Documents from tennants stating that they know they owe the
money & will try to pay, admiting to not paying, hoping to continue to live in house, … - Copies of bounced checks
- Complete payment history
We felt that if we had documentation we would be fairly safe in our presentation in the courtroom.
Are we being too simple-minded?
Thanks,
dlb
.
Yes, you’re being too simple-minded. Still haven’t said who is suing whom in this particular case?
Raj
Never take personal checks! Ask for a cashiers check that way you wont have to b worried about a check boucing.
Be ready for anything. Once you enter the court room you are putting your entire case out on the table for a judge to decide. Your ability to articulate all aspects of the case and draw out the legal points will be key to winning. Are you capable of doing this on your own?
I can’t believe you are not getting a lawyer :banghead
If you get out lawyered (they have a lawyer and you don’t ) you violate the first rule learned by all lawyers (including the judge) in law school. That rule is that at the end all the lawyers get paid. The judge will make sure that if there is only 1 lawyer there he must get paid. That will mean you will have to pay him no matter what kind of evidence you have. I guarantee his lawyer will come up with some obscure law or ruling that has nothing to do with your case that will cause you to throw out a bunch of the things that you plan to present and make it very possible that you could lose.
You’ve never been to court before. It might be a slam dunk for you with the paperwork, OR it might NOT be after the lawyer’s arguments. Too much to lose there man. If there is a judgement against you, it goes on your credit report and screws up your FICO score.
One more time…
Get an attorney who specializes in real estate.
You still have not answered the most improtant question you were asked. Who is being sued? Is it your business entity?
If the business entity you own is the actual respondent here, you will have lost your case as soon as you personally make an appearance. The plaintiff’s attorney will ask for summary judgement in favor of his client because your business will have failed to appear.
Try to represent your business entity and you will be charged for practicing law without a license. Your business entity can only be legally represented by an attorney admitted to the bar in your state. Trying to do it yourself will be illegal.
You still have not answered the most improtant question you were asked. Who is being sued? Is it your business entity?
– We, the corporation, are bring suit against former tennants.
If the business entity you own is the actual respondent here, you will have lost your case as soon as you personally make an appearance. The plaintiff’s attorney will ask for summary judgement in favor of his client because your business will have failed to appear.
Try to represent your business entity and you will be charged for practicing law without a license. Your business entity can only be legally represented by an attorney admitted to the bar in your state. Trying to do it yourself will be illegal.
– Thanks for the insight. I was not aware of that aspect of the situation but does make sense. I think that we will have to look into getting a lawyer. Thanks again!
dlb
.
found out today that the court date has been indefinately rescheduled as the defendants have filed for chapter 13!
Court :rolleyes… they have an attorney :(…ummmmmmmmmmmm :bash …hmmmmmmmmmm :banghead…
In every state that I know, a corporation must have an attorney, as they cannot represent themselves.
In my day job, I find myself in court regularly. In fact, I am up against an attorney that is about to find out that his drivers license is about to be taken away. Next, his wife is going to find out that I am going to motion to attach HER wages. Now that is pressure. :biggrin
The moral of the story is that attorneys are not supermen. In fact you should see the credit rating of this “big time” attorney.
But know what you are doing.
And like I said before, a corporation MUST have an attorney.