Anatomy of a lawsuit II

My lawsuit against former tenants is proceeding forward despite a few setbacks.  If anyone has dealt with a municipal small claims court, you know some of the difficulties to except.  My lawsuit pack was returned to me because of a lack of proper fees.  Apparently, the township court raised its filing fees during the summer but never updated its website.  I was forced to get two more money orders for $2.00 each and refile my landlord’s lawsuit against the former tenants.

Much later, I received my receipt and copy of the lawsuit with the summons having been served.  The court date is set for early morning mid-December of 2012.  With this court, that is about right with regard to the gap between filing and the court date.  It usually is a six-week gap though this one is a little longer.

Many tenants and landlords don’t realize that the first court date is not an actual trial for this township and our local courts.  On this given day, both plaintiff and defendant show up to the court to either work out something to avoid a trial or disagree and be given a trial date.  Often you will find attorneys and representatives for banks, auto dealers, hospitals, cell phone carriers, and other sundry people who are owed money in the courtroom.  You will also find the occasional landlord carrying out a lawsuit against a tenant.  The judge will call out both plaintiff and defendant and give them time to decide what they want to do.

If an agreement is met, both parties are moved to another room to work out some deal.  Presumably, this deal will include some legally recorded instrument that the defendant must follow.  I don’t know precisely because I’ve never gotten to this point.  If neither party agrees, the judge then sets the actual trial date.  Then there are the default judgments.

The judge issues a default and binding verdict if the defendant does not show (or the plaintiff).  If this happens, you will be rewarded the judgment, given a stamped copy, and are to mail a copy to the same address where the summons was sent.  The landlord/plaintiff is to wait a certain amount of time to allow the tenant/defendant time before pursuing efforts to collect.  This is how all but one of my landlord lawsuits against former tenants went.  In the first lawsuit I filed, the tenant showed, tried to argue his plea in his case but agreed to a different amount owed.  The judge found that the tenant was at fault, and I was awarded the judgment.

Something unusual happened in one of my current lawsuits against a former tenant.  Someone with some relationship with the former tenant contacted me in writing, asking if I could send the former tenant a copy of the signed lease.  This person also asked if this lease would detail all the work the former tenant did in the home before moving in but was never compensated for.  This person asked for a copy of the lease to be sent immediately so it could be forwarded to the former tenant’s attorney!

After I stopped laughing, I tried to decide my action regarding this bizarre request.  At first, I was going to write that due to specific privacy laws, I would not send a copy of the contract to anyone except those who signed it.  I planned to mention I do send copies of the lease to those who have executed it, but only if requested in writing accompanied by a copy of the tenant’s driver’s license and a money order for $5.00.  That seems pretty reasonable to me.

However, I decided I would not respond in any way.  This was a fishing expedition and a feeble scare tactic.  If the former tenant needs a copy and has retained an attorney, then the attorney must send the request (and I may still demand the $5.00 for my shipping, handling, and time expenses.)  If the tenant does indeed have an attorney, costing hundreds of dollars an hour, then perhaps she can afford to pay me what is owed as well as satisfy her unpaid utility bills, which I estimate to be well over $1,000!