Ask Me Help Desk - Being Sued by Tenant

I just received a letter from a Law Firm, I am being sued by a former tenant. His lease was up and he did not want to sign a new lease or leave, I evicted him (legally from all the information I read) for willful destruction of property~ He had done about $1,800 worth of damage to the bathroom. He is now sueing me for the U-haul he rented to move (supposedly $400), his $200 deposit (I didn't refund because of the damage), and un-specificied damages for the inconvenience of being unlawfully evicted. What should I do at this point? I kept pictures of all the damage he did to the apartment. Do I need to hire a lawyer (something I really really don't want to waste money on If I don't have to) or should I just contact the lawyer myself? Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks,

First this tenant is a nut case and you are really better without him.

Of course if you went though the court system it was an legal evection, any tenant can be forced out in TN unless they have a signed binding lease and even then they can be forced out for various reason.

But now you have to hire an attorney, and let them go on the attack.
If you have not already sued him for the damage to the apartment, you sue him for the complete cost of the damage and your expense in evicting him.

Next of course, you are not being sued yet, you are being sued when they serve you with papers, at this point a law firm is merely writing a letter in hopes you will try to settle with some small payment most likely.
I would say he has lied to his attorney about the information..
So you hire your attorney to write them a letter basically laughting at them and calling them the biggest lyers in the world ( in legal terms of course)

Then if they they want they will actually sue, you will get served with papers from the court, then you counter sue ( or heck if you want you sue him first) ** let your attorney decide what to do.

Personally I would make an example out of this guy, since he has been such a pain to you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeeAnnMemphis

I just received a letter from a Law Firm, I am being sued by a former tenant. His lease was up and he did not want to sign a new lease or leave, I evicted him (legally from all the information I read) for willful destruction of property~ He had done about $1,800 worth of damage to the bathroom. He is now sueing me for the U-haul he rented to move (supposedly $400), his $200 deposit (I didn't refund because of the damage), and un-specificied damages for the inconvenience of being unlawfully evicted. What should I do at this point? I kept pictures of all the damage he did to the apartment. Do I need to hire a lawyer (something I really really don't want to waste money on If I don't have to) or should I just contact the lawyer myself? Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks,

Well there is a 90% chance that this guy didn't retain a lawyer to sue you for $600. It is likely a friend of his who is a lawyer that offered to write a letter for him (I do this a lot for friends) in hopes that someone will receive it and cave (many do). Why don't you scan the letter and post it so we can take a look. I would be interested to see what kind of law firm takes on a case of a problem tenant for $600. (note that if he actually did "retain" a lawyer, he is being charged 150-300 dollars an hour for work done).

The person could have one of those "prepaid" legal plans, they allow within their plan to write letters for their clients, they only give discounts on physcial court appearances.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sideoutshu

Well there is a 90% chance that this guy didn't retain a lawyer to sue you for $600. It is likely a friend of his who is a lawyer that offered to write a letter for him (I do this alot for friends) in hopes that someone will receive it and cave (many do). Why don't you scan the letter and post it so we can take a look. I would be interested to see what kind of law firm takes on a case of a problem tenant for $600. (note that if he actually did "retain" a lawyer, he is being charges 150-300 dollars an hour for work done).

Good points.

He might have just gotten a friend/family member who is a lawyer to write the letter.

My family has a family friends that is a lawyer and she has written a few letters on our behalf before, and not charged us.

Sideoutshu might be correct and that might have happened.

In the mean time, hand tight, if they plan to sue you, let them. At that point, get an attorney.

If you can document and prove your case wait until the court date and counter his suit with your own claim to cover the cost of repairing his damage. Send him no money!His move!:cool: :)

Do not contact his attorney. Instead, put together a package of receipts and pictures that document all of the damage he did to the apartment. Make copies of the receipts and send them to him with a certified letter informing him that he owes you $1,600 for the damage he caused ($1,800 minus his security deposit), plus court costs for eviction, and that you insist on payment in full within the next 10 days. Then if his lawyer files a lawsuit you can immediately file a counterclaim. If his lawyer does not file a lawsuit you still have the option of suing him for the damage. Just don't wait too long.

Thanks, so much advice guys! I'll try to figure out how to scan and post the letter. I did notice that the lawyer is in Nashville, and we live in Memphis. So I think you are right about it being a family/ friend. It's pretty funny stuff~ it even mentions the inconvenience of being forced to move on "SuperBowl Sunday". I gave him two weeks, he choose to move on SuperBowl Sunday. I'll post the letter I write before I mail it to see what you think.

Thanks again!