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dkara435 · Jul 23, 2009, 04:36 AM

My fiancé was paying rent for a room in PA (through a verbal agreement).

One day, the landlords called the police and had him escorted off the property and put all of his belongings in the front yard. We are suing them in small claims court so we can get back the money we had to pay out because of them illegally evicting him. I have copies of all of our receipts and even a copy of a letter one landlord wrote to him saying he owed back rent (which he did not, I'm keeping it as proof that he was paying rent to live there). We also have a copy of the police report from the night he was escorted off.

They have come back and are countersuing my fiancé for back rent. Do they have a case? He never got receipts for his payments but they never documented anything either.

My biggest question is, Do they have a case if they have no proof? How likely is it that they will get anything out of us, and how likely are we to win? They have hired a lawyer for small claims court, but we can't afford one. I can't imagine anyone can come and say "He owes me money" with no proof and then win because of it...

tickle · Jul 23, 2009, 04:43 AM

No one, including your fiancée has receipts for paying his rent, and the landlord has no records either? That is strange. Was the rent paid in cash, or was it cheque. If it was cheques, then there will be cancelled cheques.

What are 'all of the receipts' that you have ? I don't think it was an illegal eviction if it was attended by the police.

Tick

dkara435 · Jul 23, 2009, 05:08 AM

He was living with his friend's family and paid through cash, never thought there would be a problem, but they didn't want him there anymore even though he paid rent. They called the police to escort him off the property (he was renting a room in their house... actually, they had him living in their garage), and even the police officer said that they should go through the eviction process, but they refused. The officers have been subpoena'd to appear at the court case.

The receipts I have are from what we had to pay because of them evicting him the way they did (hotel cost until he found a new place, cost for storage unit since they put everything on the lawn, etc.).

tickle · Jul 23, 2009, 05:13 AM

Had they been asking him to leave through notices and he was refusing ? Sorry, just asking to get everything clear.

Tick

dkara435 · Jul 23, 2009, 05:20 AM

They left him a note on his door in the middle of April to be out by June 1st and we were looking for a new place for him, but they had the police come at the end of April. He had no notice of that at all and didn't have time to gather his belongings himself. They ended up putting everything on the lawn the next morning.

No problem with questions, I just need some insight as to what I can expect the judge to say.

tickle · Jul 23, 2009, 05:31 AM

Knowing what I do about tenants rights here in Ontario, there would be a good chance nothing would come of this claim if there is no proof, as you say. As you say, the notice was posted in April, siting June lst vacancy, basically he should not have been evicted until his time was up.

Dkara, how can we predict what the judge will say. Can you afford a lawyer, because I think you had better get one. How much money is involved ?

Tick

dkara435 · Jul 23, 2009, 05:34 AM

I know there is no telling what the judge may say, I only want to know if they even have a case.

We are asking for a bit over $700, and that is from exactly what we paid out down to the penny.

They, on the other hand, are asking in over $2,000, claiming it is from back rent even though my fiancé was paying the agreed-upon amount.

We can't afford a lawyer. We wouldn't even bother with getting this money if we didn't really need it.

tickle · Jul 23, 2009, 05:45 AM

Dkara, if he hasn't got any receipts for rent, cancelled cheques or anything to substantiate, then I don't think that will look good on him.

Tick

excon · Jul 23, 2009, 07:46 AM

Originally Posted by dkara435

even the police officer said that they should go through the eviction process, but they refused.

Hello d:

SUE the cops too! You say they KNEW the law but refused to adhere to it because the landlord didn't want them to?? I didn't know cops were that easy.

excon

dkara435 · Jul 24, 2009, 09:56 AM

Originally Posted by excon

Hello d:

SUE the cops too!! You say they KNEW the law but refused to adhere to it because the landlord didn't want them to????? I didn't know cops were that easy.

excon

They have been subpoenad to appear on the court date as witnesses.
We don't want to go through all kinds of legal mess, we just want our money back that we never should have had to spend.

Hopefully they will get reamed for not doing their job, but other than that, we aren't that concerned about it since they aren't the direct reason we are dealing with this now. These people would have taken the law into their own hands if the police did not do anything.

AK lawyer · Jul 24, 2009, 12:50 PM

Originally Posted by Excon

SUE the cops too!!

Originally Posted by dkara435

They have been subpoenad to appear on the court date as witnesses.
We don't want to go through all kinds of legal mess, we just want our money back that we never should have had to spend.

Hopefully they will get reamed for not doing their job, but other than that, we aren't that concerned about it since they aren't the direct reason we are dealing with this now. These people would have taken the law into their own hands if the police did not do anything.

I disagree. These people didn't take the law into their own hands. They got the police to act for them. If your fiancé has a case it is against the police. But unless they are named as defendants, the judge may scold them, but won't enter a money judgment against them.

As far as the back rent is concerned, it's your fiance's word against them (the landlords). If the judge finds them to be more credible, they will win.

Handyman2007 · Apr 11, 2012, 09:34 AM

How long did he live there? Did he receive mail there? If he did and was there more than 30 days, he is considered "domiciled" there and eviction proceedings MUST take place before he can be removed. The cops were wrong to just remove him if the preceding were the case.

Sounds as if he may win this one. But to what end? Will he sue for all of the rent he paid to them,, sue for being made homeless..?