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Submitted by goldenbast on Mon, 10/27/2008 - 13:00
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Ok I just had court today and witnessed the judge totally ignore the law..I couldn't believe it! Basically long story short:

Rent came due..gave it in cash with a promise of a receipt..none was forthcoming then MR landlord seems to 'forget' I paid rent. Yeah right. We argued about it for a while, till the 10th when he threatened to evict. So a few days later I go back to him, on the 15th and told him frankly that we will leave with no troubles, we found a new place but needed the rest of the two weeks till the end of this month to get everything moved..that way he wouldn’t have the cost or hassle of an eviction suit..I even showed him the new lease so he knew I wasn’t just blowing smoke to buy time with no intention of leaving….he said ok that’s fine.

Now fast forward a week or so and I get a nice little visit from the county sheriff..guess what! I am being sued for eviction!! By Texas law written notice is required..it even says in the courts own paperwork that the letter –should- be by certified mail so they have proof, or a witness who can testify they gave the notice. The –law- states the burden of proof lies with the landlord…so I figured I could fight it on that, plus the fact it seems this whole suit is retaliatory…when the whole suit is done even if I lose, I will be forced out..gee…a couple days AFTER I said I would be out (with new lease to show it)….yeah he didn’t do that just to mess with my credit.

So I get to court..and I watch the landlord get al buddy buddy with the judge, go into his office for a few minutes, THEN we get called in. The landlord pulls out this notice that he signed stating notice was given and I told the judge it was not given…..the convo goes something like this:

Judge: So you are saying he never gave you the notice? He has one right here, why would he make a false notice?

Me: I don’t know your honor, I just know that we never got one.

Judge: Well, it seems to me this is proof enough that he gave you notice.

Me: What about the clause that the notice should be certified mail?

Judge: Where did you read that? Some website?

Me: No your honor, I read it on the court website, it is also repeated here in this packet of eviction paperwork, says that the burden of proof is on the landlord.

Judge: Let me see that. ((I hand it to him but he doesn’t even look at it, just tosses it down and starts yelling at me that I am trying to tell him the law and who did I think I was?)) I tried to tell him that I was not arguing with him, just that I was going on what information the court itself provides…but he didn’t want o hear it so I let it go.


Then it gets to the rent part, since lovely landlord is also suing for the back rent….he asks the landlord if I have ever paid by cash before and my jerk-o landlord says ‘No, never..always by check.” My mouth just hung open….I always paid by cash up till a couple months ago when he stopped giving or ‘forgetting’ to give receipts then I started checks..only reason I gave cash this time was I was out of checks and the new ones didn’t come in. I then said “if that is so then you must have bank statements showing these check deposits for the whole year.” He said he did and at first I thought the judge was going to let it go at that, but I asked specifically to se them, because I know for a fact they do not exist..so finally the judge hedged and told the landlord to pull them out of his file..of course the landlord says, “Oh, but I don’t have it WITH me..”…

But at least on this point we won since he couldn’t prove his claim….he denied the back rent, but granted the eviction judgment….despite the fact I pointed out that the whole thing was retaliatory to begin with, that he knew we were moving and would be gone, he did this eviction just for spite…but he judge didn’t care.

Then the landlord had the gal to show up at my door and ask if he could show the unit..I shut the door in his stinking face.

I am just so so pissed right now.


i do not blame you one bit.i would be seething as well.i don't know how you would handle it but,i would when i moved out to leave mr landlord a nice package on his front door.manily a lit bag of dog doo.


Submitted by paulmergel on Mon, 10/27/2008 - 13:08

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Myself, I'd be tempted to pay the fkr a late-night visit. But that's just my kind, sensitive side talking.......

I deal a lot in cash these days, including my rent. No receipt, no cash. No way. Works for me.


Submitted by unclewulf on Mon, 10/27/2008 - 13:44

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Heh..I have had several interesting ideas given to me in the great spirit of giving..and vindictivness ..from friends and family..I will list them.maybe you guys can judge on the best one:

1. Take the kitty liter box out of the house the last couple days...I have 4 cats.

2. Save my er...monthlies.. :):):) leave them for the landlord to find.

3. Dump some dog poo in the toilet back tank..every time the toilet is flushed you get poo water (eew factor here).

4. Buy several dozen big crickets (or even cockroaches) from a reptile place..let em all loose.

That is the going list so far....I doubt I will do any of it..but it gives me the warm fuzzies to think about the jerko-o landlords reaction to them.


Submitted by goldenbast on Mon, 10/27/2008 - 14:17

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wow!!!!!!!!great stuff.why not do it all?give him somethings to keep him busy once you leave.just a thought.


Submitted by paulmergel on Mon, 10/27/2008 - 14:20

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Oh I should mention that this is only a big aggravation in the long run...I will have an eviction for the next *grumps and grouses* 10 years, but it will mean squat....we signed a lease on a nice 4 bedroom house with the possibility to buy it from the owner in about 5-6 years. So the eviction won't hurt me in that respect since I don't plan on moving again.


Submitted by goldenbast on Mon, 10/27/2008 - 14:20

goldenbast

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exactly,as your first entry stated your moving anyway.this joker just wanted to make your ars weary.i like some of the ideas you came up with.will think up more and post tomorrow.or is that too late.


Submitted by paulmergel on Mon, 10/27/2008 - 14:24

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Nah....the whole stupid thing is that we were gonna move in the next day or two......but with this eviction, it just gave us 5 days, and if we are still here, then the landlord has to go back to court, obtain a writ of possession ($15) and then use that to have a sheriff escort us off the property...we will already be moved out way before that but now my cantankerous self will wait the whole 5 days, have everything moved out and wait for the sheriff and the landlord???????.they can come knock on the door and I will be standing there with an empty unit and me and a single suitcase, then sashay out and say, ???????Oh, I was just leaving???????.


Submitted by goldenbast on Mon, 10/27/2008 - 16:03

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Nah....the whole stupid thing is that we were gonna move in the next day or two......but with this eviction, it just gave us 5 days, and if we are still here, then the landlord has to go back to court, obtain a writ of possession ($155) and then use that to have a sheriff escort us off the property which can take up to another 10 days and neds to have a notice posted (by the sherif this time so that old faker can't BS this time) 24 hours before it happens...we will already be moved out way before that but now my cantankerous self will wait the whole 5 days+, have everything moved out and wait for the sheriff and the landlord???????.they can come knock on the door and I will be standing there with an empty unit and me and a single suitcase, then sashay out and say, ???????Oh, I was just leaving???????.


Submitted by goldenbast on Mon, 10/27/2008 - 16:05

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Sweet revenge is nice. The only problem is if you cause any damage, he might take you back to court to sue for any damage caused to the apartment. IE letting your cats pee all over could be very funny I think, but he may end up suing to replace carpets etc which could be costly.

Leaving your "monthlies" isn't causing any damage. Heck, don't most women's bathroom have a separate garbage can for those things -- Go around town and collect a bunch and leave them all over the place.

Something I've done before is to shove wedges between the front door (so the door can't be opened at all); then I barred the back door. Climbed out the window and down a ladder, and closed/locked the window on my way out. Still don't know how my landlord actually got into the place.

Another thing I've done was shut the gas main off and lock it with a heavy-duty lock in the off position. My landlord had a restaurant on the first floor, and so I did this on a Sunday morning before the restaurant opened. Put him out of business for a couple hours during breakfast until the gas company came out.


Submitted by DebtCruncher on Mon, 10/27/2008 - 16:49

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exactly debt cruncher.i have a better idea than the doo doo in the toilet tank.just remove the washer and screw connecting the floater in the tank.the toilet won't flush properly and there is no way to link it to goldenblast.kind of like the breakfast club only more costly to mr.landlord.


Submitted by paulmergel on Tue, 10/28/2008 - 06:24

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Not planning on getting your deposit back, are you, GB? :lol:

I wouldn't do anything to make the place unliveable, or cause him to have to make any unneccessary repairs. That's just borrowing trouble. Not to mention giving him an excuse to keep your security deposit, or even haul you back to court for more money if the repairs are costly enough.

What I would do, is make sure people know what kind of scumbucket he is. Tell people about him. Make up flyers and post them in every laundrymat and on every bulletin board in town. Hell, I'd probably put up a website dedicated to him if I was mad enough. Don't say anything that you can't prove is completely accurate. He'll likely try to raise hell with you for getting the word out, but if it's true, there ain't dick he can do legally.

When you vacate the house, make sure everything is clean and presentable. Then go through the place with a camera, and document that it's clean and presentable. That'll keep him from claiming bogus damages just to get more money outta you.


Submitted by unclewulf on Tue, 10/28/2008 - 07:02

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[quote=desperatelyseekingsanity]I agree with Uncle Wulf. Heck, I'd even put a flyer under the doors of those that rent from him, telling them that they need to protect themselves from HIS unscrupulous acts. Better to help people than to get revenge.[/quote]


Hey, if you get revenge by helping people, it's a win-win situation, right?


Submitted by unclewulf on Tue, 10/28/2008 - 10:09

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Great advice from UncleWulf!

Make sure you take pictures of the place when it is empty and before you leave completely. I'd be willing to bet he will still try taking you to court claiming you caused damage to the place.

I've seen a few too many episodes of Judge Judy, I know how that always goes down.


Submitted by FloridaRon on Tue, 10/28/2008 - 11:39

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I'm a big fan of karma..I am not going to do anything that can come back and bite me on the but...but he 'getting the word out' does appeal to my streak of vindictivness I don't let loose nearly enough...so much of this is just to keep me in chuckles thinking about his reaction. I already figure no matter how clean I keep the place, he will keep the deposit..using his 'fact' that I didn't pay him rent (even though I did). I would have to haul his butt to court to get the deposit back and I don't think I want to go into that hassle for 200 bucks honestly. I did plan to take pictures because now I wouldn't put it past him to try and bilk me for more cash on bogus repairs.

He is messing with me though..that A hole unlatched and opened my yard gate and let my very pregnant chihuahua out. I live near the street and my dumb butt dog doesn't think that cars can flatten her. She has been let out three times now and I know it was him because a neighborhood kid came to the door and told me my dog was out, that a big fat bald man let her out....gee...that sure does sound like my landlord. She is not an outside dog, but I used to regularly let her out in the morning afternoon and evening to enjoy the great outdoors and potty, now I have started letting her out at different times and have stood outside watching, but that is such a hassle with me finishing up the packing. I will be so happy to get out of this place.


Submitted by goldenbast on Wed, 10/29/2008 - 00:49

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I just want to point out that Karma is a bitch!

To bring everyone up to speed so they don't have to reread the long drawn out mess, a landlord cheated me and then evicted me in a retaliatory fashion....anyhow here is the update that just proves karma is a bitch:

These are duplexes...he owns the block...the building I lived in, one across from it and the two units behind.......well.....they are A B C D E F.....We were in A......here is what has happened since the whole fiasco:

C: Tenant took his own life.....with a gun to the head......very messy (this was very sad, I knew the tenant and his wife..I miss him greatly) I helped his wife move out....the bedroom..well they are going to need those professional crime scene clean up guys......that place is STILL for rent...

D: Tenant and boyfriend get killed by ex boyfriend, with the kids in the house.....that place is still for rent....

E: Bad storm tore out part of the roof and all of the fencing....

A & B: Just a few months after we moved out B caught on fire from faulty wiring and both A & B burned down.

In retrospect I have to thank the jerk landlord profusely...had he not tried to cheat us, we would have still lived there when it burnt down....it could have burnt down with my family in there! So now I am happy he evicted us.

But as I said, Karma is a bitch.


Submitted by goldenbast on Thu, 01/20/2011 - 19:02

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