Thursday, November 07, 2019

Listening Your Attorney - Not A Law, But A Good Idea

Since people hire attorneys for their advice and legal skill, one would think the client would perhaps actually listen to that advice.

Not so much.

Client Y came in last month facing an eviction due to chronically paying her rent late. While the Landlord company has not minded so much before, the new administrator for the Landlord did.

I get it resolved in court with the Landlord’s attorney, point out some legal issues with their case and get it resolved that since she’s already rendered the rent after the complaint was filed, she just has to pay $205 in attorneys fees per the lease to stay. Simple right?

So that’s put on the record, she knows to pay it within 10 days, I tell her to pay it even sooner than that she agrees and we’re done, right?

Of course not. She doesn’t pay it until yesterday and then is shocked when a court officer shows up with an eviction notice.

Of course she paid her November rent in full yesterday (late yet again) as well as the attorney fee, so she needs to get this straightened out immediately, and it’s now a mess, she’s facing more fees and even a potential eviction, but it’s no one’s fault but hers.

Sigh. Please listen to your attorneys folks. You hired them for a reason after all.

6 comments:

drjim said...

And unfortunately it doesn't sound like she's learned anything from the experience.....

MrGarabaldi said...

Hey Aaron;

But it is NEVER her fault...".you know...everyone is out to get me"

Jon said...

Huh? Can’t pay her rent on time but can pay an attorney? Verily the mind boggles.

Old NFO said...

No learning experience, eh?

pigpen51 said...

I am just finishing up the estates of both my mom and my dad. It has taken me 5 years, due to them dying in debt, and my having to rent out a couple of houses they had until I could get their mortgages down enough to sell the places to pay all of their bills. I hired a lawyer the very week my dad passed away, knowing that I didn't have the knowledge or experience to handle any of this on my own.
Overall, I probably paid him close to 8 thousand dollars. It was money well spent. My mom's estate closed a year before my dad died. I was not even involved in it, it was just done by my sister who lived with my dad and took care of him. We had to re open the estate of my mom's to deed a house in her name over to my dad, so that I could deed it to the person who bought it. My lawyer was the one who helped me with that, also. I could not have even begun to figure any of that out on my own. It was worth every cent for his help, and of course, I listened to every single thing he recommended and followed it to the letter. That is why I paid him, and it would be stupid to not follow his advice.
At one time, I worked part time in a trailer park, as a maintenance man. I saw first hand on a number of occasions people being taken to court for lack of payment of lot rent. The judges here in my small city refuse to make them pay any late fees. They figure that if the people can't afford to pay their lot rent on time, how could they be expected to pay extra for a late fee. Totally unfair to the owners of the park, of course, but that is just how it is.
I have also had to both clean out trailers that people just walked away from, leaving everything in them, and I mean everything. High school diplomas, wedding photos, expensive nativity scenes, in one place, probably 50 hand made afghans, all just walked away from. Drug users, mostly, who only cared about getting more drugs. Probably the saddest was evicting a family with two small children, from a place, where we had to put all of their belongings on the street. The male figure was a drug dealer, he put a bunch of stuff in the back of his car, and took off, leaving the mother there to watch us work, with her small children.
In a hole that was smashed in the paneling, in one of the children's rooms, I found over a pound and a half of marijuana, in a plastic tub and a bag. I told the sheriff's dept rep who was there, he called the local police department, who came, and took the drugs, but who said, that since we had already read the eviction notice to the family, and the place was no longer under their control, there was nothing they could do about it. He did take the dope, but that was it. Now in Michigan, it would not have been such a big deal, since we have voted to allow for recreational use, but the amount surely would have to have raised some eyebrows.
It is a sad world we live in. I asked that mother if she was ok, sort of on the sly. She was crying, and said no. There was nothing I could do for her. Fortunately, her mother and father showed up with a large truck and trailer, picking up her stuff, to take her home and away from the bum of a man who would desert her.

Aaron said...

drjim: Nope, she hasn't figured it out yet.


MrGarabaldi: She couldn't quite figure out why constantly opaying late and missing due dates was causing her issues. Explaining that took a bit of effort.

Jon: It's a little complicated, basically her pay dates don't match her rent due dates and she can't seem to figure out how to get ahead (In reality: It's actually not that complicated) and doesn't seem to understand the importance of due dates. On the upside as her attorney I saved her about $1,000 in rent money they were double-charging her in the court process and got it down to $205 which was where it should be for her lateness.


OldNFO: Nope, she seems determined to learn the hard way.

pigpen51: Wow, that's quite a set of experiences you've had. Glad the attorney you hired managed to straighten everything out for you. Like you, I've seen a lot of people messed up by drugs and the results of their drug-based decisions and the effect on innocent children is the worst. I can only imagine the stuff you've seen doing that job.