lawyer for dispute with ex-landlord

[jaq.livejournal.com]

We have a dispute with our previous landlord. A couple of months ago, while we were still living in the previous place, the landlords had the oil heating system removed and replaced with a new gas heating system. Part of this included removing the oil tank, which contained oil that we had paid for. All the work was done without any notice or warning to us.

My wife managed to talk to the landlord on the phone once around the end of July I think, when it was discussed that they would pay us back $150 as the rough value of the oil, but since then they have not answered the phone whenever she has tried calling again, and we have not heard from them. She tried sending them a registered letter, but it was returned undelivered a few days ago.

We are now living elsewhere (Newton), but would like to get the money back. Can anyone recommend a lawyer who could help deal with this? Or offer any other advice?

Comments

[klingonlandlady.livejournal.com]

if you have documentation for all this, you can take them to small claims court with no lawyer. First send a registered-mail Demand Letter stating that they have 30 days, state your case supporting the fact that you owned the oil etc, and your intention to take them to small claims court in (district where you lived then or district where you live now).

They will probably just pay up at that point.

[treacle-well.livejournal.com]

They will probably just pay up at that point.

Not if they let the letter get returned undelivered, and therefore don't even read the thing.

I think they should try sending another letter though, and calling and leaving a message saying that they plan to take them to small claims court.

[heliograph.livejournal.com]

I am not a lawyer, but I'd imagine your legal expenses would exceed the $150 pretty quick. Your better bet would be small claims court:

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/consumerism/small_ma.html

but I'd imagine the costs of that (especially of your presumably valuable time) would also exceed $150.

[ron_newman]

I've put a variety of tags on this post, the most useful of which is probably "legal". Take a look at earlier entries to see if anything helps. -- Your friendly moderator

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Like the other commenters said, small-claims court is going to be more cost-effective for you than hiring a lawyer. HOWEVER, even a win in small-claims court is no guarantee that you'll actually get your money. I won a small claims case by default a few years ago ("by default" means that the other guy didn't show up for the hearing so the judge ruled in my favor) but still have not gotten my $400 back.

The way small claims works, once there's a judgment against someone, he has a certain amount of time to pay up. If he doesn't, you can bring him to court again, but if he doesn't show -- or if he shows, and agrees to pay, and doesn't -- then you have to hire a deputy to go and arrest him. Which you have to pay for. Theoretically the cost of that can be tacked on to the amount that the other person owes you ("court costs") but I didn't have faith that I was ever going to see a penny from the deadbeat, so I punted.

Anyway, sorry to be discouraging but maybe you'll have better luck than I did. In any case taking him to small claims is going to cost you much less than hiring a lawyer would, and it's not a very complicated process. Good luck.

[ocschwar.livejournal.com]

Can't you hand off a judgement to a collection agency?

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Possibly, but the collection agency would just go through the same legal procedures that I'd have gone through myself -- and that would cost me even more money. And then they'd take a significant cut of the money if/when I ever do get it.

Once you've brought the case into the small-claims court system, you have to play by that system's rules. Contrary to what TV would have us believe ;) you can't just hire some big muscled guy to go get your money. Alas.

[ocschwar.livejournal.com]

I was thinking they'd take the time to at least wreck the guy's credit rating.

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

I just wanted to insert a witty comment about dog the bounty hunter here..

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

Call the State er Commonwealth Attorney General. They may even have something useful on their website. (http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=cagohomepage&L=1&L0=Home&sid=Cago) I know I've looked there in the past when having issues with a landlord.

[masswich.livejournal.com]

In terms of time expended, you should think about whether its really worth your time to get $150 back (or maybe not even get it back), even through the Small Claims Court process. Sure they should have paid you for it, but you will probably spend many hours dealing with small claims. And if you don't have good documentation that you paid for the oil and such it may be a hard thing to prove.

Not trying to suggest that $150 isn't a lot of money, but time is valuable too...

[billharnois.livejournal.com]

I think it's worth it just to annoy/hassle the asshole landlord, even if it takes your time too.

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's kind of its own reward :) "If you do not respond to this, we're reporting you to the AG." Worked for a previous situation I was in.

[agreeleyo.livejournal.com]

Sounds like small claims is where this needs to be heard.

An aside, was there oil in the tank when you moved in? Was the system replaced because it was a safety concern?

[jaq.livejournal.com]

I wasn't here when my wife moved in, so I'd have to ask her whether there was oil then.

The first we knew about the system being replaced was when our power went out and we went down to the basement and asked the workmen what was going on, so we didn't really get any reasons behind it.

[elements.livejournal.com]

Did the landlord pay you your security deposit when you moved out, plus any interest owed for the past year (and any prior years if they hadn't yet paid you the interest)? If not, you'd definitely have a reason to be worth going to small claims court - unreturned security deposits lead to tenants receiving triple damages. So you'd have that, plus the $150 you're fighting for.

I think it's worth sending demand notices. If you tell them that you will otherwise report them to the Somerville rental housing authorities, that may scare them into at least answering you.

Keep documentation of everything you do.

[colorgarden.livejournal.com]

Send the letter via certified mail and include 1.) the issue and that you're going to take them to small claims court if you don't get your money, 2.) any documentation regarding MA state law and your right to your money back in this case (maybe a friend who's a lawyer or a law student can find you some text, and 3.) your intention to put a lien on the house if you do go to court and they find in your favor. That means that they can't ever sell the house/building without paying you back.

If they don't open the letter, you can get a sheriff to serve them the letter. It will cost about $50 but when you go to court, you can include that in the suit.

Ten years ago, I sent a letter just like the one I'm describing to a landlord who tried to screw me and my five (Tufts) roommates. We got our money back immediately. Lawyers, please correct anything that I said that might be wrong; I actually found out how to do this from a landlord!

[dominika-kretek.livejournal.com]

Whoa, the lien thing is pretty awesome. Also, from the Craigslist housing forum I learned that if you are okay with never seeing the money (or you don't think you'll ever get it) and are only interested in poetic justice, you can forgive the debt. Forgiven debts are taxable income, so you fill out the 1099, which basically sics the IRS on them.

[colorgarden.livejournal.com]

Oh, I almost forgot -- when I did this, I mailed the letter from another state. Slum lords typically don't open certified mail because they're afraid they're going to get sued and they hope that you'd rather drop the whole thing than get a sheriff to serve them. BUT, they're likely to open certified mail from another state because they don't think it's from one of their tenants! Hee!