[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by MRM

I hesitate to offer suggestions in light of such intelligent and enlightened advice issued above, and the general concensus that lawyers are, generally speaking, scum bags that no one has any use for. But in an effort to be one of the good attorneys that offers useful advice, I offer the following.

As Kurt points out, hiring goons or any of the variations on the theme are not likely to help mumsy's situation. The questioner already started the unlawful detainer action, so the creep will get evicted in due course, so the question really is whether there is something else to do, other than wait for the law to catch up to this guy, which it inevitably will, given enough time.

But apparently the creep is a law student. Viola, there is your other avenue of recourse. Law schools and lawyer boards of professional responsibility have pretty high standards for ethical conduct by lawyers. The board of bar examiners, the body that decides who is fit to be allowed to sit for the bar exam, is particularly harsh on prospective lawyers who have a record of unethical conduct. They have the funny idea that bad apples before they become lawyers tend to abuse their position as lawyers to be even worse once they get their license to practice.

Not paying rent, even if it is just running up a debt beyond his ability to repay, is considered unethical conduct. Doing it deliberately is even worse. Mumsy, or someone on her behalf, should alert the young tenant's financial backers that Mumsy was making an ethics complaint to the school, and that she would consider it mitigation of his ethical lapse if he immediately moved out voluntarily and paid his owed back rent. And at the same time Mother should make the complaint to the dean of the law school and insist that he be kicked out of school and not allowed to sit for the bar is she is not made whole. Law schools kick people out of school for things like this. I suspect she'll get more satisfaction going that route, in addition to the unlawful detainer action, rather than hiring cousin Guido or something.

That sounds like it has teeth.

I like that.