Help! Mom's in trouble.

[Rot 911]

Originally Posted by Z-man

Also: wouldn't it be hilarious if austin was able to hire his father and brother to sue him? (A conflict of interest clause somewhere would probably prevent this, but one can imagine...)

Z-man, for a non-lawyer, you have a crafty mind. When I was a high priced divorce lawyer and only charged $100 for an initial consult I would get people coming in and consulting with me just so they could conflict me out of their case. That stopped when I upped my initial consultation fee to $1000.

If the dad and son are not big dollar attorneys mom might be able to get a free or low cost consult with them. Describe the problem with the tenant, but don't mention the tenant's name. Then if he uses dad or brother to sue, you can conflict them out. Make sure mom either gets a receipt for the consult or makes a note of when it took place if it is free.

[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.

[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.

[scottmandue]

This reminds me of the time my dad was showing my front house to potential renters during the day while I was at work.

"Hey Scott, I got two collage students that already gave me a check... and their parents are lawyers"

"Dad, give the check back"

Be aware that I live in the back house so I am not big on renting to collage students.

[Superman]

Sure, some of these suggestions seem at first glance to be just delicious fantasies. But.........

Pick six or eight of them and I'm guessing they solve the problem. I honestly like the ExLax Brownie idea. I also like the funigating thing. I like the idea of having a party of guys who know what's going on. Big guys who know this worm is trying to take advantage of somebody's mom. Get a few strings of firecrackers to spice up those quiet times in the very early morning. Ever hour. Move out and shut off all utilities. But.....get a big guy to stay there to protect the place as he moves out. He won't be happy, but he can be made to leave. He can sue all he wants but not under the landlord/tenant statutes. He will leave voluntarily. Owing her money.

I think the party alone should do it, if you get enough mean guys who respect mothers. What I really mean here is that this guy might not feel well after the party.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I still like a good ole sock-full-o-quarters.

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by nostatic

If he isn't clinical...well, then listen to Tobra

I am appalled that a sensitive, thoughtful man like yourself would agree that a wantonly violent and threatening response is an advisable course of action.





nah, just messin' with ya', you would be all redneck if somebody was screwing around with your family.

Originally Posted by fritzgator

Elderly woman fears for safety. Mentally disturbed lawyer using the system to take advantage her. News at 11. Could it hurt to give a call to your local action reporter?

this I like, but it would never make the news. He would threaten to sue them and they would fold like a house of cards, I guarantee it.

sock full of quarters leaves marks, pillowcase full of oranges is the way to go.

Lot of good advice, MRM, you are a genius. They frown on officers of the court being shady, unethical characters and will take steps to keep him out of the club. If he really wants to mess around with her, it just might cost him his chosen profession, I like that.

[Icemaster]

MRM makes the most sense.

Once he's out, then beat the crap out of him such that he doesnt move on to the next unsuspecting victim.

[Tobra]

Has to be random, jumped leaving a bar or restaurant is always good

[Britwrench]

What about a legal letter to the family detailing his behaviour and payment issues?
This letter could also be sent to his college.

[MRM]

Ice is correct. Wait until he's been evcicted, homeless, and living in the gutter. Then have someone roust him in the middle of the night for a little exercise session with a bag of quarters and/or oranges. Just to make sure the point isn't lost on him, whisper in his ear before he goes down for the count "This was for Mumsy, punk. But just try to prove it, sucker." Repeat as necessary.

[austin552]

Thanks for all the replies guys.

Mom called the F'rs Father in CA whom was very cagey but shocked that he put a stop check on payment. We went to the Civil court and got the ball rolling. The case doesen't come up until 6/19. He has a case comming up for distruction of private property. Wish I could attend. Mom found his last address and we payed a visit. The family told us every thing he did which was like dejavou sp. He moved out the day before court with them. They never got a cent, but were glad he was gone. They said that he has some issues and was seeing a doctor. We got in touch with Consumer affairs and was told there is nothing we can do legally except wait for our day in court.

After a great dinner tonight we arrived at Moms house to find him sitting in the den watching tv. I tried reasoning with him to leave but got no response. I went out back to disconnect the cable. When I returned he was gone with the remote. If we hadn't had another I think I would have snapped. I have been back to NC to see my wonderful wife once in the last couple weeks.

This has truely been the greatest test of pateints I have ever had.

[nostatic]

sneak up behind him and cut his Achilles tendon. He'll push everything to the right...give up the game.

[MRM]

How about tap him on the knee with a metal baton, just hard enough to keep him out of competition until 6-19?

[3.2 CAB]

Should have called the Police and filed theft charges for stealing the remote!!

[3.2 CAB]

This sort of reminds me of that Michael Keaton movie, Pacific Heights.

[speeder]

Are you sure that he's really enrolled in law school? If so, the combination of the destruction to property case + this behavior should be enough to get him expelled from school as well as denied a bar exam if he finds another school somehow.

I vote for going to his dean w/ documented proof of these two things w/o the option of him just leaving and forgetting the whole thing. He will be gone anyways, he deserves to pay a heavy price and you would be doing a service to the world by not allowing him to become a scumbag lawyer with the power to really hurt people.

This is a difficult situation because it's your Mom's house, but I would call the police at every minor confrontation w/ him to set-up a pattern of his harassment for the record. If I think that I might get in a physical or deadly force confrontation with someone, I will call the police first to give them a chance to handle it and also to help cover my ass if things get ugly. I would highly recommend video-recording this guy while he is violating the terms of his lease, (there is a lease, right?), do you own a camcorder? It's perfectly legal to film inside of one's own house, the last time I checked. When someone is harassing or otherwise behaving in a way that a court would frown on, there is nothing they like less than being filmed doing it.

I applaud your restraint, you have the patience of a saint. If someone was doing this to my Mom, I would hang them out the window of a tall building or hold their head under water until they saw the light. The next action if they did not vanish would be a bullet in the head, then off to court and a jury of people with mothers. I do have an unusual advantage when it comes to legal resources, but I'd do the same w/o them. Best of luck.

[austin552]

We have no evidence that he is attending any school. He is on Seroquel (bipolar disorder and schizophrenia).

This guy has nothing to his name and nothing better to do than take nine year olds to court and appeal all lost cases.

VERY SAD.

[notfarnow]

The guy sounds like a ticking bomb to me... he is looking for confrontations and drama. Mix that in with mental health issues and it's a little spooky

[dad911]

Originally Posted by austin552

We have no evidence that he is attending any school. He is on Seroquel (bipolar disorder and schizophrenia).

This guy has nothing to his name and nothing better to do than take nine year olds to court and appeal all lost cases.

VERY SAD.

Do anything you can to get him out. I would probably offer to buy him a plane ticket home, and a ride to the airport if he agrees to move out by the end of the week.

I don't know about VA, but here in NJ it is very hard to evict a tenant. If they offer up a payment schedule and a minimal payment(not the full amount), in NJ the courts usually let them stay.