First Small Claims case, any landlord advice? - Landlord Forum thread 324464

First Small Claims case, any landlord advice? by LEE on September 15, 2014 @14:16

Suing tenants for back rent, water bills, cleaning and damage for approx $4800. First time going to court, have all my documents, proof and pictures. Have not been to court before and during pretrial was not impressed with the way the Court commissioner already seemed pro-tenant. Tenant bold faced lied to commissioner and I have obtained proof.
Would I want to start with that to establish a credibility issue right off the bat (if he will even listen to it)? What is the best way to handle these lying tenants without blowing my cool? My pictures are damaging so I expect to win, but nothing is ever gteed. Any advice on how to handle myself being a newbie would be appreciated. Thanks

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Re: First Small Claims case, any landlord advice? by Lighthope on September 15, 2014 @14:34	[ Reply ]

Two pieces of advice I can give. I know others will chime in as well. 1) The Truth Will Never Hurt You. Don't lie. Don't waffle. Don't do half-truths. Because... 2) Assume The Court Is Out To Get You. You've already experienced this. Prepare your case as if the Judge is looking for reasons to rule against you. If you do this, you'll be ready to torpedo anything a hostile Judge or lying tenant may try. Be ready to prove things, not assume things. Take nothing for granted. Best of luck to you. Lighthope Pearls of Wisdom - Pain is nature's way of saying "that was stupid!"

Re: First Small Claims case, any landlord advice? by Bill on September 15, 2014 @14:55	[ Reply ]

You can discredit your tenant by presenting clear and convincing evidence to the contrary of your tenant's testimony.

Re: First Small Claims case, any landlord advice? by Barb (NC) on September 15, 2014 @17:07	[ Reply ]

This the nature of the business be cool calm and collective just present your evidence lots of picture and receipts with dates and let the chip fall as it may. I ve learned the court system is more subjective. I ve learn to not take it personal and going thought this mess is going to make you a better LL for your next confrontational tenant.

Re: First Small Claims case, any landlord advice? by Anonymous on September 15, 2014 @19:41	[ Reply ]

Taken from my post entitled "and The Judge Said . . on 9-12-2014 on the LPA forum: I am a landlord in Texas in a major city. I am having problems with the reconciliation of a security deposit where the tenant owes me money. A couple of LPA forum members here advised me to go to the courthouse and speak to my local JP judge. I did so yesterday. I sat through a small claims case as an observer and then the judge invited me to ask questions. I had a private audience with him and he was very cooperative. I asked him about acceptable evidence. I asked him if I needed to have paid receipts for the damages or whether pictures and estimates were acceptable. He told me that small claims court does not use the full legal breadth of Texas law. He has considerable leeway in settling cases quickly and efficiently. In short he told me that his decision would be based on credibility; the credibility of the case and the credibility of the evidence, and perhaps the credibility of the plaintiff and defendant. Another metric is the preponderance of evidence: "A preponderance of evidence has been described as just enough evidence to make it more likely than not that the fact the claimant seeks to prove is true. It is difficult to translate this definition and apply it to evidence in a case, but the definition serves as a helpful guide to judges and juries in determining whether a claimant has carried his or her burden of proof." What kind of proof can a tenant have that he paid you the rent he owes you? A fake receipt? What kind of proof can a tenant have that establishes that he did no damage? Can the tenant provide a receipt from the water company that proves he paid them? The JP judge invited me to sit in on some eviction cases, which I am going to do this week. I am also hoping to speak with one or more small claims/eviction attorneys in case I need to hire one of them. As it turns out I am going tomorrow and they have fifty six cases on the docket. 56! IMO: Two important things: credibility and preponderance of evidence. IMO.

Re: First Small Claims case, any landlord advice? by libby (pa) on September 16, 2014 @08:37	[ Reply ]

Let the tenant speak first. They usually put their foot in their mouth. Sometimes when I go to court I don't have to say a word.

Re: First Small Claims case, any landlord advice? by Prop Mgr on September 16, 2014 @14:20	[ Reply ]

You will probably win your decision but never see any money. Tough fact of life.

Re: First Small Claims case, any landlord advice? by Anonymous on September 16, 2014 @18:21	[ Reply ]

I sat through 56 eviction cases today. In about 30 of them the tenant did not show up so the LL was automatically given a judgment within about 2 minutes of the JP judge's observation of the no show. Pretty efficient!