Curious - As Court Cases Resume... - Landlord Forum thread 360747

Curious - As Court Cases Resume... by Jennise on August 10, 2020 @12:27

As court hearings resume, are others seeing extremely wild reasons why judges are denying proper motions and finding every reason to side with the defendants?

Here in MI we can watch hearings online and I do so just to see how most judges are handling cases as things ramp back up. I watched a case where the plaintiff requested a motion to set aside an installment payment plan because the defendant stopped making payments the month prior to the shut down from the pandemic. Plaintiff wanted the installment agreement set aside because the defendant wasn't paying.

First the judge asked the attorney if he'd had a conversation with the defendant and the attorney said they had not spoken to her and the judge was upset about the lack of communication. The attorney then clarified that letters had been sent notifying the defendant of the missed payments and then the judge really got upset because they tried to collect (notification of missed payment via mail) during the pandemic. They argued about whether or not it was illegal to send the letters and the judge failed to the find the "order" he claimed was put in place nationwide prohibiting past due statements.

Second, he was upset when he noticed the date on the motion was the day before the courts officially opened and was all set to dismiss the motion due to improper filing. However, his court reporter spoke up and clarified that the clerks began processing files a few days before the doors were actually open to the public. He didn't believe here.

Then to top it off, he asked the attorney if he knew if the defendant was dead or alive. The attorney said his office runs scrubs prior to hearings just to confirm their files are up to date. The judge said that was not adequate since the state is behind on finalizing death certificates and then adjourned the hearing 30 days, requiring the attorney to prove the person isn't dead and the same for any subsequent cases. The attorney needed to verify all of the defendants were still alive.

Just wondering if others are seeing ridiculous requirements like this?

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Re: Curious - As Court Cases Resume... by Annoymous on August 16, 2020 @07:01	[ Reply ]

In Pennsylvania the district courts are closed until further notice. If I were to have a problem with my tenants, the only recourse I would have is to see an attorney. And it is hope that I would not have the problem as you saw it online. It sounds as though the J. needs to be reported to the authorities. From reading what you wrote I am inclined to think that he either lacks experience when it comes to Landlord/Tenant law, or was having a bad day.

Re: Curious - As Court Cases Resume...

Re: Curious - As Court Cases Resume... by Daniel (CA) on August 24, 2020 @16:04	[ Reply ]

judge judy and peoples court seem to be a good sample of what judges will do