Eviction Cases: Fill & Download for Free

There are so many, but this is a good one.I was at Legal Aid of Western Michigan and most of my job was defending tenants in eviction cases. On one particular afternoon I had two evictions scheduled for bench trials in a row against the same landlord, who was representing herself, and in each case the defense was the same: the landlord had breached her warranty of habitability so the tenant didn’t owe the rent. When the case was called the judge saw that the landlord didn’t have a lawyer and, as he would always do when I was there, the judge warned the landlord that she should have a lawyer, that he wasn’t allowed to help her, and that if I made a motion he might be forced to grant it.This was in the days before cell phones and most of my clients didn’t have phones, and when I got to the court for the first case my client wasn’t there (the cases would come up fast under summary process and even if the client got the letter sometimes they wouldn’t show up), so I was stuck trying to defend this eviction case with no evidence on my side.The landlord got on the stand and her testimony was, “I never heard anything about this until I got the papers from her lawyer.” That was the totality of her testimony, so I didn’t ask any questions on cross-exam. The judge, who hated doing eviction cases and got really emotional about them, and particularly hated having me representing the tenants, started kind of blustering and said to her, “That’s it? You don’t have anything more to say?” But the landlord didn’t understand what he was getting at so she just said no and stepped down. She also had no other witnesses.My turn. I stood up and moved for directed verdict (now known as judgment as a matter of law), pointing out that the landlord had failed to present evidence sufficient to support her burden of proof. What I didn’t say, because I didn’t want to tip the landlord off but the judge knew, was that she never testified that there was a rental agreement, that it called for payment of a particular amount of rent, that the tenant had failed to pay the rent, or that she had sent the tenant a notice to terminate the tenancy, all required elements of an eviction case.The judge very sadly granted my motion to dismiss, so my client was home free. The trial probably took ten minutes. The judge was all over her, telling her that he had warned her and that he had had no choice but to grant my motion, but that he strongly advised her to hire a lawyer. She should definitely move to continue the next case until she could hire a lawyer or the same thing might happen.So there I was. I had another trial under the exact same circumstances in half an hour or an hour and I figured the landlord was likely to make the same mistake the next time, although I didn’t know that for sure. If she could get a lawyer on the phone and tell the whole story the lawyer could explain to her in about five minutes how to do it right the next time.What was I to do? Well,there was no guarantee that my client would get there—she wasn’t there yet—and I thought there was a decent chance the landlord would consult with a lawyer before the next case was called. I agreed to the continuance.

UPDATES BELOWSmall landlord here (only two rentals)Rental 1.Young couple with three kids that barely met requirements for my rental. Both work at low-paying jobs. I took a chance on them two years ago.Pandemic hit them hard with wife out of work for 12 weeks ...both quarantined 3 times then reduced hours due to homeschooling.They have continued to communicate and have paid rent every month (sometimes late, sometimes in pieces). (I waived all late fees for them.) Husband picked up side hustle jobs to do so.Rental 2Retired couple both on Social Security who had been good renters for seven years. Stopped paying rent June 1st (no economic impact — they received their income every single month).Not one penny received since then. They think “Someone is going to pay” me and that “the rent is forgiven.”Realistically there is no way I will recover the money they owe in my lifetime. So far they are at $8k with rents due and eviction filing costs with that increasing by $1k every month until they are out. ( + repairs + clean out + re-renting costs)I filed for eviction in late October. If the eviction moratorium actually expires in January 2021, my local courts estimate due to the backlog my eviction would be fully processed in April (another four months due).Rental 1 couple has earned my respect and will get fantastic references whenever they decide to move. I have also decided not to apply the normal 7% rent increase for at least two years.Rental 2 couple has screwed me over badly. I was forced to take on another full-time job to cover the mortgage + taxes + insurance + repairs, etc. Will I survive? Yes.I will get my judgment … I will hire a collection agency to recover any assets they may ever have (inheritances/lottery winnings/insurance settlements etc.) and will even pay to renew that judgment in 10 years.These examples show EXACTLY why many landlords think renters took advantage of the pandemic.BTW where was my financial relief? Having private mortgages I did not even qualify for delays on my payments.×××× UPDATE xxxxMy eviction case was heard yesterday via phone. The judge sided with me as the senior renters income had not been effected by Covid 19.They were VERY SHOCKED when the judge explained that they would be removed in 3 business days and that they would have to pay me $10,754.00 plus any additional cleaning/ repairs.Both started crying…The judge asked if I was willing to work with them. An agreement was made for them to pay the courts (for me) the 5, 460.00 they had available with in 24 hours and to keep rent current (again paid to the courts for me) and give them 90 days to paid the remainder of what they owe. If they keep to the payment plan the eviction will be halted if not they will be removed.So at least I will have slightly under half within December.I am trying to decide if I want to renew the lease in May…let it drop to a month to month…or just tell them they will need to move by July 31 2021.

It happened to me once.I was representing the tenants in an eviction case and they had been defaulted because they didn't comply with an order of the court. They told me it was because they didn't know about it because they never got the order. I didn't believe them because it seemed too convenient and, frankly, I've heard it before.Still, they were willing to sign an affidavit so I filed the motion for relief from judgment because, as they swore in their affidavit, they never got the order.I showed up on the day of the hearing, not expecting much, and what did I find? The judge found the notice from the court in the court file, undelivered. It had bounced all over the country to Texas, Arizona, I don't remember all the places it had been, until it landed back in Vermont in the court's file. Looking at the envelope we could see why: the envelope had the clients' name and street address, but no city or state, so it had gone everywhere except the half mile from the courthouse to their apartment.Naturally the judge granted my motion. My disbelief hadn't harmed my clients but it was a warning not to be too cynical.