Has anyone sued their landlord in LA and won?

[LALady]

Originally Posted by yakker24

Hi all,
For anyone who cares, I had posted previously that I'd successfully sued my landlord for illegally withholding my deposit, harassment, etc. and won, in small claims.

I care. Congrats on your win. From my experience, the judge never really listens and the rulings are arbritrary. <shrug>

[yakker24]

To the poster who said to post back when I collected the money my landlord owed me: I did finally collect. He sent it through the LA court system, for receipt purposes.
I am writing this up in form of: x happened, then y happened, for the LA housing dept. not sure if that'll be useful, but they keep records of complaints/judgements, so maybe it'll help someone in future if they have a similar probelm with this guy.

not being naive, but it is nice when the good guys win...

also will send the info to the current tenants in my bldg, they are nice, and deserve the heads up.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by yakker24

Hi,
I recently moved out of a building owned by a slumlord (LAHD tells me they get more complaints about this management company than any other...).

He (owner) violated about a dozen laws (I could write a book about this guy) during my tenancy and when I left, and I successfully sued him in small claims court.
He owed me 765.00 (my deposit), and I was awarded that plus 2000 in damages (bad faith and harassment/retaliation for my complaint to LAHD).

He has appealed the case. When you are a defendant and lose your small claims case, you can appeal to the superior court, and HAVE AN ATTORNEY. this company is large (can i say their name here? after all, the fact there is a judgement against them is public record and not slander or libel).

I believe this was his plan all along. He is effectively circumventing the legal system of small claims, (not even showing up to the hearing, he sent someone I didn't know), because if he loses, he can appeal and use his superior financial resources to hire an attorney.

I know the laws, and am completely in the right (why I was awarded a judgement). However I don't have funds to hire an attorney. Does anyone have experience with this?

I have little faith in the legal system (when attorneys are involved, with apologies to atty's on this forum). LAHD tells me it's almost impossible to win wihtout an attorney. They say it almost never happens.
(which logically doesn't make sense, I know).

Advice?
And did I mention that each time there is a hearing I have to drive 400 miles from my present address, to LA? And the judge told me that travel fees are NOT reimbursible, which really isn't fair, considering.

Hating slumlords,
JS

My opinion, it isn't worth the hassle, take your loses and be a little more careful next time. This is not meant as a slam to you, just a warning. No, you can not win without a lawyer and if you are driving 400 miles, how much are you going to end up with if you do win, which you will not?

Nita

[readymade]

This was from 2 years ago, and she DID win (without a lawyer).

Originally Posted by nmnita

My opinion, it isn't worth the hassle, take your loses and be a little more careful next time. This is not meant as a slam to you, just a warning. No, you can not win without a lawyer and if you are driving 400 miles, how much are you going to end up with if you do win, which you will not?

Nita

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by readymade

This was from 2 years ago, and she DID win (without a lawyer).

I see that now. Normally I do not respond to old threads, I just overlooked this one. I still say, normally, you do not win and if she was driving 400 miles, it sitill probably wasn't worth the time or effort, but good for her.

Nita

[Yllaria]

Originally Posted by nmnita

I still say, normally, you do not win and if she was driving 400 miles, it sitill probably wasn't worth the time or effort, but good for her.

Nita

I have to disagree. It may not be worth it in a purely monetary sense, but it is always worthwhile to fight injustice. It is apathy and feeling that it's not worth fighting that allows the behavior to continue. If every one of his tenants were to do the same, it soon wouldn't be worthwhile for him to run his apartment complexes this way.

[ferretkona]

The only reason this 2 year old thread popped up was so a one poster could post a advertising message

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Yllaria

I have to disagree. It may not be worth it in a purely monetary sense, but it is always worthwhile to fight injustice. It is apathy and feeling that it's not worth fighting that allows the behavior to continue. If every one of his tenants were to do the same, it soon wouldn't be worthwhile for him to run his apartment complexes this way.

and I agree with you on that. Sometimes principle has to win out. I still am not sure I would have fought it, but it would have depended on the number of trips plus are we talking 400 miles each way or 400 period. Anyway, good for the tenent and this thread probably, regardless of the reason not been dug up. It was, it is over and again, good for them.

Nita