Need HELP - Landlord cheating me for 9 months - $1800 - Rental Deposit (apartment complex, condos)

[sathyakamaraj]

Dear all,
I am living in Houston , TX. My brother in law stayed in 124 storms Ave, Jersey city, 07303 , from April 2007 - June 2007. Since my brother in law is dumb, he paid $1800 as RENTAL DEPOSIT. And He went back to india on July 2007. Landlord never gave the security deposit back to my brother in law till now. I have been asking that person, his response is horrible ( sometimes very abusive, most of time Lying , ) . Now I cant hold this any more, since its already one year.
I would like to know , Can i fight in this case behalf of my brother in law ( he is in india, he cant come for this issue from india ) ? I am not in the situation to spend any money either.
I need some idea, help, suggestions. please..
I have rental agreement, email conversations ( even with his abusive replies and lying replies like bankruptcy , wife health bla bla bla ) and Phone SMS messages

Thanks
Sathya
Houston TX

[BobKovacs]

You're not going to be able to go to court over this, since you're not on the lease. If your brother in law isn't willing to come over here and deal with it, you're pretty much out of luck- it'd cost you more than $1,800 to have him hire a lawyer to take the landlord to court for him.

[veuvegirl]

Can't the brother-in-law give him "power of attorney" to represent him in small claims court? Sue the lanlord on his brother's behalf and the lanlord has to pay the BIL?

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by veuvegirl

Can't the brother-in-law give him "power of attorney" to represent him in small claims court? Sue the lanlord on his brother's behalf and the lanlord has to pay the BIL?

I dunno- you're talking about a non- US citizen giving POA to his sister who lives out of state- that may or may not be possible. Then you've got to win in court (which sounds likely), but getting the landlord to actually pay the judgement isn't so simple. She'll spend $1800 in airfare, hotels, etc., before you know it- especially if the case gets bumped from the docket a time or two.

[NJGUIDO]

Listen, let's be real here. Just his ticket from India to the US will cost more than $1800. Forget about this, alright? Take this as a lesson learned and welcome to America.

[Roselvr]

Originally Posted by sathyakamaraj

My brother in law stayed in 124 storms Ave, Jersey city, 07303 , from April 2007 - June 2007. Since my brother in law is dumb, he paid $1800 as RENTAL DEPOSIT. And He went back to india on July 2007. Landlord never gave the security deposit back to my brother in law till now. I have been asking that person, his response is horrible ( sometimes very abusive, most of time Lying , ) . Now I cant hold this any more, since its already one year.
I would like to know , Can i fight in this case behalf of my brother in law ( he is in india, he cant come for this issue from india ) ? I am not in the situation to spend any money either.
I need some idea, help, suggestions. please..
I have rental agreement, email conversations ( even with his abusive replies and lying replies like bankruptcy , wife health bla bla bla ) and Phone SMS messages

Thanks
Sathya
Houston TX

Was there a lease? Do you have a copy?
Did your BIL break the lease?

I also have to chime in, not worth it. Attorneys are very expensive $200 per hour & up. Airfare from TX to here if you did get power of attorney wouldn't be worth it.

I just did a Zillow search of the address, it appears to be an apartment complex that they sold off the apartments, making them condos I guess. Do you have a unit #?

Sounds like he rented from the owner of the specific unit he was renting.

There is a landlord that made a post about a week ago, you might want to look at the advice in that post. Unless you can get to NJ and file everything yourself, I don't see it being cost effective unless you are lucky and the judge gives travel expenses back.

The problem is you can't get blood from a stone and if the landlord is filing bankruptcy, you can forget getting your money back.

[njkate]

Originally Posted by sathyakamaraj

Dear all,
I am living in Houston , TX. My brother in law stayed in 124 storms Ave, Jersey city, 07303 , from April 2007 - June 2007. Since my brother in law is dumb, he paid $1800 as RENTAL DEPOSIT. And He went back to india on July 2007. Landlord never gave the security deposit back to my brother in law till now. I have been asking that person, his response is horrible ( sometimes very abusive, most of time Lying , ) . Now I cant hold this any more, since its already one year.
I would like to know , Can i fight in this case behalf of my brother in law ( he is in india, he cant come for this issue from india ) ? I am not in the situation to spend any money either.
I need some idea, help, suggestions. please..
I have rental agreement, email conversations ( even with his abusive replies and lying replies like bankruptcy , wife health bla bla bla ) and Phone SMS messages

Thanks
Sathya
Houston TX

So you have received the money back?? If so what's your issue?

[MJJersey]

I agree with BobKovacs, you won't be able to represent him in court because you're not a party, and therefore don't have any standing. You're not a 3rd party beneficiary either. It sounds like you have already been trying to get the money out of him without much luck. You could threaten to sue and see if he responds. You could also see if an attorney will write a letter to him, which might scare him a little. However, that might cost you a few hundred dollars and he still might not respond. You could also try some asking some kind of law clinic or renter's rights non-profit agency.

[wileynj]

Sounds like a case for "Judge Judy" - they pay you to be on her court TV show..win or lose : )))

[dhanu86]

yaar i dont get it. Just call the police department in jersey city and explain, maybe they can do something maybe they will hang up. I wouldn't waste to much time on that.