Re: Eviction suit - Appeal and Settlement


"David Martel" <marte005@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:4qQng.1480$NP4.1106@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
napper,

Ok, your landlord filed for eviction, the court agreed, and you are
filing an appeal. Do you understand what can be appealed? You can not go
to
the appeals court with the argument that you did a lousy job in the first
trial, so you deserve another chance. You can appeal for mistakes in law
or
procedure. So what is your appeal? The points that you raise in your post
are not going to get you an appeal hearing.
You have had your day in court and should be planning on your new
dwelling. Find an apartment and move. Your offer to settle the case is
silly
since you lost the case.
I'm not sure of the filing fee question.

Good luck,
Dave M.


It's going to be a new trial. The JP Court hearing was a joke. And I don't
think
the JP is a reasonable person. It might have something to do with the
pro-landlord
climate in Texas.

my arguments for appeal:

(1). my landlord has been holding an extra month's rent this entire time (3
years).
so he shouldn't be charging late fees for an unprocessed check and file for
eviction
when I refused to pay.

(2) my landlord didn't present the allegedly unprocessed check when
demanding
late fees ($175) and returned check fee ($25), despite my repeated requests.

(3) my landlord failed to explain or justify the long delay of notice (April
18) and
hence the late fees.

(4) my landlord failed to establish responsibility. he couldn't explain what
"Unable
To Locate" means regarding the unprocessed check. when manager called to
claim
that routing/account numbers were not properly printed, she wouldn't let me
inspect
the check. her excuse - she was sick, so she couldn't come to office.

(5) there were sufficient funds in my checking account. all fields that were
supposed
to be filled out were properly filled out. therefore if manager accepted the
check and
deposited it (obviously not finding any problem), then they don't have a
solid reason
to blame me afterwards. I contend that the "returned check" clause in the
lease is not
meant to be absolute. besides, this is not an "insufficient fund" check, as
"returned check"
is normally taken mean.

(6) the late fee (not including returned check fee) amounts to 45% of
monthly rental.
To my knowledge, late fees should NOT be over 25% of monthly rental, even
though
there are no specific rules in Texas. ( a few years ago, NJ Supreme Court
turned
down a 25% late fee in a rental dispute. I know that's New Jersey, but I
think the
standard (percentage-wise) should be rather similar across the country.)
the Courts have the authority to declare the late fee provisions in the
lease void if
the amount derived is unreasonable and/or unconscionable.

there are a couple more arguments but I think the above should suffice
(assuming the
judge assigned to the case is reasonable).

I'm thinking about requesting a jury trial. I haven't decided yet.


.

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