statue of limitations question and the law

[sn95_311]

need a legal beagle or someone who is familiar with the law

so here is the scoop , had court this morning for an apartment I lived in almost 7 years ago ( will be 7 years in sept ) , this apt came after me about a year after I moved out of there place for a rent issue ( 1 month rent dispute of 555 bucks ) and ended up charging me 1600 and got the payment due to a default in witch they were mailing my info and court papers to the wrong address so I ended up missing court and the judge issued a judgment and garnished my pay


fast forward to this Halloween when the sheriff knocked on my door and gave me papers for this apartment and now there suing me for damages 1600dollars , ( keep in mind that ive never gotten any notice since the last time they went after me for the rent issue ) almost 7 years ago ( Michigan state law says statue of limitations expires in 6 years for a rental issue ) ,.., so this morning I have court , go to court and I get shown pictures of the place ( 99% of issues were normal ware and tare or were marked on our move in check list already when we moved in ) , these pictures had 0 time or date stamp on them so I mention to the judge that without a time or date stamp who is to say these pictures wernt taken yesterday and that this was even my damage ( well apparently to him even modern day cameras don't have a time or date stamp feature ) , so that got thrown out .,. I also bring up to the judge and show him a copy on MI state law statue of limitations for this type of issue witch is 6 years ( well because they are actively trying to contact me VIA an old address I lived in 8 years ago , that doesn't matter ) ,., I also bring up the fact that ive currently been in my house now for almost 5 years and and that cell phone numbers and home addresses are public information so why are they still sending info to an old address that I clearly don't live in anymore when all this info is so easily available ( don't matter either ) ,., I also bring up the fact that there was someone else on the lease and why arnt you going after her as well ( basically because im the dumb ass who showed up it falls on me ) ............... boom I get hit with another 1600 dollar bill

I went in there with absolute perfect attire on as well ( dress shoes , dress pants and a dress short sleeve button up shirt ) I catch hell because my dress shirt was to ( hip ) , I said sir the paperwork says proper attire , doesn't say anything about suit and tie or else that's what I would be wearing ........ meanwhile thug life sitting next to me gets off wearing a polo shirt , shorts and a hat ......... also went to court well prepared with a folder and all my proof I should have needed to be a cut and dry case


how the fuck is this possible ware a judge can just throw out the law ? or am I misunderstanding the law ?

[BigWheelinBubba]

They have a judgment which is good for 10 years and renewable for another 10. Figure out some way to fix it before they come after any titled property that's in your name.

[mustangmike6996]

I thought you had to be served paperwork or subpoenaed/first class mail with signature for any court hearing information.

[CruisnCobra]

If the damages were supposed to come out of the security deposit, the landlord has 30 days to notify you with an itemized list of damages. If not, then he cannot keep the deposit. Not sure of what the law states above and beyond that though or if it was somehow tied into the other payment that you owed. Below is the link to the MI law about it (Section 554.909). Not sure if this helps at all or not.

http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(ro5...ct-348-of-1972

[sn95_311]

They have a judgment which is good for 10 years and renewable for another 10. Figure out some way to fix it before they come after any titled property that's in your name.

but the judgment was just filed in September statue of limitations expired 4-5 months prior to them getting the judgment , wouldn't that have over rode the judgment ?


regardless its being settled for 250 a month , just kinda confused on the matter and why all my info given got tossed out the window , seemed like I had a pretty cut and dry case

[sn95_311]

I thought you had to be served paperwork or subpoenaed/first class mail with signature for any court hearing information.

sherriff knocked on my door and served me on Halloween

[Zarken]

Damn that sucks. They got you twice. First via the garnish and then again for possible damages.

If you really wanted to do something other than pay them, you should get a lawyer. Find out if other previous renters have had similar issues to yours. Meaning long term handling of damage claims. They could be running a scam and know how to work the system to their advantage. Wouldn't be the first nor last time.

FWIW : When I go into an apartment, I video and document via image. I then give them a notarized write up of damages with images along with a fix it list. It costs a few bucks up front, but man does it make life easier when you leave.

Had one place say I stole the washer and dryer from the apartment as they saw me leaving with the units. But they were not aware that the previous owners of the complex before they took it over did not supply units to people. You had to bring your own. It was easily remedied. They lost their paper work copy from my original lease, but I had mine with signed and dated images. They apologized and walked away.

[mustangmike6996]

Damn that sucks. They got you twice. First via the garnish and then again for possible damages.

If you really wanted to do something other than pay them, you should get a lawyer. Find out if other previous renters have had similar issues to yours. Meaning long term handling of damage claims. They could be running a scam and know how to work the system to their advantage. Wouldn't be the first nor last time.

FWIW : When I go into an apartment, I video and document via image. I then give them a notarized write up of damages with images along with a fix it list. It costs a few bucks up front, but man does it make life easier when you leave.

Had one place say I stole the washer and dryer from the apartment as they saw me leaving with the units. But they were not aware that the previous owners of the complex before they took it over did not supply units to people. You had to bring your own. It was easily remedied. They lost their paper work copy from my original lease, but I had mine with signed and dated images. They apologized and walked away.

This is VERY common.....

I was renting at a place in NC when I was in the USMC. I was probably one of the property management's best renters, always paid on time, took care of the lawn (trimmed the bushes etc), paid a lot of attention to my house when cleaning it each week.

Well, one of the stipulations is to have a company come out an scrub the carpet, $125 for the company they recommend and will stand by or $80 from the JoeSchmo who, if fails the move out inspection, you are hit with the rescrub fee of $125. Same thing with the move out cleaning... but that was $400. That was a scam but there wasnt much I could do.

So I move out and come back to MI.... wait 30 days and get my security deposit back. It shouldve been $750 but we got something like $300. Charged for some random BS and they said our storm door was missing its screen so it was $200 to make one. We ended up fighting it and fighting it VERY hard but won. We till got boned on the other $100ish tho, some drywall repair in the garage (which the company damaged when replacing a water heater while I was deployed...... )

I asked the property management company how long the screen had been missing and how many prior tenants were charged for the missing screen and that shut them up right away.

I was in a military town where most renters stayed for 1 lease term/1 yr then moved. So think about it this way, that $200 per year per unit (they had over 1000 units)

Some people just pay and write it off (like it did with the drywall repair) and others fight it and win (also like it did with the screen), luckily they were descent with us.

[DetroitStyle]

Not related to your case, but as far as judges just ignoring the law...

I got a ticket on my motorcycle many years ago in Warren for not having the visor down on my helmet. Now, the law states:

use shatterproof goggles, a face shield or a windshield to protect your eyes when travelling at speeds greater than 35mph

I brought in a picture of my motorcycle and my registration showing it was a 2001 GSX-R 1000:


Me: "according to the law, I needed goggles, a face shield OR a windshield. You can see that I have a windshield on my motorcycle."
Judge: "That's not what they mean."
Me: "There are no minimum dimensions required as the law is written. If I walked into a dealership and asked for a windshield for my motorcycle everybody would know exactly what I meant. I have complied with the law it is written."
Judge: "Well, that's still not what they meant. I find you responsible for the ticket given. If you don't like it, don't ride your motorcycle in Warren."

I was fucking livid and replied with

Me: "Well, let's just say you'll never CATCH me in Warren again. Emphasis on CATCH."
Judge: "And what does that mean?"
Me: "If you don't like it, don't try to pull me over in Warren again."
Judge: "You're very close to being held in contempt of court."

I walked out. I paid my ticket. A few months later I took a trophy from that cop that I still have. That's all I'm going to say about that.

[wikdsvt]

If the damages were supposed to come out of the security deposit, the landlord has 30 days to notify you with an itemized list of damages. If not, then he cannot keep the deposit. Not sure of what the law states above and beyond that though or if it was somehow tied into the other payment that you owed. Below is the link to the MI law about it (Section 554.909). Not sure if this helps at all or not.

http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(ro5...ct-348-of-1972

This.

Landlords have a VERY short time frame in which to being a lawsuit. They MUST give you an itemized statement of damages within a short time of vacancy. There are limits as to what they can use the security deposit for.

Isn't some guy on here a supporting vendor ATTORNEY? where are his comments?