I Was Evicted on the Day Before Thanksgiving!
~~~ They Couldn't Even Allow us Thanksgiving Weekend to Pack Up
and Get Our Stuff Out?
It's not as if they were going to be in the office or anything.
(It's all about revenge.)
Copyright Bobbie Peachey, click for link.
In August of 2010, I filed a small claims lawsuit against my landlord. They had offered me $150 bonus for signing a lease renewal in advance. I didn't really want to sign it, because I'd like to leave. I've been living at the place for nine years, and the present landlord --- unlike the previous one --- is very nasty.
I've never even paid the rent late, in all the nine years I'd been there. Never complained about anyone --- even though they do annoy me --- and nobody ever complained about me, either.
They filed an eviction claim against me. It was all based on nothing except retaliation against me for filing a small claims action against them. Retaliation is prohibited by statute here in my state, but they had an untrue, fraudulent story all planned in advance. The judge believed it, unfortunately.
Very few questions asked.
Maybe one or two, and those were calculated to make the real estate company look good.
I've never even paid the rent late, in all the nine years I'd been there. Never complained about anyone --- even though they do annoy me --- and nobody ever complained about me, either.
They filed an eviction claim against me. It was all based on nothing except retaliation against me for filing a small claims action against them. Retaliation is prohibited by statute here in my state, but they had an untrue, fraudulent story all planned in advance. The judge believed it, unfortunately.
Very few questions asked.
Maybe one or two, and those were calculated to make the real estate company look good.
I represented myself, without an attorney. I knew I had done nothing wrong, so I had nothing to fear. I have nothing to fear now, either.
Unfortunately, though, sociopaths delight in causing harm. Might is right. (I'm not sure that courts don't prefer it that way? But, I digress.) I was ready to go to court and tell the truth and get everything squared away. There must be some weird misunderstanding, I figured. That didn't surprise me. The folks at Valley View are very incompetent, disorganized, unintelligent and lacking in proper business sense. Their attorney was even more so --- judging by what I could not avoid overhearing in that waiting room. (See below, next to the picture of the kitty on the couch.) I was really unprepared for straight-up, bold, brash, unadorned lies in court, under oath. The macabre thing was --- They knew that I knew they were lying. The still didn't care. They thought it was funny. They were laughing ---- again. I have a psychological/psychiatric disability. They told the county housing authority that I refused to sign a new lease, but THEY were the ones who refused to sign a new lease --- and it was based on retaliation for my small claims action. That is illegal in Wisconsin. Section 8 is a federal program, but it's administered through the local counties. I requested an informal hearing --- which I am entitled to --- but the county scheduled it without notifying me. Then, they went ahead and held the hearing without me. They claim it's my fault I missed the hearing because I "chose" not to check my email at the public library. They didn't even bother to send me a notice via regular, USPS mail. I had notified them of my new address at "General Delivery". (Although they could have at least sent something to my old address. They didn't even do that. Why not?) (Continued next column, top --->) |
So far, the county has refused to give me another hearing. I've had my Section 8 Voucher for eighteen years, since my son was a toddler (He's in his second year of college now.). I've never broken the rules of the Section 8 program, never, not once in all that time.
(I do intend to do what I can to get my informal hearing, at least.I may have to end up going to federal court, but of course, that's difficult and scary --- again. I just hate it when landlords and bureaucrats try to take advantage of poor folks. They think they can get away with it because there's nothing we can do to fight back. We can't afford attorneys, and the free legal help from Legal Services is worse than no attorney at all --- at least where I live.) 704.45, Wis. Stats. - Prohibition against Retaliation by Landlord
704.45 Retaliatory conduct in residential tenancies prohibited. (1) Except as provided in sub. (2), a landlord in a residential tenancy may not increase rent, decrease services, bring an action for possession of the premises, refuse to renew a lease or threaten any of the foregoing, if there is a preponderance of evidence that the action or inaction would not occur but for the landlord's retaliation against the tenant for doing any of the following: (a) Making a good faith complaint about a defect in the premises to an elected public official or a local housing code enforcement agency. (b) Complaining to the landlord about a violation of s. 704.07 or a local housing code applicable to the premises. (c) Exercising a legal right relating to residential tenancies. (2) Notwithstanding sub. (1), a landlord may bring an action for possession of the premises if the tenant has not paid rent other than a rent increase prohibited by sub. (1). (3) This section does not apply to complaints made about defects in the premises caused by the negligence or improper use of the tenant who is affected by the action or inaction.
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When I went to the preliminary hearing for the "eviction" trial, I had to sit in the waiting room for about an hour while the two real estate ladies (my landladies) and their attorney giggled about their drunkenness. I tried to keep turning up my headphones, so that I wouldn't have to listen to their insane giggling.
There was a blind lady there, a family who couldn't speak English, a couple with kids --- all defendants in different eviction hearings. I don't think any of them had attorneys. Yet, the one attorney was representing landlords. I don't know if it was different landlords, or these people all had the same landlord as me. Either way --- same attorney.
There was a blind lady there, a family who couldn't speak English, a couple with kids --- all defendants in different eviction hearings. I don't think any of them had attorneys. Yet, the one attorney was representing landlords. I don't know if it was different landlords, or these people all had the same landlord as me. Either way --- same attorney.
I was so scared I thought my heart was going to pop out.
I've been so scared of these people since 2008. Back then, the one landlady followed me to the bus stop. She refused to leave me alone. It was as if there were a magnet on me and she were an iron filing or something. I said I'd call the cops if she didn't leave me alone. She said, "Go ahead." I did call the cops, and they told her to leave me alone.
You may be wondering why a landlady would do such a thing. For the answer to that question --- see my hub, The Day I Called the Cops on My Apartment Manager.
I've been so scared of these people since 2008. Back then, the one landlady followed me to the bus stop. She refused to leave me alone. It was as if there were a magnet on me and she were an iron filing or something. I said I'd call the cops if she didn't leave me alone. She said, "Go ahead." I did call the cops, and they told her to leave me alone.
You may be wondering why a landlady would do such a thing. For the answer to that question --- see my hub, The Day I Called the Cops on My Apartment Manager.