who can help me?? - Landlord Forum thread 217328

Second of all, if you have no money, they will not sue you. Get a shoe box.

Third of all, if you have equity in your deplex, you need to take it out and either hide it or hire a lawyer. If you have a mortgage, you can quit paying now.

Fourth of all, you have social security which they cannot touch.

Fifth of all, even an inept defense should be able to hold off any lawsuit for a long time. Learn the law and defend yourself.

Have you seen the actual medical test results that show the children have lead in their system?

I would not sign anything. I would limit contact with these tenants as much as possible. Are these current tenants? Do not renew the lease and get them out.

If these tenants actually do have the gumption to sue you - which they may not - I would contact elder services, legal aid, and every attorney in the book from A to Z until I found someone to take the case.

1) I would ignore their letter demanding you transfer ownership this week, and wait for them to file an action against you in court. Odds are this is a scam, and most legal threats never pan out, especially when the threatener has to start coughing up for legal fees.

2) If you built the place starting in 1977, I doubt there would be lead paint, but you could take some paint chips in to be tested.

3) Did you have a lead paint disclosure as part of your lease package? If so, you should not have a problem, but check with other landlords about the rules in your area.

4) If there is lead paint, get the tenants out (put them into a motel), strip all the paint down to the wood, and repaint. Preferably before they can do their own lead testing.

5) Just because a kid has slightly elevated lead levels does not mean he is permanently harmed, or even that the lead came from your residence. In my area there is lead in the water, so people who drink tap water have slightly elevated lead levels.

6) Even if this does end up going to court, you can drag this out for a long, long time. Represent yourself, ask for all kinds of things (tests on the kids, exhaustive depositions, etc.), delays in the action, stretch this thing out. You're 75, it could be years before there is a decision against you. And if you go slowly, and show you will fight this thing, it is more likely that they will want to settle with you for whatever they can get.

7) Talk to a local attorney about how you can take steps now, before an action is filed, to make your assets creditor resistent.

Landlording can be a rough game, with tenants constantly trying to scam you. Be tough, and show them you won't roll over for this.

We all thank you for your nice help here for the poor Larry, and this is really the kind of assistant he needs right now. All we landlords thank you! Regarding the case of a lady landlord who just lost $400,000 to the tenants, do you have any idea why the judgment came out quickly when in fact the tenants were only lived there shortly in 2008? Thank you!