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Thursday, January 24, 2008


"The Wheels of the Law Revisited"

Today I went to court. And it was quite an adventure. For those of you new to my blog, or those of you who haven't been around since summer, here's the backstory:

My landlord has a friend whom he's known since he was young. For 22 years, that friend lived in an old apartment building in downtown Milwaukee -- a large four-floor residential structure built in the 1930's containing around 50 apartments.

Recently, this friend moved out of that location, and into the nicer apartments that I currently live in across town. However, when he moved, his former landlord (aka, the big real estate company that owned the building) decided to take advantage of him, and make his move a nightmare. This came in the form of fraudulent charges, inaccurate rental claims, cleaning fees, broken repair promises, flared tempers, etc. The building manager even chose to fabricate excuses to hide the truth.

Since the real estate company, and my landlord's friend were not on good terms, I was asked to become a third party (unfamiliar to the manager/owners) and help build a case for the defense.

So, back in July, I was asked to inquire of any open apartments in that building, and see if I could take a look at the unit my landlord's friend had vacated. I was instructed to be curious (as a prospective new tenant would be), take subtle notes of the condition I saw things in, and ask a few specific questions -- questions designed to clarify the manager's conflicting statements.

As it turned out, the mission went off without a hitch, the manager was unaware of my under-cover operation, and I acquired answers that incriminated the real estate company. I returned with my findings, reported them as asked, and prepared to serve as a witness in court.

A few days later, we (my landlord, his friend, and myself) arrived at the massive Milwaukee court house, and were ready to plead our case. However, the owners chose to stall the proceedings with an adjournment (aka, they legally postponed it until a later date). And they did this two more times until today -- our fourth appearance at the courthouse.

So, here we were, the three of us back in court ready to go. This time, though, one of the owners, as well as his lawyer were there in attendance. The judge/commissioner got things started, everyone was sworn in, and the testimony began. At first things didn't look good. The owner's lawyer had the upper hand, and our well-prepared defense seemed rather shaky and weak. But after it came time for my testimony, things started to look up. I put a kink into the company's claims (and might have even blown the whistle on some under-the-table dealings by the building manager). With further testimony similar to my own, the tables had been turned.

In the end, the judge's ruling was in our favor. My landlord's friend was still bound to pay a bit of unpaid rent (which was anticipated from the start), but ALL of the real estate company's other thousand dollar claims -- fraudulent rent fees, sneaky damage charges, cleaning claims, move-out charges, fabricated repair charges -- were voided. Had I not been there to give testimony, my landlord's friend would have been up a creek without a paddle. And he might have lost the case.

It's a really nice feeling having been part of a victory like this. Granted, other than serving as a witness, I myself had nothing to do with the case itself. But I was an integral peg that allowed the truth to prevail, and I consider that to be quite satisfying.

As I understand it, there are still a few matters my landlord's friend has to deal with, but for me, the case is over. I went undercover, I acquired the necessary facts, and I shared them in court. I was honest, I gained a little first-hand experience with the legal system, and, dare I say, I had fun. It was an adventure, and as those who know me well can attest,... I do enjoy a good adventure.

I just hope the rest of this case comes to a swift end, and if the building manager did engage in under-the-table practices, he's dealt with accordingly.

-Jon

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Jon Baas

Blogging Since 2002!
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