Re: Old Landlord is posting illegal information

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I agree with you that it is not Judge Judy. Do you really believe that
the defense is really going to spend the money on attorneys and pre-trial
motions over $1000 though? Any good attorney would recommend that the
landlord settle prior to trial. I would believe that the judge would be
just as irritated with the landlord for violating federal law as he would
with the OP for attempting to collect what she can for the landlord's
wrongdoing. It all depends on the judge though.

The defendant is a simple landlord who probably would be willing to
settle the case pre-trial for a reasonable amount rather than pay a
lawyer tons of money to make court difficult for the OP. I would get a
little aggressive with him. Probably the best way for the OP to settle
the issue would be to write the landlord a certified letter detailing his
violation of the FCRA and offer a settlement to avoid trial of X (I would
go for $1000 and see what happens) number of dollars with the condition
that he remove all information from OP's credit report.

There's loads of information and help here:

http://www.creditboards.com/forums
http://www.debtorboards.com

On 6/22/06, Curmudgeon wrote:
> I can appreciate your sympathy for the OP, but the defense attorneys
> and the court are gonna bury her in pre-trial procedural motions and
> rulings, discovery, epert witnesses, motions for summary judgment, a
> jury demand, preparation of jury instructions, preparation of a
> proposed judgment, etc, etc, etc. It ain't Judge Judy. You don't
> just walk in and tell the judge your story. And I can guarantee that
> no federal judge is gonna be happy about having a $1000 case taking up
> time on the docket.
>
> On 6/22/06, Some Young Guy wrote:
>> What do you mean, "assuming you can jump through enough hoops to get
>> that far in the court system." The poster can simply file a pro se
>> suit in Federal Court and let the judge decide if the landlord has
>> violated the act. I don't see any hoops needed to jump through here.
>>
>> On 6/22/06, Some Young Guy wrote:
>>> You are correct about the "up to" $1000, however, current caselaw
>>> on the subject appears that courts typically award $1000 on a
>>> regular basis (especially if it proven that the landlord was
>>> INTENTIONALLY supplying inaccurate information to harm the OP).
>>> Mitigation would be appropriate for any actual damages beyond the
>>> statutory damages, however this would NOT eliminate the OP's
>>> ability to successfully pursue the statutory damages.
>>>
>>>
>>> On 6/22/06, Curmudgeon wrote:
>>>> The statutory damages are "up to" $1000 at the court's
>>>> discretion plus any actual damages--assuming you can jump
>>>> through enough hoops to get that far in the court system. But
>>>> first, the OP needs to attempt to mitigate her damages by
>>>> disputing the information with the 3 major credit reporting
>>>> agencies and with the association that is supplying the
>>>> information. Odds are, neither the agencies nor the association
>>>> will be able to verify the information and it will be deleted.
>>>> Poof--there go the damages.
>>>>
>>>> On 6/22/06, Some Young Guy wrote:
>>>>> Actually that is not correct. If your landlord intentionally
>>>>> put false information on your credit report he/she would be
>>>>> guilty of violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act and would be
>>>>> liable for $1000 of statutory damages (or actual damages if
>>>>> this was greater). I believe this would be a good case for
>>>>> Federal Court.
>>>>>
>>>>> On 6/21/06, Curmudgeon wrote:
>>>>>> You've been evicted, filed bankruptcy, and don't know the
>>>>>> English language. How much has your character
>>>>>> been "deformed" by this?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Yes, the landlord shouldn't be listing incorrect
>>>>>> information, but the monetary value of your case is worth
>>>>>> less than the cost of the electricity I used to post this.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On 6/21/06, Lashern wrote:
>>>>>>> About three years ago, we rented a basement apartment. In
>>>>>>> this my husband lost his job and we became behind in the
>>>>>>> rent and then went to eviction court to settle the debt.
>>>>>>> We advised the judge of the amount that we owed and a
>>>>>>> judgment was entered. Well, two weeks after that the
>>>>>>> landlord try to take us to court again for the same amount
>>>>>>> at a different court. We proved that we had already went
>>>>>>> to court for the same matter and that he was falsly
>>>>>>> accusing us of damaging the apartment, We had won that
>>>>>>> case. I filed Bankruptcy last year and had the judgment
>>>>>>> discharged. I recently receieved my credit report and
>>>>>>> noticed that the landlord is tapping on to my credit
>>>>>>> report by putting the case that we won on as a judgment as
>>>>>>> well as putting false debt amounts on my credit report
>>>>>>> through a company by the name of National Ass. of
>>>>>>> Independent Landlords. Can i take him to court for
>>>>>>> deformation of character for putting false information
>>>>>>> illegally on my credit report?