Re: Old Landlord is posting illegal information

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Perhaps we should change your screen name to "Naive Young Guy." The last
time I tried one of these, the insurance company that was handling the
defense had 3 lawyers and a paralegal sitting through a 2 1/2 day trial---
each one billing by the hour. They had over $50,000 of legal expenses,
but defended "on principle." My bill was over $22,000 and the court
granted me over $14,000 of that. Before you advise the OP, are you
prepared to guarantee that the landlord is paying out of pocket and
doesn't have insurance?

On 6/22/06, Some Young Guy wrote:
> 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?