Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

Landlord / Tenant Dispute
Are there any resources out there for a landlord who's indigent in need of a lawyer to defend against a Breach of Contract/Warranty lawsuit??
My situation is this:
My mother left me the house in her will, and I've rented out rooms to a few friends.
When one of these friendships went sour, (friend failed to pay rent) she moved out, and filed this lawsuit.
I work part-time as a bartender, but don't have anything close to what a lawyer would want as a retainer.
I do have Home Owners Insurance,
but reluctant to tell them I have tenants.
What would be my best course of action?

Asked on 7/19/08, 10:09 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

Robert Mccoy Law Office Of Robert McCoy

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Re: Landlord / Tenant Dispute

Unfortunately, there are not any free services available for you that I know of. If you can't afford to defend a lawsuit, your best options are to do nothing or file bankruptcy. Your worst option would be to go it in pro per. If you do nothing a judgment will probably be entered and then you will have to hide your assets the rest of your life, which, if you have no assets, as you claim, would be pretty easy. Your wages could be attached, and you don't want to have a bank account, and you don't want to have a bank account in your wife's name either(because they will take it).

If you file bankruptcy the debt may be completely discharged.

If you go it in pro per, you could probably get an attorney to draft a simple general denial answer for a small fee. This will, at least buy you some time and a little negotiation leverage. But as I said before, this is probably your worst option. You could easily get yourself into a quagmire of sanctions and contempt of court rulings.

Answered on 7/19/08, 11:41 pm

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