Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
We got a small, private party loan on my mom's home in 2006. It was being rented. The loan became due in 2009 but due to the Real Estate crisis, we couldn't refinance. The lender told us he was going to work with us (the payments were being made on time) but he forclosed and sold the property before we knew what was happening. I found an attorney that told me that if we filed a suit before the deed was recorded we could stop the sale from being final. He also said that we had a case because the lender did not evict us properly. I paid him a retainer of $5K and he promised to advise me step by step of the progress and expendatures so I could replenish the retainer as we progressed versus in large chunks. I hardly heard from him, eventhough I frequently called and visited his office. I had basically given up thinking he had just stolen my money.
In April of this year he finally called to say that he needed $6K more. When I asked for an itemized breakdown of how the $5 was spent he got upset but sent out a list totaling $11,601.17. In the meantime, I had lost my job and another source of income and did not have the cash to pay him up front. He immediately filed a substitution of attorney.
I recently got a document from the court on our case, a "Notice of Ruling on Defendants...Motion to Compel". apparerntly there was a hearing on 10/18/11 and since we weren't represented, the Defendant's motion was granted and we were ordered to pay $2290.
My questions are these: Is there anything we can file or do at this point to have our side heard and to avoid having to pay this $2290, which is due on Nov. 1, 2011? Or if we can't get this decision reversed, is there a way we can make payments on the $2290?
Thank you for you advice in this matter.
Lisa B
1 Answer from Attorneys
The only way his substitution of attorney would have been valid is if you signed it. Although you do not specifically say so, it seems from the tone of your post that you just now learned of this. When he substituted out (if done validly) that made you your own attorney.
You then had the duty to respond to discovery, and see that motions were opposed, and show up to court. I can't tell the exact details from your post, but you need an attorney as soon as possible, because this sounds like something that you cannot handle on your own.
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