Legal Question in Personal Injury in Indiana

My roommate's guest got mud on my comforter when I was not in the room, but my roommate was. My roommate admits it was her guest. The guest did not have permission to get on my comforter; she was supposed to use a ladder off to the side (we had bunked beds and I had bottom). The guest was not impaired in any way. I asked my roommate to clean, to pay for the cleaning, to suggest an alternative, and to go to mediation. She declined all of them. I did not ask the guest because I thought it was my roommate's problem. We signed a contract at the beginning of the year that said that the host is responsible for their guests and negligent behavior is the responsibility of the negligent person. Since my roommate was hosting the negligent person, I sued my roommate for the $35 cleaning and $94 court fees. My roommate's lawyer believes the guest is liable. Is the guest liable? The lawyer is also threatening to add $1500-$2000 in legal fees for this $130 case and to submit a frivolous lawsuit summary judgment. If that passes would I have to pay the $1500 for a lawyer when this case did NOT merit one? Also the lawyer said some slanderous things about me (she "heard" I was suing my former roommate because I don't like Muslims?). I have several friends to the contrary. Anything that should be done about that?


Asked on 5/06/14, 10:54 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Charles Candiano Candiano Law Office

This is a great example of a situation where the Courts are the WRONG venue to settle anything. Who spends $100 to file a lawsuit over a $30.00 cleaning bill? Moreover, we have something in this country called the "American Rule." This means that EACH party pays his own legal fees. You never had any reasonable expectation of recovering the filing fees.

If the guest was an adult, he/she was liable but this more than a little crazy over $30.00?

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Answered on 5/07/14, 5:02 am


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