Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Michigan

Suit Against Landlord

I am not an attorney in your jurisdiction. I would check to see if there is a statute requiring your landlord to provide you withnotice within the thirty period or suffer afinancial penalty regardless whether there was any damage. I suggest you contact an attorneyin your jurisdiction. In my state the landlordwould have to pay double the security deposit.

You seem to be on the right track.

No, I don't think there's anything you can do to rush the procedure further. Frankly, you were probablylucky to get a court date so soon.

Too bad you didn't take pictures before you left. Next time,waste a roll of film; include a local paper's front page (sothe headline is visible) in each photo and keep the page itselfwith your pictures. Small insurance to pay and very often fruitful.

Still, he'll have to come to court with pictures himself, probably, to show your damage.

By missing the deadline for paying your deposit back, he probably also missed the deadline for sending you the written list of damages, so he may have no leg to stand on in court (even if there were damages!) andyou may win almost automatically -- that's how it is in THIS state, anyway,and the court is allowed to (and here usually does) award you with up to 3 times the deposit as a warning to landlords who routinely attempt to fleece their legally-weaker ex-tenants this way.(Even if the 3 times exceeds the normal small claimscourt limits ....)

As for him suing you afterwards, that is probably not going to be allowedin your state; he must bring all his 'counterclaims' to court when he answersyour complaint, that is, to the small claims trial. He can hold them back foranother day. If he filed suit, you should answer and show the date of your suit,maybe the results, and the date of the end of the lease and that should pinch itfor you, but I don't think he'll even try.

This is one of the rare situations in which I feel that you might actually do well without a lawyer. But I warn you that if the landlord brings one, you could end up wishing you'd had one. It probably couldn't hurt to call a local legal aid society (usually free!) at least for advice if not for in-court representation.

Good luck in court. Call me on the phone for a little coaching, if you like, butlegally I cannot advise you since I'm only licensed (and qualified!) under (and in)the laws of the state of Massachusetts. So I won't hint for a percentage fee if youwin, either. Seriously, you seem to be on the right path and I hope you win.