wrongful eviction

[jmh568]

My father owns a two family house with my aunt in NY state. One of our relatives lived in the basement since 1994 and he paid about $500 per month for the place. There was no lease or anything. Sometime in February this year, he started to move out but didn't tell anyone about his moving and didn't leave his new number. My aunt wasn't sure whether he would return or not and there was no way to reach him so she changed the locks to the basement. When he later returned to get his remaining belongings, my aunt would not let him in so he had to go for a court order allowing him access to the house in order to remove his belongings. So finally, in April, he was able to gain access to the house and remove his property. Now he filed a complaint on Wrongful Eviction against my aunt and my father who are the owners of the house. But my father was deceased since 1998, although his name is still on the deeds. And all these things actually happened this year and it's between my aunt and my relative. We took no part in changing the locks and refusing to let him back in the premises. Furthermore, we didn't not live there since 1994.

My questions are:
1) Should we (my mother and my sisters) be involved in this case since it's filed against my father and he is deceased?

2) How should we answer this complaint (it says we have to answer it within 20 days or we'll lose the case by default)

3) Should we get a lawyer to represent us?

 

[HomeGuru]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by jmh568:
My father owns a two family house with my aunt in NY state. One of our relatives lived in the basement since 1994 and he paid about $500 per month for the place. There was no lease or anything. Sometime in February this year, he started to move out but didn't tell anyone about his moving and didn't leave his new number. My aunt wasn't sure whether he would return or not and there was no way to reach him so she changed the locks to the basement. When he later returned to get his remaining belongings, my aunt would not let him in so he had to go for a court order allowing him access to the house in order to remove his belongings. So finally, in April, he was able to gain access to the house and remove his property. Now he filed a complaint on Wrongful Eviction against my aunt and my father who are the owners of the house. But my father was deceased since 1998, although his name is still on the deeds. And all these things actually happened this year and it's between my aunt and my relative. We took no part in changing the locks and refusing to let him back in the premises. Furthermore, we didn't not live there since 1994.

My questions are:
1) Should we (my mother and my sisters) be involved in this case since it's filed against my father and he is deceased?

2) How should we answer this complaint (it says we have to answer it within 20 days or we'll lose the case by default)

3) Should we get a lawyer to represent us?

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

1) No. The legal defendant is your aunt and the Estate of your father. Sounds like there was no probate.

2/3) You need to hire a real estate attorney to answer the complaint within the specified time period. Then have the attorney research the title to see if this is a probate matter. If it is, the attorney may have to refer you to an estate attorney. Then there will be 2 court actions going on at the same time: wrongful eviction and probate.

 

[peter]

I would say LOSE the case BY default....

Because what you did is ILLEGAL.the basement was the 3rd apartment right?

And the Certificate of occupancy says a 2 family house right?

Here in NY they do not look kindly on Illegal apartments...so pay the relative off and dont let it get to court or you might have a helll of a lot more trouble explaing why you have an Illegal apartment!

Let alone have inspectors there fining you big time for violating the law.

 

[Tracey]

I'd argue that you didn't lock him out -- he abandoned the place & L was required to change the locks to protect the safety of the building. When someone disappears for months without paying rent, takes the good stuff with him, & says nothing to anyone about where he's going or for how long, a court should have no difficulty finding that T abandoned the property. However, your father's estate representative/executor should hire an attorney to defend dad's interests. It doesn't matter that aunt did it all herself. As long as dad's name is on the deed, he or his estate can be sued. Why didn't the executor get the deed transferred by now?

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This is not legal advice and you are not my client. Double check everything with your own attorney and your state's laws.