V
VRS IN WA
Guest
What is the name of your state? Washington
I will begin with I apologize for the length of this entry but as I read these threads I notice allot of them can't be answered without all the relative details. I thank you in advance if you can give me any help with this. Taking this without trying to defend myself will be costly and is really rubbing me silly.
I appeared for trial on a landlord tenant issue on time, 9:30AM. The plaintiff and her attorney were not there yet. The court clerk was sitting there and took a call. I heard her say "no, it is the 4th". (Day of the trial) "She said just a minute" and she walked back into the Judges chambers. She came back to the phone and said "No, the trial is today and you need to show up today."
I asked her if that was the plaintiff and her Attorney. She said yes. I asked her how long we would be waiting for them. I knew that the plaintiffs trip time would be at least 45 minutes and if the Attorney was at home (workes from her home) that her trip time would be at least an hour. The clerk told me to come back at 10:15AM. I did, and naturally the others had not arrived. I asked the clerk how long we would be waiting. She replied 10:30AM. I asked her if at 10:30AM they had not appeared would that be it? She said yes. I mentioned to her at that time that I couldn't help but think that if I had been late to the trial that the Judge would have just entered a no show and a judgement against me. As you can gather I do not have an Attorney. I can't afford one. I won't bore anyone with my finance dilema. Plain & simple I am on disability.
The clerk then began to whisper to me across the room so the Judge couldn't hear and all I could catch from what she was trying to tell me was to mention this "on the record". I remained in the court room for the remaining time and was hoping of course that the other side would not show by 10:30AM. They did not and I asked the clerk "Now what?" She had to finish typing a document and then walked back to tell the Judge they had not arrived. She came back to tell me that we would be waiting until 11:00AM and they had called and were on thier way. A few minutes later at 10:43AM they walked in.
My first question (I am trying to keep this as brief as possible) is this standard procedure??? Does the court/Judge usually wait for the "late" parties? Thie seems very unprofessional and unlikely to me. I personally feel that the Judge should have dismissed the case. But that's me the defendant with no representation.
To summarize... the rest of the trial was definately prejudice. The Judge allowed the plaintiff (Landlord) to sit up there and whine about things that weren't even pertinant. She allowed thier side to ramble on until noon. Then we had to break for the Judge to attend a meeting and come back at 1:30. Then it was my turn in the hot seat. I presented proof that the Landlord had lied and as I was trying to provide the facts on my side I was basically cut off and the Judge let her Attorney REAM me about various things very non-pertinant to the case. I lost, no gain on anything I presented. The reason I fought this case is the Landlord hired me to do work at her home in exchange for rent. Didn't want to pay me what she agreed to and so bottom line was I owed her 2 months rent instead of getting the rent credit I worked for. Eviction followed our dispute.
Her Attorney wasn't prepared to enter her fees and return court date for her fees and the entry of the findings and judgement is set for 2/20. The judge said I could file an "opposition" by 2/18. What is this "Opposition"? Is it worth my time? Do I have any merit to appeal this or ask for a reconsideration? And if I do... how do I do this? I tried to find a place to research cases in my County (Pierce) and State (WA) to see if any cases had been dismissed due to no show by Attorney and plaintiff and found nothing. Should I just let this go and take whatever judgement and attorneys fees are entered? I can't pay it anyways, and have nothing to garnish or attach. Yes I know judgement will be on credit history for 7-10 years. Not happy about that either.
I will begin with I apologize for the length of this entry but as I read these threads I notice allot of them can't be answered without all the relative details. I thank you in advance if you can give me any help with this. Taking this without trying to defend myself will be costly and is really rubbing me silly.
I appeared for trial on a landlord tenant issue on time, 9:30AM. The plaintiff and her attorney were not there yet. The court clerk was sitting there and took a call. I heard her say "no, it is the 4th". (Day of the trial) "She said just a minute" and she walked back into the Judges chambers. She came back to the phone and said "No, the trial is today and you need to show up today."
I asked her if that was the plaintiff and her Attorney. She said yes. I asked her how long we would be waiting for them. I knew that the plaintiffs trip time would be at least 45 minutes and if the Attorney was at home (workes from her home) that her trip time would be at least an hour. The clerk told me to come back at 10:15AM. I did, and naturally the others had not arrived. I asked the clerk how long we would be waiting. She replied 10:30AM. I asked her if at 10:30AM they had not appeared would that be it? She said yes. I mentioned to her at that time that I couldn't help but think that if I had been late to the trial that the Judge would have just entered a no show and a judgement against me. As you can gather I do not have an Attorney. I can't afford one. I won't bore anyone with my finance dilema. Plain & simple I am on disability.
The clerk then began to whisper to me across the room so the Judge couldn't hear and all I could catch from what she was trying to tell me was to mention this "on the record". I remained in the court room for the remaining time and was hoping of course that the other side would not show by 10:30AM. They did not and I asked the clerk "Now what?" She had to finish typing a document and then walked back to tell the Judge they had not arrived. She came back to tell me that we would be waiting until 11:00AM and they had called and were on thier way. A few minutes later at 10:43AM they walked in.
My first question (I am trying to keep this as brief as possible) is this standard procedure??? Does the court/Judge usually wait for the "late" parties? Thie seems very unprofessional and unlikely to me. I personally feel that the Judge should have dismissed the case. But that's me the defendant with no representation.
To summarize... the rest of the trial was definately prejudice. The Judge allowed the plaintiff (Landlord) to sit up there and whine about things that weren't even pertinant. She allowed thier side to ramble on until noon. Then we had to break for the Judge to attend a meeting and come back at 1:30. Then it was my turn in the hot seat. I presented proof that the Landlord had lied and as I was trying to provide the facts on my side I was basically cut off and the Judge let her Attorney REAM me about various things very non-pertinant to the case. I lost, no gain on anything I presented. The reason I fought this case is the Landlord hired me to do work at her home in exchange for rent. Didn't want to pay me what she agreed to and so bottom line was I owed her 2 months rent instead of getting the rent credit I worked for. Eviction followed our dispute.
Her Attorney wasn't prepared to enter her fees and return court date for her fees and the entry of the findings and judgement is set for 2/20. The judge said I could file an "opposition" by 2/18. What is this "Opposition"? Is it worth my time? Do I have any merit to appeal this or ask for a reconsideration? And if I do... how do I do this? I tried to find a place to research cases in my County (Pierce) and State (WA) to see if any cases had been dismissed due to no show by Attorney and plaintiff and found nothing. Should I just let this go and take whatever judgement and attorneys fees are entered? I can't pay it anyways, and have nothing to garnish or attach. Yes I know judgement will be on credit history for 7-10 years. Not happy about that either.