What is the name of your state? AR
Help please, I was taking an ex-tenant to sml claims for extensive intentional damagesthey caused to an apartment they rented from me. It was a family and I am suing the dad only because he is the only one with a job to collect from. He is in turn counter-sueing me. He has acquired an attorney (through a free legal service) to dismiss it from sml claims to civil. This is just getting more weird every day. I have witnesses and much evidence that they did the damages and don't know where they think they have a leg to stand on in a counter suit. My questions are: Does civil court have the same $ amount cap as small claims court does, ($5,000 in AR) and just because they have an attorney do I need to get one. They did the most intentional damage that a tenant has ever done to one of my apartments in the ten years I have had them. They distroyed everything they could from the flooring, walls, appliances and even the commode. They even tried to set the place on fire by setting papers on fire in the back of the refridgerator. I have all of this documented with pictures, witnesses( the painter and the appliance repair man who verified the damages)and a police report. Again, I don't know how they can say they didn't do the damages or how an attorney can stand up in a court and try to defend what they have done. I am just at a total loss with the judicial system. They are countersuing me for more than I was suing them for. Their case states: wrongful eviction (I never evicted them, they left on their own) deffimation of charactor (don't have a clue about that one) and they state that all the damages done were there when they moved in and I just refused to fix anything. (they were there for 3 1/2 years) If the damages were done when they moved in they would have no stove( the burners were burned up) garbage disposal, they burned that up too. No fridge, no commode and they also burned up the entire kitchen counter by sitting something real hot on it to the point of melting it in big sections.
the entire carpet had to be ripped out to even get in the place to work. they wrote all over the entire apartment walls in black permanent markers. and the smoke caused by burning the fridge (they poked holes in the lines so the chemicals would burn) left black oily soot on everything and it took two coats of kilz, two coats of interior and a mixture of exterior and interior paint to finally cover the soot and writings with the markers. Their attorney is actually planning on standing up in a court and defending these people !!!???!!!
Please help me with any advice at all. Thank you.
Help please, I was taking an ex-tenant to sml claims for extensive intentional damagesthey caused to an apartment they rented from me. It was a family and I am suing the dad only because he is the only one with a job to collect from. He is in turn counter-sueing me. He has acquired an attorney (through a free legal service) to dismiss it from sml claims to civil. This is just getting more weird every day. I have witnesses and much evidence that they did the damages and don't know where they think they have a leg to stand on in a counter suit. My questions are: Does civil court have the same $ amount cap as small claims court does, ($5,000 in AR) and just because they have an attorney do I need to get one. They did the most intentional damage that a tenant has ever done to one of my apartments in the ten years I have had them. They distroyed everything they could from the flooring, walls, appliances and even the commode. They even tried to set the place on fire by setting papers on fire in the back of the refridgerator. I have all of this documented with pictures, witnesses( the painter and the appliance repair man who verified the damages)and a police report. Again, I don't know how they can say they didn't do the damages or how an attorney can stand up in a court and try to defend what they have done. I am just at a total loss with the judicial system. They are countersuing me for more than I was suing them for. Their case states: wrongful eviction (I never evicted them, they left on their own) deffimation of charactor (don't have a clue about that one) and they state that all the damages done were there when they moved in and I just refused to fix anything. (they were there for 3 1/2 years) If the damages were done when they moved in they would have no stove( the burners were burned up) garbage disposal, they burned that up too. No fridge, no commode and they also burned up the entire kitchen counter by sitting something real hot on it to the point of melting it in big sections.
the entire carpet had to be ripped out to even get in the place to work. they wrote all over the entire apartment walls in black permanent markers. and the smoke caused by burning the fridge (they poked holes in the lines so the chemicals would burn) left black oily soot on everything and it took two coats of kilz, two coats of interior and a mixture of exterior and interior paint to finally cover the soot and writings with the markers. Their attorney is actually planning on standing up in a court and defending these people !!!???!!!
Please help me with any advice at all. Thank you.