appeal small claim

[robert ray]

Washington. Oct 23rd I was in small claims court and had a counter claim for a $1900 deposit. We lost $700 of it in damages. I feel I was ambushed with the damages. We moved out june 30 2001 and did not receive any statments from the landlord. I had a video of the house the landlord had pictures. The judge could not veiw the video. The judge said it was my responsiblity to show up to the walk thru. I believe the landlord had the responsibilty to send me the statement. Can I appeal his decision?

 

[Cvillecpm]

Yes, however, you would need an attorney to take it to the next highest court.

Tenants often "outsmart" themselves with video tapes, etc. Unless the judge takes the time to view the video with both parties - very, very rare - then the tenant with tape is trumped by the landlord with pictures.

Call court where the hearing was held and ask for your appeal rights. Realize that it will be trial "de novo" meaning a whole new trial so you could loose even more money.

Good luck

 

[happy&lucky]

Most Audio/Video commercial rental places (in the Yellow pages) would have rented you a 13" Color TV with a VCR bult in for probably $25 a day...then the judge would have no excuses not to view the tape all you would need is an AC outlet...(and some even run on internal batteries!)

If the judge refused then you would have a good case to persue.