Radically_Furrowed
New member
I'm a renter in Clackamas County, Oregon and I'm looking for some advice regarding the billing of legal costs and attorney's fees by my landlord and what I am legally obligated to pay. My rental agreement also has a Guarantee signed by a relative, and I'm hoping for some clarity regarding their obligations as well.
Context:
My landlord has been threatening to evict me for 11 weeks now and it appears that they have not filed any complaint as I have not been served with any court summons and there does not appear to be any pending litigation under my name in this state. They say that I/my guarantor owe them for all legal fees currently being incurred and they told my Guarantor they filed an eviction on February 1st.
What the lease says:
There is a prevailing party clause in my agreement that says “ In the event Owner/Agent has to bring an action to enforce any provisions of this Rental Agreement or the Oregon Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, the prevailing party shall be entitled to, in addition to costs, reasonable attorney's fees at trial and upon any appeal”.
What the Guarantee Agreement says:
Their “legal fee” clause is remarkably different from the clause in the tenant agreement and states, “Guarantor agrees to pay all costs and attorney's fees incurred by Owner/Agent in enforcing the Rental Agreement and/or this Agreement, at trial and on any appeal.”
What I'm trying to figure out is what is the enforceability of these clauses for both myself and my guarantor, and what is the scope or limitation, if any, to what the landlord is entitled to in regards to any legal action (including any pre-trial legal work). Primarily, what constitutes “all costs and attorney's fees” and under what circumstances are they actually owed? Must they necessarily be awarded by a court as the result of some legal action, or can the landlord legally assess the costs of merely consulting an attorney? In the event that a complaint is ever actually filed, is the landlord entitled to these costs and fees even if we settle prior to trial? Can the landlord be awarded these costs in a FED that’s uncontested?
And finally, what’s with the differences in the clauses between tenant and guarantor, specifically, why does the guarantor’s clause exclude the usage of the words “prevailing party” and how are the consequences different for the guarantor than for the tenant in the agreement? The implication here, from my rudimentary interpretation, is that the guarantor is responsible for all legal expenses regardless of the outcome of any legal trial– so in the event that I am the prevailing party or we settle, or maybe one of us prevails by default– it doesn’t matter, and landlord gets costs reimbursed from guarantor in all cases. If I am correct– is this really legally enforceable under current Oregon state law? Am I reading way too far into this?
Thanks, I appreciate you all taking the time to assist me on this and I apologize for the number of questions… If you can believe it, this version has actually been edited for brevity.
Context:
My landlord has been threatening to evict me for 11 weeks now and it appears that they have not filed any complaint as I have not been served with any court summons and there does not appear to be any pending litigation under my name in this state. They say that I/my guarantor owe them for all legal fees currently being incurred and they told my Guarantor they filed an eviction on February 1st.
What the lease says:
There is a prevailing party clause in my agreement that says “ In the event Owner/Agent has to bring an action to enforce any provisions of this Rental Agreement or the Oregon Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, the prevailing party shall be entitled to, in addition to costs, reasonable attorney's fees at trial and upon any appeal”.
What the Guarantee Agreement says:
Their “legal fee” clause is remarkably different from the clause in the tenant agreement and states, “Guarantor agrees to pay all costs and attorney's fees incurred by Owner/Agent in enforcing the Rental Agreement and/or this Agreement, at trial and on any appeal.”
What I'm trying to figure out is what is the enforceability of these clauses for both myself and my guarantor, and what is the scope or limitation, if any, to what the landlord is entitled to in regards to any legal action (including any pre-trial legal work). Primarily, what constitutes “all costs and attorney's fees” and under what circumstances are they actually owed? Must they necessarily be awarded by a court as the result of some legal action, or can the landlord legally assess the costs of merely consulting an attorney? In the event that a complaint is ever actually filed, is the landlord entitled to these costs and fees even if we settle prior to trial? Can the landlord be awarded these costs in a FED that’s uncontested?
And finally, what’s with the differences in the clauses between tenant and guarantor, specifically, why does the guarantor’s clause exclude the usage of the words “prevailing party” and how are the consequences different for the guarantor than for the tenant in the agreement? The implication here, from my rudimentary interpretation, is that the guarantor is responsible for all legal expenses regardless of the outcome of any legal trial– so in the event that I am the prevailing party or we settle, or maybe one of us prevails by default– it doesn’t matter, and landlord gets costs reimbursed from guarantor in all cases. If I am correct– is this really legally enforceable under current Oregon state law? Am I reading way too far into this?
Thanks, I appreciate you all taking the time to assist me on this and I apologize for the number of questions… If you can believe it, this version has actually been edited for brevity.