Landlords and Tenants Lawyers

[Thomas S.]

To begin I will say that if you operate in a State that requires that Landlords always be represented by a Lawyer none of my experiences or practices may apply. In our jurisdiction Landlords are not required to have legal representation at landlord tenant hearings or in small claims court. I do not use lawyers and regularly attend hearings and had tenants take me to small claims court. Tenants are almost always represented by legal aid lawyers.

I have over the years received many letters from tenants lawyers. All were what I classified as being from bad tenants. A good tenant has never had their lawyer send me a letter.

The most often used lawyers were "legal aid lawyers" which are provided free to welfare recipients.

I have been threatened with legal action for a wide range of things from harassment, discrimination, improper maintenance of property, even striking a tenant with my vehicle. All lawyers letters suggested further action would be taken if my actions continued. Some went so far as to advised I was no longer to have personal contact with their client. All were lawyers following their clients instructions to attempt to intimidate their landlord.

To be fair I know my rights and my tenants rights intimately. I also know the law in regards to these types of issues and I am very familiar with how lawyers operate.

I have never responded to a lawyers letter and have never altered or modified how I dealt with their client or any other tenant I have. In essence I ignore their attempt at intimidation, make note of this behaviour on the part of the tenant and continue to carry on my business.

To be honest personal or family lawyers have zero knowledge of the Landlord/tenant regulations and honestly do not care to be involved. Welfare lawyers on the other hand live in that world.

Until I receive a summons to small claims court or a Landlord tenant board hearing notice Lawyers are little more than something I simply need to take note of for future reference. Their job is to inform and intimidate nothing more until they are directed to take action by their client.

Most lawyers letters are intended solely to appease their client. Lawyers may disagree but that has been my personal experience having received more than two dozen lawyers letters over the years.

When the situation is elevated through our LTB or small claims court that is the time to take care of business. No action on the part of a landlord is required prior to that and landlords should never respond to a lawyers letters. They do not require or expect a response as the purpose of the letter is solely to intimidate or inform. 

[Matthew Kreitzer]

Originally posted by @Thomas S.:

Provide us some examples of demand letters and indicate how a landlord or their lawyer would respond. Or show how not responding to intimidation letters is a path to destruction.

I have twice been instructed to not communicate with their client. Those were not backed up by any court orders and any lawyer knows that simply asking someone not to speak to their client is without legal support. Landlords talk to their tenants when necessary but normally as little as possible. To suggest that when a tenant violates a lease that a landlord should speak to the tenants lawyer is humorous at best.  

Up my way the law is very complicated and those that understand landlord tenant regulations are few and far between except the legal aid lawyers. I deal with the same legal aid lawyer on a regular bases at board hearings and refer to him by his first name, he finds my familiarity  extremely irritating which is why I do it. Lawyers are people just like us.

Contrary to most landlords I know my business and I know the law and a letter from a lawyer is just that a letter making demands, or requests, passing information etc. Absolutely nothing in it suggests I call my lawyer, respond or otherwise throw up a wall and make ready for war.

There letters have never required me to response or behave differently than any normal landlord in managing a property or tenant. A landlord should never operate in fear of any tenant. Surprisingly being a landlord, knowing landlord and tenant rights and dealing with tenants or their lawyers is NOT ROCKET SCIENCE.  

A)  I am not allowed to provide you with sample demand letters. I am not allowed to provide anyone with standard forms that are used in the course of litigation. If I do, my state bar could infer that I was providing legal advice and creating an attorney client relationship. I could be liable for anyone using such forms in the course of their dealings. In addition to that, I could be brought up on ethics charges in any state where I am not licensed to practice and my forms are used. Therefore, no, I cannot and will not provide standard forms on this website.

B) I am not saying a landlord should necessarily speak with the tenant. I am saying that a landlord should retain counsel, who should then speak on your behalf to opposing counsel based on the allegations and inferences. Failure to keep an attorney updated on the status of a case could lead to two of the scenarios that I proposed earlier; either an ill-prepared attorney when you do get one of those cases that goes to trial, or an attorney who is unable to adequately represent you at negotiation because they do not have all information.

C) Many laymen think they "know the law". Many laymen probably have some passing familiarity with whatever their local statutes say. However, passing familiarity with the strict language of one particular statute is not the same as knowing the law. Lawyers have a holistic education when it comes to the law. They don't only know the landlord/tenant rules better than the average layman, they also know the general rules related to Bankruptcy, Creditor's Rights, Estate Planning, Fraudulent Conveyance, and any number of other ancillary practice areas that touch on landlord/tenant. The law is not insular. One does not "know the law" because they know what the notice requirements are under their local landlord/tenant act. Hubris is the path to ruin in the legal field.

D) You absolutely need to provide a copy of a demand letter to a lawyer. Why? There are any number of things a demand letter, ill-drafted or not, can impact. For one, it may be grounds for sanctions depending on local rules if it is an ill-drafted demand. For second, it gives the other lawyer an insight into their litigation strategy, so they can prepare appropriate case law and citations should it go to court. Failure to notify an attorney of the contents of a demand letter would mean they do not have adequate time to prepare and research all the salient legal points, and could be caught off guard at court.

E) No, you are right, most demand letters do not require a person to respond. I never said they did. I said it is absolutely *prudent*, in my state, to bring them to the attention of your lawyer. Not to respond, but to adequately prepare for pending litigation. 

F) I would reiterate. You do not "know the law". You know some of the law, and that partial knowledge could harm you if you get a truly powerful opposing counsel down the line. Please, educate me on some of the following most basic legal defenses, how you can get around them, and what you should do to prepare for them;

1) What is laches?

2) What is unclean hands?

3) What does it mean to fail to mitigate?

4) How does failing to mitigate effect your ability to claim damages?

5) What is unconscionability?

6) How many forms of unconscionability are there?

7) How does one combat uncionscionability?

8) What is premises liability?

9) What is an automatic stay?

10) What are the damages a litigant can face for failing to listen to an automatic stay?

11) What is champerty?

12) How would champerty apply to a landlord/tenant case?

13) What makes a contract void ab initio?

14) What makes a contract voidable?

I could probably keep going. That isn't the point. The fact of the matter is if you face legal action, get an attorney.

Disclaimer: I incorporate herein by reference all prior disclaimers.