take my property management to small claim court or get a lawyer

[Charles D.]

My property management charged me and I paid about $12,000 maintenance on about $800 sq feet house in Tacoma Washington after the previous tenant moved out. They inspected the house and signed it off and charged me about $12,000 overpriced maintenance works. My wife flew up there from California and took lots of pictures that the works and the actually lies about it. They recently tried to clean a backup of a toilet and they drill 3 holes in the iron pipes which is unnecessary according to 3 visits from 3 separate plumbers my wife met up there. They both told her that the property management tried to get your money. Now it will cause me $750 for each holes to fix them from 3 different quotes. Also, my wife just found out that the previous tenant drilled 8 holes in the attic on the walls doing Marijuana. My wife called the police in Tacoma and she has police report. If I sue the management, it will cost lots of money. If I go through small claim court, which I can file online for $50 fee. Is it a better choice than hiring a lawyer? What are the pro and cons of file a small claim court. Thanks for any suggestions.

[Nik Moushon]

get a lawyer. you dont know the first thing about fighting a company in court (most ppl dont). and if they have done this large amount of fraud to you that means they have done it before and more than likely have been to small claims court before and know how to work it. You will probably get maybe half of it back from them because the court will make you prove every penny that you say is fraud. Do you have that kind of time and expertise to do the correct research and paper filing in the courts? Most ppl dont have that kind of time, especially when you live out of state, and most certainly dont have the experience. Seriously, you will be lucky to get back half that amount if you do this yourself. 

Plus if you get a lawyer and take them to court you can also sue for damages and fees. Plus getting a lawyer makes you look more serious to them than just getting served a paper for SCC. Odds are they will probably settle before it even gets to court. Because if it does then there is a chance that the local state attorney's office could get wind of it and start a criminal investigation. Not saying any of this is 100% going to happen but its all possible.