I need advice from a landlord whom is fair and not a slum lord

[Heather Doe]

A landlord who allows her sons to enter the home without warning (once while I was showering, I woke to a snake under my bed and the walls and other areas full of nasty bedbugs that were there prior to my renting. I approached her and she evicted me. unfortunately I was stuck with nowhere else so I lived with it until her son sexually assaulted me. He got away with this so I fled the property nearly year ago. She and I are currently in a court battle. She’s suing me and threatening that I drop charges against her son. Is this ok? Any advice? Bull crap cause I watched as a young mother (younger than myself) was mobing in last week. Should I warn them? I need advice please someone 

[Joe Splitrock]

@Heather Doe the first thing you need to know is you need legal representation. Any landlord giving you advice is going to be biased. Nothing against landlords (I am one) but we regularly get lied to by tenants, so this is why some people may be skeptical of some of your claims. If you cannot afford an attorney, you can find non-profit legal centers or tenant advocacy groups that will help you. Given that this cases involves sexual assault and retaliation by the landlord, you should have no trouble getting help. The prosecutor should be able to point you in the right direction for help with your civil case.

As far as your claim of being evicted, I think you may be misunderstanding the terminology. A landlord may service you a "Notice to Vacate" or "Notice to Cure or Quit" or "Eviction Notice". The title on the document may vary depending on the location and situation, but basically it is a letter delivered to you or posted on your door that asks you to fix a problem or leave the property. As others mentioned it is generally for rent non-payment. You made no comments on whether you were paying rent or not through all this, but that is an important detail. Keep in mind that receiving a notice is not eviction. If they evict the next step is getting notice to appear in court. If you appeared in court, that would be your chance to share your story about the snakes, bedbugs and the assault. The judge decides if an eviction is allowable and if so, they grant an eviction. If you are evicted, you cannot stay in a property. They give you a time period to leave and then you are removed by the police. If you don't show up in court, the landlord is usually granted a default judgement. That means they are granted the eviction and you will be physically removed. So when you state, you were evicted and stayed in the property, that doesn't make sense. 

Regardless of whether you paid rent or were a good tenant, sexual assault is unacceptable. I am sorry that happened to you. Having a landlords son do this is even worse, because they are in a position of power over your living situation. Tell the prosecutor the victims advocate in the assault case that the landlord is trying to use civil courts to intimidate you. They can help you. 

I would really avoid getting advice here. You need to talk to legal professionals and I would seek out counseling for the assault.