Courts and property damage

[Tim Beresford]

We went to court over extensive damages to one of our properties, the first time in fact that we've ever gone as far as slugging it out in front of a judge. We were completely blindsided by the judge's rulings, even to the extent that he went out of his way to rule in favor of the tenant over matters that should have been open and shut for us, at least from our experience. Broken blinds, broken door hinges, broken door locks, paint applied to walls that didn't match, broken faucets in the shower, broken tiles in the shower stall where the tenant said they 'slipped', paint rings on the patio floor, a garden in a HOA that had been allowed to get overgrown - on and on. Even the process was very shambolic - where I thought we would go last, the judge allowed a free for all that was very disjointed and kept on going back and forth, even allowing the tenant to get the last word in constantly. We also had them on toast over a number of lies we could prove - never got heard. It didn't help matters that we had arguably the universe's worst lawyer representing us - he was like a rabbit caught in the headlights throughout. The judge dismissed it all as general wear and tear!

 Has anyone else had that experience? We thought we should appeal as it seems to be outrageous, but my wife isn't sure if she wants to go through the experience again. It was as if the lease didn't exist - there was even a clause that specifies that the tenant is always responsible for plumbing issues - meant zip to the judge, even though we hardly ever apply the clause.