All Forum Posts by: Ronan M.

@Stewart McMillan to answer your question my tenant went after me well into the eviction process. It was after the judgement of possession for me and during the wait time for the Sheriff. 

You are getting varied and mixed advice on here and none of it right or wrong as each case like this is unique. No two cases will be the same and only an experienced attorney who knows all the facts of the case can advise you properly. Do remember that people who chime in here to help can only offer an opinion. Be careful what advice you act on..even mine. We are not attorneys but some of us have had similar experiences.   

But I will offer you this. and it only my opinion. If these guys have stated legal action against you I would not be in favor of any more direct communication with them. As discussed earlier their attorney (good or bad) will be telling then they have a case, you violated the CLTO, they will be rewarded blah blah blah. He/she will be stroking their ego giving them confidence etc. Then you on the other hand will be calling, looking to deal, looking to settle etc. Again, it gives them confidence, shows you are vulnerable, maybe even desperate to settle before you get screwed. Its all plays in to their hand I believe. My humble opinion is cut off all contact and let the attorneys trash it out and discuss a go away settlement if that is indeed the route you want to go. But again...just my opinion.

And by the way if memory serves me right part of this case stems from you not paying their ComEd bill and Comed cut off their power. Did you set that damn ComEd bill up on Direct Debit yet ???

Although what I wrote above is only the case if they have a case !! or they can win.

Different story if you are the victor.

Ditto what @Matthew Olszak said. The attorney has probably cost them zero to date and maybe never will.

The attorney will go after you for the fine on the Security Deposit, some additional compensation for the tenant plus their OWN legal fees.  All wrapped in to one settlement.

No out of pocket for the tenants.

Then on top of that you still have to pay your own attorney.

That's how it works (happened to me) sad but true.

$975 for my guy on mostly commercial deals (6+ units)

Its less for SFH and OO's...about $600 I think.

and that is EXACTLY why I dont do Facebook. 

And people worry about the NSA. FB have them beat hands down on knowing absolutely everything about you. 

You are in a tough spot. No one will buy this and no lender will lend on this condo with one individual controlling 80%. And the controlling guy knows this. Doing a deal with him is probably your best option. Unless you can find a clueless cash buyer with a clueless attorney who knows no better. Even then you would have to ask yourself if you are ok with selling some other poor mutt a lemon. 

Have not done biz with them but have you done a search on this site ?  I do recall reading a number of unsavory posts regarding these characters. 

Ouch. Then you did play a part in this unfortunately. But still, if you rectified it quickly then there is no real basis for their Security Deposit demands. Its not related to the power being cut.  I don't believe they have enough proof yet to go after you with a lawyer on the SD issue. But unfortunately the lawyer will know to throw the book at you in the hope that one or two violations stick or you settle. Good luck with this. Don't let it get to you. we have all made mistakes. Learn from this and do everything by the book going forward. Let us know how it works out.   

@Stewart McMillan your original post suggests this all stems from the ComEd power cut for non payment of the bill. Who is responsible for paying the Com Ed bill for their unit  ? You or them ?

I just did a 2 Bed Apt from scratch. Rheem gas furnace and the A/C unit. I went with the loft style exposed round duct work as that gave a good modern feel to the apt was less expensive then trying to bury the ducts in the walls and all the associated drywall work. $7K was the cost.