My Day in Court

The process was not difficult, but it sure moved at a glacial rate. I closed my March blog entry saying, "It would be nice if this thing was resolved in my favor in time to pay the May rent." When I said May, I didn't think I had to specify a year. Clearly I was a little over-optimistic about the speed of things.

When I signed in this morning, I noticed my case had a far lower case number than those heard the past few days. Mine was 12759. Most of the others had a "2" as the first digit. I don't know why it took so long for my hearing to be scheduled. Maybe they considered my case a "priority D" situation. Maybe rather than just waiting for a date to be scheduled, I should have pestered them periodically.

I understand you want friction in the process. The lawsuit should be a last recourse. You should be motivated to call the rat bastards one more time, rather than running right to the nice judge. Yet, it seems like nine months is an awful long time to wait for a small claims hearing.

It took way longer than I would have liked. My consolation is that when the hearing was over I won, and I won big. The judge awarded me everything I asked for.

I will now share with you my crack legal strategy for winning: show up. I showed up, but the apartment folks didn't, which means I won.

I presented my case. The judge verified there was a legal basis for my claims. Nobody was there to refute the claims. So, by default, she gave me everything I asked for.

While I prevailed today, the saga isn't over. I wish it was like Rusty the bailiff escorts me out the door and Doug Llewelyn gives me a check (and a laurel and hearty handshake). Instead, all I got was a piece of paper stamped "judgment."

That judgment means they have a responsibility to pay me, whatever good that does. Until now, at every opportunity they've had to do the responsible thing, they've chosen to do otherwise. They could voluntarily pay and it would be over for everybody. I'm not hopeful that will happen.

I'm pretty sure I will prevail eventually. The judgment allows me to request a lien on their property or attachment of their assets. In the meantime, it just drags on.