Do I Need a Tenants Rights Lawyer?
You may represent yourself in court and present your defenses, but that may not be your best alternative. People who represent themselves usually lose. Non-lawyers are often confused by court procedures, and many judges have little patience with this. The landlord’s lawyer won’t give you any help and might even take advantage of you.
Even if you are able to present your case clearly and properly, judges often think, “No lawyer? Either this person is a deadbeat who can’t afford to hire a lawyer, or his case is so bad that no lawyer would take it.” A wise old lawyer once said, “A lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client.” If you can possibly do so, get a lawyer.
Attorney Fees Clause In Lease
If your rental agreement contains legal language requiring the losing party in any lawsuit to pay the winner’s attorney’s fees, you might be able to get your lawyer’s fees back from the landlord if you win. But if you lose, the landlord may be entitled to have you pay lawyer fees.
The most contentious event in any landlord-tenant relationship is the eviction. The landlord believes that the tenant must leave, and the tenant believes that the landlord has no right to throw her out. The landlord wants to resolve the problem quickly and cheaply. The tenant wants to stay as long as possible before having to relocate.
Tenant law does provide for a fairly speedy remedy compared to other tenant lawsuits, but tenant law also protects the tenant from arbitrary actions that force her out of her home.
Types Of Cases Eviction Defense Lawyers Will Accept
Most private defense attorneys will usually not accept eviction cases where the tenant is being evicted for not paying their rent, especially if there is no strong evidence showing the landlord has breached the lease or violated the tenant’s legal rights.
This article covers the kinds of tenant-landlord cases private lawyers will accept and the organizations that provide free and low-cost legal services.
Eviction Defense Lawyers Do Offer Free Initial Consultations
The eviction defense lawyer will help the client determine if the tenant’s rights have been legally violated or to comply with the state’s strict procedural eviction requirements, such as failing to serve the tenant with proper legal notice of the eviction lawsuit. Should this be established, the eviction case can be dismissed on technical grounds and without prejudice.
The legal term without prejudice means the landlord will have to start over and refile the eviction action, which will delay the process, but otherwise, the dismissal will have no legal effect on the case’s legal merits.
Benefit Of Even A Short Delay
The delay provides the tenant with additional time to consult with an eviction defense lawyer to determine if the tenant has a viable defense to the eviction or possibly a case against the landlord for violating the tenant’s legally protected rights.
Eviction Cases Defense Lawyers Will Accept
A defense lawyer will accept a tenant’s case when evidence shows the landlord violated the tenant’s legally protected rights and breached the lease agreement. If so, the law provides the tenant with legal remedies, such as suing for monetary damages against the landlord.
Health And Safety Violations
In these types of cases, the lawyer may accept the tenant’s case on a contingency basis if the attorney believes there is evidence to support a substantial counterclaim against the landlord for breaching the lease by violating health and safety laws.
Types of Health and Safety Violations:
- Not maintaining the premises in a safe and habitable condition
- Failing to maintain tenant sanitary conditions
- Failing to provide hot and cold running water and heating
- Failing to keep the building or unit in good repair
If the landlord has materially failed in any of these areas, the tenant may claim the eviction was wrongful and recover monetary damages from the landlord.
Compensable Public Policy Violations
Types of Public Public Policy Violations
- Landlord evicts through using self-help
- Landlord locks out the tenant from unit without a court eviction order
- Retaliatory eviction for tenant reporting landlord to the government
- Landlord Violates the Federal Fair Housing Act
Compensable Fair Housing Act – Unlawful Discrimination
The Federal Fair Housing Act applies to almost all acts of unlawful landlord discrimination against a tenant. From the unlawful selection of tenants to evicting a tenant based on unlawful discrimination.
Prior discriminatory practices in selecting and treatment of certain tenants versus others can be relevant to proving that the eviction was motivated by unlawful discrimination.
Evidence of Discriminatory Practices
Strong evidence of discriminatory practices against existing or potential tenants can result in significant monetary damages and payment of the tenant’s attorney fees and costs.
For example, if the landlord has a custom and practice of unlawful discrimination, such as:
- The landlord falsely claims a rental unit is unavailable.
- The landlord will not rent to members of certain racial and ethnic groups.
- The landlord requires larger deposits from some groups of tenants but not others.
Free And Low-Cost Providers Of Legal Services
Unfortunately, most tenants go unrepresented because they do not have the financial resources to pay rent or afford to retain an attorney to represent them. Without a substantial counterclaim, neither the tenant nor the lawyer would receive adequate compensation to justify the time and expense of suing the landlord.
However, there are low-cost and no-cost alternatives to obtaining legal help.
Lawyers That Work on Pro-Bono Basis
The term pro-bono literally translates to working for the public good. It often refers to
legal advice or representation is provided free of charge by legal professionals for the public good. These types of lawyers are sometimes referred to as public interest lawyers. These are usually individuals, nonprofits, and other public interest groups who cannot afford to pay for legal fees and do not otherwise qualify to receive legal aid.
Legal Aid Clinics
What a tenant can do, however, is obtain a free consultation from a Legal Aid Lawyer. Legal Aid Clinics receive most of its funds from state and local government and public interest groups. If you qualify for Legal Aid, you could also be eligible to have a lawyer appear with you at the eviction hearing and help in defending your case.
Each state provides Legal Aid Clinics or some form of no-cost and low-cost legal services for those who qualify.
Qualifying for free or discounted legal aid depends mostly on your income level and the type of legal work you need to perform. Fortunately, most legal aid clinics do represent tenants on eviction matters.
Law School Clinics
Another alternative is to seek free legal eviction advice from a local law school’s pro-bono clinical program. Law school legal clinics offer free legal services to low-income and no-income people.
The American Bar Association lists such law school clinics by state.
Private Eviction Defense Lawyers
Consider Consulting With An Online Eviction Defense Lawyer For Advice.
Related Articles and Helpful Services…
