2 minute read
Securing Housing Stability
Lukas Boehning
The last year has been particularly difficult for many tenants and small landlords alike. Maintaining a clean rental history is vitally important to find housing in a tight market. Small landlords need the income from renters to survive. Balancing those needs is critical, as is ensuring fairness and accurate accounting. Such was the case when Lukas Boehning represented a tenant who was evicted for nonpayment of rent and who also had a large judgment entered against her. She needed to dispute the amount owed and have the eviction expunged so she could secure new housing. She turned to Volunteer Lawyers Network for a referral and Lukas stepped in.
She told Lukas that every time she paid, the landlord told her she owed more. Lukas confirmed that the client had in fact overpaid the amount she owed her landlord for missed rent and the costs of her eviction. He also discovered that the landlord was trying to charge her for four months of rent after she was evicted in addition to charging her an early termination fee. Lukas first tried to contact the landlord to ask that they stipulate that the client had paid the full amount due under the judgment for her previously missed rent. After the landlord delayed responding for months, Lukas moved forward with a motion to mark the judgment as satisfied and filed a petition for expungement at the same time. The client had full documentation showing that she had paid more than $3,000 dollars, far exceeding the amount owed under the settlement agreement and the judgment against her.
Finally, after numerous attempts to settle the issue, the landlord’s lawyer claimed that the client still owed $365 dollars for the judgment and thousands of dollars in damages, unpaid rent, etc. The lawyer indicated that they would stipulate to mark the judgment as satisfied if the client paid the $365 and that they would deal with the rest at a future date. Lukas asked the landlord to provide documentation to support their claims, such as a copy of the lease, proof they sent notice that they were taking the security deposit and documents to support the fact that they tried to re-rent the apartment after the client was evicted.
Surprisingly, the landlord’s attorney responded to this request almost immediately stating, “After further review, my client informs me that all amounts have been paid including the judgment. My client is willing to stipulate to the expungement and add language that the judgment can be satisfied too.” Lukas quickly filed a stipulation with the court stating that the judgment was satisfied and that the landlord did not oppose the expungement of the eviction on the client’s record, allowing her to more easily find new, stable housing.
