"Self-eviction": As in an illegal removal of a renter's property from their Home by the landlord, without a court-ordered eviction.

I live in Ohio (where self-eviction is not legal by the way), and I just came from a losing battle in Small Claims Court. And, it is completely blowing my mind.

Last year, my wife and I were having some marital difficulties. So, I was not present when this whole thing happened. Anyway, my wife was in the process of moving out of our apartment, when our old landlord took it upon herself to "help" my wife finish moving by illegally entering our apartment, removing our property from our apartment, and placing it in the garage, throwing and breaking our stuff into a trailer (which my wife was using to move), and putting the rest out on the curb to be taken away. The landlord then proceeded to change the locks.
Now, a year later, we took her to Small Claims suing for the maximum amount $3,000., which is less than a third of the value of what we lost. The landlord then counter-sued me for "damages to the apartment" at the same time. Well, I just found out over the weekend that we lost the case. She hired some scum-bag lawyer who twisted everything around, and our landlord lied on the witness stand, admitting to putting our stuff in the trailer and the garage, but denied putting our stuff on the street. She also denied changing the locks until after we had moved out. Now we're being ordered to pay $1,000. to this witch.

So, are there any lawyers in the House? Any advice on how to proceed from here? It seems that anybody can get away with just about anything these days, so long as you have a good manipulative lawyer and know how to lie!

For clarification, how did you only just find out the judgment? Why weren't you there in person to testify, and why wasn't your wife?

I believe the proper time to act was when this woman did this - a police report? Did you call the police?

quote:

Originally posted by MommyTimesTwo:
For clarification, how did you only just find out the judgment? Why weren't you there in person to testify, and why wasn't your wife?

Because it just went to trial last week. I filed the case months ago, and we had to wait forever and a day. And then her lawyer kept on filing continuances because he was busy with other things. So, we had to wait.

And, yes, I did testify- though there was very little I could add to the testimony, because I was not present when it happened. Therefore, nearly everything I could say was deemed "hearsay".
My wife did testify. In fact, she was the "star" witness in the case. As did my parents. In a phone conversation with my Mother, the landlord threatened to put our stuff into a dumpster if we did not come and get it out right away. My Mother then informed her that that was illegal. And, then she did it anyway. My step-father was the one who was helping my wife move, as it was his trailer which she used to move with. The landlord (or someone on her behalf) was also nice enough to vandalize my step-father's brand-new trailer, punching a hole the size of a softball through the side of it, and ripping out the lights. But, of course, nobody saw a thing.

quote:

Originally posted by aminator2002:
I believe the proper time to act was when this woman did this - a police report? Did you call the police?

Yes, indeed. My Wife called the Sheriff's Dept. to report that the landlord had changed the locks, and that she couldn't get in to finish removing her things. They then authorized her to break a window to get in. Which she did. And, that was part of the "damages" which the witch counter-sued us for, along with carpet cleaning and a little hole in the garage wall.
And, all of that supposedly came to over $1,000.00 in damages. Yeah right.

The worst part about this whole case is that her lawyer kept on ranting and raving about how "you have no evidence, you have no evidence." Well, where is their evidence that I caused any of the damages which she was counter-suing for? She admitted on the stand that I wasn't even there during that time! How can the court so adamantly take this witch's side over mine, when she has no more "evidence" that I caused damage to her property than I have that she caused damage to ours?

quote:

Yes, indeed. My Wife called the Sheriff's Dept. to report that the landlord had changed the locks, and that she couldn't get in to finish removing her things. They then authorized her to break a window to get in.

Do you have a copy of the police report or the person’s name and badge number who authorized her to break a window to get in? If so that would be evidence in your favor.

quote:

Originally posted by Koz:

Do you have a copy of the police report or the person’s name and badge number who authorized her to break a window to get in? If so that would be evidence in your favor.

Yeah, we thought of that. An actual "police report" was never filed. It was done over the phone. When preparing for trial, my Wife went to the Sheriff's Dept. and received a copy of a very short report filed by the officer on the incident. Unfortunately, it didn't help a bit.