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a man being evicted is asked by the judge if he has evidentiary issues with the argument that he owes rent. tenant says he doesnât know what that means but his wife died and he hasnât gotten his covid payments. judge asks again if he has evidentiary concerns, grants the eviction.
next young man also doesnât understand the evidentiary question, says heâs been trying to work with his landlord but they wonât talk with him, he just needs a little time because he lost his job. judge asks if he has evidence to submit, grants the eviction.
another woman didnât dispute that she owed some rent, but disputed the amount owed. judge explains that the amount is a separate issue. since she admits that she owes something, judge grants the eviction.
one couple stands up and has no objections to any of the landlordâs claims. they seem nervous and quiet, clearly just showed up because they had a court date but donât try to defend themselves. judge grants the eviction.
these are just the tenants who have shown up. numerous names have been called and the evictions granted for tenants who arenât here. the only cases that tenants have âwonâ are the ones who had a lawyer from legal aid who helped them enter a settlement. no outright tenant wins.
one case got moved to the end of the docket because the eviction is for violation of lease, not nonpayment of rent. landlord is evicting the tenant for having an unauthorized guest. tenant disputes this. the judge swears her in to start a formal trial.
the tenant says she didnât have a guest over 14 days, and that the apartment was in bad condition and needing repairs. says she was in the hospital and thatâs why someone else was at her apartment. she is willing to hand over the keys but hasnât had time or money to move yet.
tenant is representing herself and doesnât know the court procedures, judge keeps cutting her off and telling her to wait until her closing statement. property manager (seldom co.) says tenant had someone living with her for over a year.
property manager says the tenant tried to add this person to the lease but he was denied bc he has a felony, and seldin co. doesnât lease to felons. seldin is saying they issued a 14-day notice to quit (quit = correct the issue). tenant says she didnât receive the notice.
property manager says she sent a second notice of violation which said the lease would be terminated. tenant said no one was living there, but tried to add the guest to the lease at this time. when he was denied, tenant agreed to move out but hasnât yet.
judge asks the tenant if she would like to cross examine the property manager. she doesnât have questions, just says that she is willing to give the keys back but wants to be able to move her stuff out. judge grants eviction, suggests that she talks to the landlord outside.
tenant in the last case wants to raise the CARES act defense, but judge says this is an affirmative defense requiring a trial, and the tenant isnât present. their lawyer, from legal aid, is present, and says she didnât think they were doing the trial today.
she is filing a motion to dismiss, and will raise the CARES act defense during a future trial on that motion. seems like the legal aid lawyers regularly tell their tenants they donât have to show up, though? is this normal or strategic for eviction defense?
bc a lot of ppl are asking: the judge today was Judge Craig McDermott. also of note is the lawyer for most of the landlords, John Chatelain: https://twitter.com/anarchotrash/status/1278421843133808641?s=21 https://twitter.com/anarchotrash/status/1278421843133808641
