This is my 2nd time hiring Ben, He has helped me with two F.E.D cases. Ben is very knowledgable about Tennant/Landlord law. He will tell you straight up what he see's and its up to you, if you believe you have a case or the right elements, hire Ben. He will not nickel and dime you like some attorneys do. Fortunately, I will most likely not need his services in the future but If I did I would hire him again. 10 out of 10 read more

Highly Recommended!! Benjamin Ybarra helped me settle a ~year long rental dispute with my landlord--in only 2 weeks of negotiations! The property wrote me a settlement check for over five thousands of dollars, and Benjamin also helped me get additional relief, equating to thousands MORE dollars off my new lease!!! Additionally, Benjamin was communicative with me throughout my lease break (penalty free) and the move into my new apartment, which I'm very happy about! Previously, I had gone back and forth with about four managers of the property, to no avail, prior to Mr. Ybarra's involvement. My communications between management and I spanned ~10 months in total before I hired Benjamin to step in.. Mr. Ybarra ultimately saved me additional dozens of more hours, and countless days of my time being wasted--regarding unmet promises of my rental agreement and lease. And there's no doubt in my mind that alone I wouldn't have gotten even HALF of the concessions and/or settlement relief check, that Mr.Ybarra negotiated for me. I highly recommend Mr. Ybarra--because not only did he get results relatively fast (~2 weeks after he began negotiating)--but also because he is very efficient and fair with his time and efforts. Respect! If you're looking for representation in a property dispute, contact Benjamin Ybarra immediately! Thank you again for your help, Benjamin! You rock, sir!! read more

Twice now the Oregon Bar Association has referred me to Benjamin Ybarra for a consult. Both times his advice has been useless. During the consults, he was never proactive in offering any advice that might help. He just waits for the client to ask a question and answers it in a curt manner. If I couldn't think of what to ask next there was just dead silence. So much of good legal advice involves an attorney asking relevant questions of the client and thinking of important things that the client doesn't even know to ask, but with Benjamin Ybarra it seems you have to ask just the right question to get any information and even then it's just the bare minimum that qualifies as a response. I feel like an AI app would've given better advice. I'm not sure why he continues to accept referrals from the OS Bar Association as both times I've felt like a big bother and inconvenience and like he can't wait for me to stop asking stupid questions so he can get on with his day. Perhaps he needs that $35 because all the bad reviews are making him hungry for any income even if it's just at a $70/hr rate. Both times after I spoke with Benjamin Ybarra I requested another attorney referral from the OS Bar Association and the second one I spoke with told me at least several useful things that Benjamin Ybarra never mentioned...probably because I didn't ask a direct question about it. If you know the law well and want to get curt answers to confirm what you already know perhaps he would be adequate, but if you are looking for someone who genuinely wants to be of help, look elsewhere. Edit: The fact that Benjamin Ybarra gets so snarky and insulting when an honest review of his poor service is posted says a lot. I keep getting emails when he edits his comment and I think to myself if he cared as much about his clients as he cared about insulting them he would not have all the bad reviews he does. read more

This guy is a robot. Absolutely zero feelings , honestly he cares about his $$$$. That's all. So I can't comment on his comical reply ,although I wish he would've had this much humor and humanly response when we met.... So let me break it down how we felt. As most people here stated we got his number from the OSB. Made an appointment for such and such date for 9 am . We were there by no later than 8:40 . We weren't sure which office is his , eventually went through the first door to his office ....knocked ..no answer Called him literally 10-15 times , left him message(s) to let him know we're here .no answer. I don't want to repeat myself ,but we did above mentioned steps multiple times. Phone calls , voicemails, knocking on office door...no answers, until 9:30!! He opens the door with 0 (zero) care on his facial expression , Us relieved that he finally at least answered the door. Me excitedly/funny way try to explain, that we've been in the parking lot for almost an hour and how happy I am that I finally found him. His reply " I'm on the phone and you're late." I am desperately trying to explain that we've been here the whole time blah blah blah ... He just blatantly said "I'm was on the phone (we've been calling him the whole time) You're late and you have to reschedule." ZERO CARE OR UNDERSTANDING. Eventually we left , defeated and although you will never get the 2nd chance for 1st impression, I told my husband to give him another chance and see where it goes. 2nd time he basically did the bare minimum what any attorney would do but honestly I never met an emotionless person like him. We paid him , did his job with zero compassion towards us. I would love to bring the race card, but I won't. That fell through and that's that. I wish he would have all the bip bop sarcastic humor face to face when we were there. read more

I was referred by the OSB referal. I should have read the reviews to prepare myself for his returned call. I consider myself lucky to live far enough away that he refused my case, due to distance. Had I spent a second longer on the phone, it would have been me asserting the refusal to hire him. Mind you, this was a 25 second conversation. Additionally, it says a great deal that Mr. Ybar spends more time vehemently defending his actions, based on YELPERS experience, resulting in a 1 star review, than he does working on his professional dispositon. read more

even tho the Oregon bar association refered me to him about housing issues and his website says he also does I feel like he didn't want to deal with his his choice however I believe the manager is scamming the system and he wouldn't even take the time to really listen he could really bring attention to this issuse cause its part of a bigger problem apartment owner getting hud or sec8 for their units tenants getting kicked out and the apartment still receiving money that was supposed to help the person keep their place read more

I tried to use him a few years ago. I should have gotten the red flag when he started googling laws but I was stupid and trusted he knew what he was doing. It only went down hill. Like other reviews he didn't listen to what I was saying and kept just telling me to do what the other attorney wanted. It was almost like they were friends and he just wanted to be done and over with me to get a quick buck. Unfortunately I was not the one that did anything wrong and refused to give in like that. He told me I was just being difficult and because I hired him that gave him the right to speak for me, so I fired him. Spoke directly to the other attorney myself and that was more pleasant than speaking through him. You know how people say they get anxiety about a situation because of a bad experience they had in the past. He was my bad experience. He is the type of attorney that gives lawyers a bad name. read more

I retained Ben to help me with a really bad rental situation where the landlord was unwilling to do repairs. My place was saturated with cat and dog urine upstairs, so for the first two months, I slept downstairs. The place had hair in the garbage disposal and the rest you can imagine. Yup, gross and it was in a lovely area. I was paying 2100! I got Ben's name from the Oregon Bar and was so relieved when he said he would take my case. It dragged on a bit and I got super anxious at times, but Ben was able to talk some sense into me. The best news is - Ben got it done, I am outta there and paid. I would recommend Ben Ybarra to anyone needing tenant assistance with landlord issues, and for that matter, I am sure he is brilliant in all the areas he practices. Thank you, Ben! read more

Used the OR state bar referral service. Wasn't interested in my case and was oddly rude about it. Not personable in the least.

I just had a great consultation that helped me so much to guide me to the path to take. i hope to hire him for the next step.

Benjamin helped us immensely when our landlord evicted us and changed locks unlawfully. Benjamin's Fees were all reasonable, he very responsive to all emails, and handled payment of our settlement quickly. Thank you again Benjamin for all your help! I hope we don't have to work together again, but if needed, you would be my first cal! read more

Very hard to reach. He needed a copy of my contract emailed to him. That was the first consultation. We set up another meeting where i had to go to the library to scan and email the contract. Well, the email address I had was invalid and called him numerous of times that day to get the right email address. he never responded back. Finally, I got a hold of him today and since I did not keep my appointments that I should find another lawyer, yet he was the one who did not answer his phone. He's a real arrogant asshole and I would highly recommend not to use him. You will find out when you actually hear his "I don't give a shit about your problems" voice. read more

Reconsider hiring this attorney, he may be deployed at any moment possible leaving you to represent yourself. Spent 1hr in court with me but 9+ hours talking to other party attorney, counselor and myself. My personal experience is he didn't want to be in court. He wanted me to fire him throughout the entire process. He would listen to everything the other attorney would say and not what I wanted. I would never recommend anyone hire this attorney. read more

*update* this fool DMs me via yelp asking if there is anything he can do to improve my experience and asking me to change my review then drags me in a public reply. What he doesn't mention is that I was only 5-7 minutes late and I called him to make payment over the phone to ensure that I wasn't affecting his time/money. I rearranged my whole day to get to him in an outer suburb at rush hour and his office is above a thrift shop and not clearly marked. Yet this fool is acting like 205 doesn't have unexpected delays. I paid him on the phone, and was only about 7 minutes late to my appointment and very conscious of it. By the time He could figure out how to run my card I was already parked and then asked about where the door was. We were on the phone the whole time. I went into his musty, dated office and he literally read me word for word was on the court paperwork that was mailed to me. He only gave me information I already had access to. I came prepared with a list of questions and he told me my time was up. My appointment was over 15 minutes early and he said he could end it early because I was late. I argued with him because I had just paid him for a half hour. After he had taken my money. I asked him why he didn't want to hear about my case at all. He said he didn't need to that small claims don't need litigation. He knew the whole time I was coming in for a small claims consultation. He could have told me that over the phone. I told him in his office that he was being very rude to take my money and not even want to speak with me. I found an attorney at triple his rate who is actually attentive and listens to my questions and provided me with excellent guidance to prepare for my court date. This man did nothing to assist me or consult me in any way. Full stop. Don't go. Do not pay for a consultation. He will only re-read your paperwork back to you and reiterate the instructions. Total joke as far as personality goes. This guy ended my session early even after me reminding him multiple times that I paid for a Half hour. I hope he chokes on a dry sandwich. read more

The legal profession isn't always represented well on television or in film. What I know about the law, I learned watching Al Pacino in "....And Justice for All" (I'm out of order? You're out of order!) Anyway, it's very hard for the general public to get the time of day from an attorney. It's not the fault of attorneys because they all have different specialties and often times, we the public don't understand that one guy doesn't handle everything. So, it's pretty much expected that they aren't going to get back to just a random question from the general public. So, that's why I thought it was a surprising breath of fresh air when Benjamin Ybarra got back to me the same day on a general question that I had for him. That's a rarity and very much appreciated. It's well worth it to contact Mr. Ybarra with your legal matters. He will be a fantastic advocate. read more

In summer of 2017, we had a problem with a contractor who installed air conditioner in my house. The contractor did such a bad job, the newly installed air conditioner never worked, and they refused to give us refund. The contractor tried to persuade us to reinstall the AC but we had to refuse that offer. That was because it was obvious that they were not only lying to us but also incompetent to do the job properly. We tried to resolve the issue by contacting the credit card company, state DOJ, etc., but that did not help at all. We did not know what to do and were very upset about the whole situation. We started contacting lawyers in Portland and Beaverton area, but I had hard time to find one who is interested in taking out case. After a while, I found Mr. Ybarra online, and sent email regarding my situation. At the time, I did not realize Benjamin is located in Oregon City, which is a little far away from where I live. Anyhow, Ben expressed the interest to hear my case and I went to meet him in his office, and it went from there. Initially, I was a little concerned about the location of his office far away from where I live. I did drive to his office couple of times, but we did most of the communications via emails and phones, so it really ended up not being so big deal. Also, his fee is very reasonable comparing to what some lawyers in Portland and Washington county were charging. He also runs his office very cost-effectively, which is also contributing to his reasonable fee. Anyhow, what is important was that Ben did great job working on the case and explaining things to me during the process, and the case was eventually resolved by reaching to agreement that we were reasonably satisfied with. I feel that Ben is honest, professional and a great guy. read more

Had a dispute with a local company. Benjamin had the demand letter sent out quickly. The company responded and I had my money returned within 20 days, Thank you for the fast and professional service. read more

My husband and I retained the services of Benjamin Ybarra, Esq. for a contested restraining order in January 2019. We found Ben to be very professional, knowledgeable, and helpful. He was thorough in his assessment of our personal situation and was of great assistance. We prevailed at the hearing and we thank Ben for his due diligence in our case. read more

The description of two stars is "Meh. I've experienced better." This is exactly how I feel after paying $35 for a 30 minute consultation. Benjamin's demeanor is cold. I guess that is good for a lawyer in the court room... to be cold and calculated. But not during a consultation. If you are at the point that you are willing to pay $35 for 30 minutes just to get advice from a lawyer (and then maybe pay them another $1000 retainer for help), then you want a friendly sounding person. I know this for a fact... we all want to hear a friendly voice. Benjamin does not have a friendly voice. I called Benjamin for assistance with a civil issue with my family member, in which my family member has broken an agreement and essentially "stolen" my property and then abandoned it. I wanted Benjamin to help me with the problem. But he was more interested in grilling me like a prosecutor wanting to prove that I'm in the wrong. I have had a consultation before with a lawyer regarding a very similar matter. And that lawyer was not only friendly, he actually offered advice that helped me. AND he offered to do something for me if I paid him. Benjamin did no such thing. He clearly didn't want to take the case, though he wanted that $35. At one point Benjamin even told me there was nothing he could do. What lawyer tells someone "there is nothing I can do"...? He could have offered to write a letter on stationary with his legal header that demanded my family member return my property, and then he could have charged me a $1000 retainer to try and get my stuff back. He could have told me something that would help me. All I got out of the consultation was the obvious. What is the use of paying someone $1.17 per minute just to hear them say "you need to try and get your property back". DUH! HOW can I do that? HOW can you use your skills as a lawyer to help me do that. HOW MUCH will you charge me to help me? I feel like I could have gotten more help from Miss Cleo, even though she is dead. I paid $35 for 30 minutes on the phone so I could complain about my family member breaking our agreement and taking my property and abandoning it, just to hear "you need to try and get your stuff back" and "there isn't really anything I can do". Then he concluded the conversation with "If you are able to get it back and want to pursue any legal action then let me know". I mean... wtf? I really don't get it. The takeaways? One of two things. 1) If you make an agreement to lend your personal property to someone, and then they break the agreement and damage your property and then abandon it somewhere without telling you where, there is nothing you can do. You should try to get it back (duh!). And if you can't get it back, you really don't have much legal recourse (huh?). Benjamin can't help you get it back. There isn't anything he can do. He will tell you that you need to try and get it back. And when you say "I have tried, what can I do?" he will respond "Well, I don't know. There isn't really anything you or I can do. You need to try and get it back. And when you do, then I can help." (wtf?) OR 2) This dude isn't interested in helping you with this sort of issue. But he won't directly tell you that. He will tell you to pay $35 on his website where it says "PAY NOW", and then he will schedule a 30 minute phone call with you and listen to your complaints. And then in a very cold voice he will grill you to make you feel worse than you already feel (since you are contacting a lawyer for help you probably already feel like crap), and then he will offer to help you with your issue after you have already solved your issue by yourself. Seriously. read more

Things went ok in the beginning but found out that it was not worth pursuing and dragging it out. Came to an agreement with the other party. Of course the other party never sent the check to me and all I got from Ben was after he closed the case was he said he is no longer representing me. I am not sure why he couldn't close the deal or he never made an attempt to help collect the money. Now I have to start all over again. Long and short I do not recommend this law firm. read more