When you need someone to have your back.. you get a brawler…read more
It's a Sunday morning, we answer the door and a perfectly good day in May 2014 is tainted by the foul, fetid stench of the beast on my stoop... Mr. Woodbury? It asks.. "Yes", I say.
"you've been served"
What the...?
I had neglected to immediately inform a homeowners association of my change of address, I rectified it (acknowledged in writing in 2013 by the association) but they never made the change someplace. They raised our fees $20 a month, but because we didn't know, we happily kept autopaying monthly thinking that "all is right with the world"
We were less than $300 in the hole and a phone call, letter.... email (same email since 1998) would have taken care of it.
Instead, satan's spawn (just kidding, he was just a regular guy) showed up with a summons saying that they had amassed a lot of costs trying to get this money from me... just about $3,000 worth of attorney and late fees. This was the first that I'd heard about it.
My regular Attorney couldn't get anywhere with them, they told him that if we go to court the costs will keep going up. Well, he's no dummy and he knows this situation makes no sense* so he tries to reason with them (he's doing this as a favor, it's not his kind of law) but they ignore him. We make an offer to settle... because I know that I owe and that there will be late fees. They tell us.. "See you in court"
So I tell my friend that I think I need to get a guy that specializes in this kind of stuff.. a tough guy.. a LITIGATOR.
*it actually makes perfect sense now, it appears that the association has something against landlords (I've had the same great tenant for the last 5 years) and are making things harder for us.
I work with a lot of Attorneys, but most of them do family law, traffic court, real estate etc..
I saw Dave in the courtroom when I was setting up my trial date, he was representing a Plaintiff. We talked briefly in the hallway. Dave and I scheduled an hour to go over the case in his office. We met, and he informed me that I have an excellent case and that I should consider putting a very short time limit on the settlement offer that I had made the association.. so I did, and...
They ignored me.
Dave became my attorney, filed our appearances for court and sent a copy to the opposing counsel.
Suddenly, the other side wanted to negotiate and came back with an offer. Now I have costs, so we told them "no".
We made a low ball offer back... and they said "See you in court". We said OK.
They asked what it was going to take... Dave told them...
The F bombs were flying from the other side :)
They settled for far less than I had offered them the week before.
I was able to pay Dave Clark and the association and still have enough money left to take the family to Gibsons for a steak dinner over what I would have paid in my previous offer (wish I had called Dave sooner)
Dave thinks we would have had even more success in court, but the settlement was close enough. A trial (however short and easy) is a bunch of aggravation that I prefer to avoid.
A couple of things..
When we first talked I was thinking that my case was too small for Dave, he's participated in some pretty large cases. But i never felt that way.
Outside of the courtroom, Dave is a nice guy. After our meeting I was confident that I had the right Attorney. He's comfortable in his own skin, patient, competitive (The dude has run a marathon in all 50 states... seriously, who does that?) and is able to argue facts appropriately.
Hopefully, we never need him for personal injury problems, but I'm glad to have a guy that does Business and Contract Law as well as Landlord/Tenant stuff.
