~Be gentle~ It's my first time with something like this here. I kind of figured I had nothing to lose. I inherited a very small sum of money (which is earmarked for a nobler cause right now) so I can retain an attorney. I had a phone consult with him and he advised me to go for a settlement with prejudice. He didn't tell me what I should or shouldn't say though. This attorney told me that settlement agreements aren't admissible in court (so it didn't matter if I sent it CMRRR or not.) I am sending it CMRRR!!!!! Remember, this is in reference to a slumlord dispute where they didn't provide me with receipts in excess of my security deposit and the receipts didn't match the itemized balance sheet I got shortly after moving out. Every citation I found @ http://www.dca.ca.gov/legal/landlordbook/sec-deposit.htm April 7, 2006 Dear *Richard Cranium*, This letter is an offer to settle the above case. It is not to be construed as an acknowledgment of my liability in any form. The alleged debt of $195.65 was brought forth when the tenantâ??s share of repair and maintenance costs exceeded my deposit of $700 upon move out of an apartment in the *Ghetto with Sex Offenders* complex on September 27, 2004. If you do not take my settlement offer, the following information and attached supporting documents will be part of my interrogatories. Do you really want to waste the courtâ??s time with documents supplied by your own client that do not substantiate the validity of the debt? (Yeah, I know, it's kind of pulling the tiger's tail........ THat's what the DEL key's for before I print his copy if necessary.) ***NOTE*** I have made a detailed spreadsheet highlighting the discrepancies in receipts vs. balance sheet from both slumlord and the collection agency which I will attach to the copies of the receipts. According to the department of consumer affairs website (California), there's protocol to be followed for receipts as well. The semi literate maintenance guy on staff can't just sign his X. Attachment 1 â?? Apartment Security Deposit Statement and receipts. The total amount of the receipts/invoices attached to the Apartment Security Deposit Statement that I received on or about October 17, 2004 is less than $700, the amount of my security deposit. There are items listed with no matching receipts/invoices and there are invoices/receipts not listed on the Apartment Security Deposit Statement. One receipt has no vendor and no date. I did not receive an itemized statement with receipts to correctly match the itemization, a violation of Civil Code Section 1950.5(g)(2), effective January 1, 2004. (Would this still be true? I did receive SOME receipts but not all within the 21 day statute.) Attachment 2 â?? My email correspondence regarding the above discrepancies to Manager, *Ghetto with Sex Offenders*, dated 10/27/2004. My email and subsequent phone calls went unanswered Attachment 3 â?? Letter to *CA* dated 2/1/05 where I again address the missing receipts and thereby my obligation to pay. What I received in response is Attachment 4. Attachment 4 â?? I received copies of my rental contract from *CA*, prepared by a *person* (not even addressing the lack of mini miranda on this. I didn't know it was a CA until I did a chamber of commerce search!!!) about February 10, 2005. I received he same receipts as Attachment 1, still showing the same discrepancies with several additional receipts added. Even with the new receipts added, the total of the receipts/invoices matching the itemization on the Apartment Security Deposit Statement still DO NOT total $700 and were added more than 21 days after my move out date of 9/27/04. ***note*** even if I am wrong about the whole 21 day statute, to this date I have receipts THAT MATCH THE POOP SHEET in the amount of 694.00. They are fighting me over $6 in my favor @@ I sought administrative remedy THREE TIMES before you served the summons on me on April 20, 2005. While both you and I can continue; it would be both time consuming and costly to do so. If needed I am fully prepared to do just that. On the other hand, it might make more sense to both parties to settle now. I am willing to settle based on the following conditions: ·A return of my entire security deposit in the amount of $700. Ms. *Manager*, Resident Manager, *Ghetto with Sex Offenders* failed to provide me with receipts/invoices to substantiate the itemized charges on the Apartment Security Deposit Statement in excess of the security deposit I had already paid. See Granberry v. Islay Investments (1995) 9 Cal.4th 738, 745 [38 Cal.Rptr.2d 650, 653]. See California Practice Guide, Landlord-Tenant, Paragraphs 2:783.1-2:783.6 (Rutter Group 2002). ·Renumeration for all filing fees related to this case. ·That any entry regard this account be deleted from my credit files at all three credit bureaus and any/all tenant reporting agencies. ·That both parties sign a motion for dismissal with prejudice and the motion be filed with the court. If the above terms are acceptable, please send a written agreement outlining these terms along with the above mentioned motion. I look forward to settling this dispute Regards, Caveman's wife. To me this sounds like a no brainer in my favor. WHAT COULD I BE MISSING????? The attorney I talked to and will retain if needed says this guy makes his living off of chasing $200 lawsuits. Most of the tenants in that hovel of an apartment complex are either tweakers who are so stoned they haven't a clue how to fight back so atty gets a judgment against them (how do you garnish welfare recipients though?!!?) or are mentally challenged (I believe the mandatory 20% Section 8 occupancy was all adults with developmental disabilities) without the wherewithall to fight back either. My only *crime* in this was that I was very poor @ the time; I did not fit the profile of a typical tenant and I'm fighting back!
I wouldn't include all those attachments. I'd offer my terms of settlement based on the violations you state happened. I wouldn't lay down my cards just yet. But that's just me. And I had better luck over the phone and email with the opposition's attorney. Obviously, YMMV. I just felt uncomfortable with all of the information you disclosed. Perhaps someone has better experiential advice.
Thank you! That's why I posted it here for a general consensus. I still have about 10 days before I need to file my interrogatories, so I have time to do my homework. It's better for me to be an anomymous hothead here than to go off with something later that will bite me in the arse. What does YMMV mean?
