Getting sued while on the road?

[Reducto]

I'm in the middle of a dispute with someone about a rental property I own in Washington state. It's all very ridiculous and probably won't amount to anything but the guy is currently threatening to sue me.

The only things I know about this process are what I've seen in movies where someone has to physically hand papers to you in order to start the process. Is this actually the case? Would the guy have to find me (which wouldn't be easy) and pay someone to serve me or could I return to my PO box after several months to find I'd lost a case because I didn't respond to a summons?

He has my phone number but that's it at the moment.

The very short version of the story is my tenants are growing pot legally on the property and the neighbor wants me to kick them out because of this. I've done inspections and found that they're taking wonderful care of the property and paying rent on time so I'm letting them stay.

 

[Zil]

I don't think the neighbor has any grounds to sue you. He could make a criminal complaint against the tenant.

 

[Reducto]

The last time he called me I kept asking what he was suing for and all he could come up with was loss of property value due to having a grow house next door. He's already called the cops. They checked it out and told him it's legal. I'm just thinking ahead to if he does find a lawyer willing to take his money, how would that play out?

 

[SoulRaven]

He will be broke by the time he has to pay a retainer for the lawyer, private investigator, and process servers.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

People often say they will sue just as a threat to try to coerce you into doing what they want. I doubt that he can find a lawyer who would be willing to take this on a contingency basis.

I don't suppose you know a lawyer who would send HIM a politely threatening letter, telling him that you will countersue him for all legal expenses in defending against his non-meritorious suit, and saying that further action will be taken if he doesn't stop harrasing you.

Regards
John

 

[dragonflyinthesky]

Why can't I have renters that pay on time and take care of my property?

 

[DC Fuse]

Reducto, I'm the original "Philadelphia Lawyer". My record w/the courts is 43 - 1. None were criminal. I was both a landlord and a bldg. contractor. I've been deposed six times.
As you said the police were called and told him tenant is legal so how can he sue successfully for "Loss of property value" when tenants actions are legal and neighbor has'nt sold his house and at the sale actually experienced a loss attributed to tenants lawful actions????
Neighbor may not like it - too bad - but you have nothing to worry about.
I saw this a lot in California when prop 215 passed.
It is the same if i lived on the other side of your neighbor and being a man chose to wear a wig, a dress.and high heels while i tended my flowers and he did'nt like it. I'm lawful.
Keep in mind that the courts will charge him for any legal fees you incur for his frivolous pursuit of case and no attorney would even take the case.
Their is nothing new under the sun applies here. Case law would prevail. I won a Federal case in 1999 by precedent established in 1907 at a Hormel plant in Austin,Mn. Attorneys wall of books in their office include a full library of "Blacks Law Review"which reveal case law going back centuries of which anything you can think of has been decided already in a court of law. An attorney cites these cases in defense of his client.

 

[jeanontheroad]

Anybody can sue anybody and make a bloody nuisance of themselves. He can force you to spend money on a lawyer, but he will have to spent it, too. Some people do this just to see if they can get their victim to pay them in a quick settlement. Good luck with this. Hope you not only beat him, but get a judgment against him for your legal fees.

 

[kyonu]

Sounds like grumpy-neighbor syndrome. This is usually those who are against something for biased reasons, or plainly grumpy altogether. For example, many elderly folk grew up in a time where pot went from legal to illegal, and in their pride, accepted it whole hardheartedly. Now that it is becoming legal again, they don't want to accept the change... which befounds me, but senilism is a bad thing sometimes.

It could be against his religion, which no religion is against weed (it's a plant for crying out loud) but some people (Christians, experience with those) like to mend the bible to their own will (grew up Christian myself, seen this a lot... can't speak for other religions.)

In this regard, I would get a notary to sign a letter explaining the situation and make sure he understands he has no grounds to sue and that you will file a complaint against *him* if he doesn't calm down.




.. yes, I've dealt with many noisy and annoying neighbors. There's never any pleasing them.

 

[Van-Tramp]

Yes, they have to serve you papers to actually sue you. However, if they have tried all means to serve you and you have proven impossible to serve, they can petition the court to go on with the suit even without you being served paperwork.

Whether or not someone has a valid reason to sue you or not does not matter to the courts. They CAN sue you for no reason at all. You can make it hard on them living on the road, but not impossible.

 

[highdesertranger]

this post is not pro pot or anti pot, but remember it is still not legal in the eyes of the feds. just saying. btw for the most part I am a redneck hippie, or in other words a libertarian, so you can guess where I stand on pot. highdesertranger

 

[Zil]

Not exact. The courts look at stuff, and can decide if it is frivolous. Any good lawyer will refuse such application.

 

[Reducto]

Yeah I almost didn't put the last paragraph in there, but figured it would get derailed by people asking me what the reason is versus commenting on the pot

Thanks for the info Van-Tramp, that's kind of what I was hoping for.

 

[LeeRevell]

Often lawyers offer a free one hour initial consultation, to see if your 'case' has any merit to pursue, or check your options if you are the defendant. He/she could best tell you what your options are, and realistically what to expect.