Suddenly *Not So* Single Journey

My day in court…

Author: thenicknick

First, let me begin by suggesting that if you are ever bored, and I mean…considering watching paint dry bored…please consider hanging out in a courtroom for the day as a viable alternative.  There are people from every walk of life forced to mingle and mix, combine that with the uncomfortable uber-controlled setting and watch the fun begin.

I was killing myself to make it there on time to begin with.  It was the 9am session, and since I’m up every stinking weekday morning at 5:30am, you’d think it would be simple.  Well, today, there was a freak rainstorm…thunder, lightning, constant down pour, the works.  And for some reason, most likely the mild climate with infrequent precipitation at best, rain causes more accidents and backups than can be imagined.

So, traffic was backed up while people dug deep and tried to remember how to drive with this foreign substance falling from the sky.  And I had Spring calming me down, talking me the whole way there.  I made it to the parking garage, made it through security, made it to the right courtroom, which they had hidden in this little enclave…freakin’ contemporary construction with all of its odd angular halls.   Grrr.  And then I sat down in this overcrowded room, with two very large men separating me from the squatters.

It was actually rather convenient, since I had their Friday Night Lights DVD set that I passed, a la high school.  They were not happy to see me.  Had I not been able to make the hearing, the judge would have dismissed the case.  If I’d have had to strap a lawn mower motor to the back of a deck chair, I would have found a way to make the hearing.

Roll was called and judging by how far down we were on the list, this was going to take a while.  That was okay.  It gave me an opportunity to educate myself before I had to take the stand.  And anything I can do to cause myself less public humiliation, the better.  It was bad enough I was going to have to walk across a room in heels and a skirt.  Anything could happen.

Well, I learned a lot about North Carolina law during this experience.  I had wondered what would happen if they hadn’t shown for the hearing.  Now I know that I would only have been able to claim possession of the house, but not go after a monetary judgment.  Guess it’s a good thing they roused themselves from a busy schedule of not working to attend the hearing.  It was like a field trip for them.  Tyler and I joked about it later.

me: I’m sure they found that glowing orb in the sky very disturbing.

Tyler: Don’t worry, squatters, it happens every day!

me: Yes, and it’s supposed to move across the sky like that.  Don’t worry, it’s not falling!

There were other things I learned, too.  For example, if your father-in-law dies the night before, you should just ask for a continuance rather than send your book keeper to answer in your stead.

Book Keeper: I’m acting as his agent.

Judge: Are you an agent?

BK: No.

J: Do you have a law degree?

BK: No.

J: Do you collect the rent?

BK: No.  I just record what he tells me.

J: Then you can’t act on his behalf.  This case is being sent to trial.  You’re free to leave.

And further more, if you aren’t on the lease, but live in the house, you can’t speak at the hearing.

J: Are you on the lease?

Other Person’s Squatter: No.

J: Then why are you talking?

OPS: I pay the rent.

(Actually, they were in court because NO ONE living there was paying the rent, whether on the lease or otherwise.)

J: You’re not on the lease, leave the gallery.

But, I think my all time favorite was the woman who stood up when her friend/sibling/something’s name was called.

J: Are you Ms. Williamson?

Woman: No.

J: Are you a lawyer?

W: No.

J: Then you can’t speak on her behalf.

W: She can’t be here.  She’s incarcerated.

J: Then she already has a place to live.  She doesn’t need the apartment.

W: But she pay the rent!  (She’s waving around some papers that may have been receipts of some kind.)

J: You’re free to leave the courtroom.

Now please understand that by the time it was my case, I had already seen at least thirty cases getting tried.  I knew what I had to do.  I had completed the extra paperwork.  I even had some notes jotted down on an envelope in the event that other questions were asked of me.

We were off to a great start when they tried to sit at the wrong table.

J: The table to the RIGHT.

And then I pleaded my case.

me: I am seeking $760 of the outstanding balance for August as well as $360 prorated for September for a total of $1120.  In addition, I am seeking damages…

My female squatter, who had been so meek during all of our meetings at the house, showed her true colors.

FS: The repairs have been made.  (And naturally I can’t do justice to the snotty manner in which it was spoken, you’ll just have to use your imagination.)

J: (completely ignoring her) Do you have a receipt?

me: No.  I have en estimate for repairs.

J: Well, you need a paid invoice for the judgment.  (And then she starts hand feeding me.)  Now, if you wanted to seek damages later, once the repairs were made, I could leave it open for you to do so…with a paid receipt.

me: Let’s do that.

(Since I know who made the repairs, I doubt that the repairs would meet my standards…or anyone else’s.  Tyler has been there showing the house and reported back to me.)

J: Now what do you have to say about the rent?

Male Squatter: We owe it.

J: I find for the plaintiff, possession and judgment.  Now you have ten days to vacate the property or appeal.  If you pay the entire month of September and the remainder of August, you may be able to stay unless she chooses to evict you anyway.  You’ll have to talk to her and work something out.

Female Squatter: We would, but she won’t answer her phone.  (Again with the ‘tude.)

S and I decided to distance ourselves from them once I filed the papers.  They left several messages that they wanted to talk and numerous excuses about having money soon that we never returned.  Had they said they wanted to hand us some cash, I would have told them to wander on over.

I was speaking to Spring about it on the drive home.

me: And then she complained that I wouldn’t answer the phone.

Spring: (laughing)  The phone?  You live four houses down the road.

me: I know.  I felt like telling the judge that two Dixie cups and some yarn would have sufficed.  Who needs a phone?

Spring: That’s awesome!

me: It’s so going in the blog.

Now the waiting game begins.  They have ten more days in my house.  And if they don’t leave and haven’t appealed, I get to run to the court house again to file some paperwork for the Sheriff to come and evict them.  Damn it.  Because if there’s anything I need, it’s to have to take more time off work and spend more money to get rid of them, knowing I’ll probably never see a dime.  Still waiting on that justice thing.

So, my phone rang half an hour ago.  It was the squatters.  I toyed with letting it go to voicemail, but since I figured they’d be gone soon enough, and secretly hoped that they’d tell me they had money for me, I made the mistake of answering.

MS: Uh, Nicki, the air conditioning unit isn’t working.  It’s blowing air, but it’s not cold.

me: Seriously.

MS: Yeah.

me: Great.  (Only it really wasn’t.)  I’ll see what I can do.

And I am seeing what I can do.  I called S, in frustration, who called them, who called me back.

S: They say they don’t even know why they’re talking to me since it’s your house.  And they claim they’ll have the money by the 21st, like the deadline. What are you going to do?

And I still don’t know.  I don’t have money to pay for the service call.  The bank is still trying to decide whether to credit my account for the unauthorized Wells Fargo transaction that drained me for nearly three weeks.  J hasn’t paid the child support and may not be able to.  And the squatters…well, we know where they stand.  So, maybe I’ll have no choice but to do nothing.

I spoke to a landlord friend who assured me that worse case scenario, they could call code enforcement on me.  That would eat up a couple of the days between now and the 21st.  And then, code enforcement would order me to fix it within either a 30 or 60 day time period.  In theory, they should be gone by then.  Or maybe they’ll come through with the money they owe so that I can have it fixed.

We shall see.  But given how how effectively the law has worked for me so far, I’m not going to lose any sleep over it.  I’m not a bad person.  I’m just fed up and financially drained.  (Think Scotty on the Enterprise: I’ve given all she’s got, captain!)

Rest assured, I’ll let you know how this turns out.

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 10th, 2009 at 5:43 am and is filed under Just Venting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.