Posted by blogger on December 27, 2010 at 11:10:51:
“Only a fool represents himself”
Jury trial for simple eviction-Huh? - Posted by Thos
Posted by Thos on December 26, 2010 at 19:56:11:
I filed eviction on Minnesota tenant in October 2010 based on 1) lease expired, and 2) Delinquent in rent. He also has threatened other tenants, moved in girlfriend not on lease, etc. so I want him out.
Guy got a free atty, who’s succeeded in getting him a JURY trial set for late January 2011. His atty told me his goal is to drag it out as long as he can. Tenant has complaints about condition of property (nothing serious or life-threatening, just whining), but MN law clearly requires those to have been submitted in writing and that they were to have been verified by an inspector; he hasn’t done either.
I know the statutes well, having done some evictions before. I feel my case is so solid that I plan to rep. myself. But…going against an atty like this, and a jury, what procedural issues might I encounter that could cause me to lose? If you have experience in this, what would you recommend? Please reply only if you have run into this sort of thing, tell me what you did and why?