Court Friday for Wongful Detainment...m

[Giggles]

Hi Soc...me again :-)

State is MD and on Friday is the court date for the Wongful Detainment that my STBX BF filed on me.  I have been gathering my evidence and found an old AOL IM conversation we had about purchasing the house.  His side of the converstation states that "WE" would be buying the house.  I've also put together an outline of what I want to say to the judge.   Could I get your opinon on it?

Court Information:

1. Mr. D expressed to me the willingness to purchase a home for us and our family prior to the summer of 2002 (see AOL IM conversation).  In August of 2002 Mr. D and I actively sought out a home to purchase

2. When Mr. D and I purchased this house in October of 2002, I voiced my concerns that something of this nature could happen.  At that time, Mr. D assured me that this was "OUR" house for our family.  That he had no intensions of ever having me or my children removed from "our" home and that this house was just as much mine as it was his. Therefore it is my position that an oral partnership agreement exists between Mr. D and I, that the home is partnership property, and that I am entitled to remain in the home.

3.  For the past 2 plus years I have provided most of the cooking, cleaning and other domestic issues in the home and lived as if the home were indeed "My" home as our agreement states.

4.  We further agreed that he would pay the mortgage and I would pay the utilities; provide the food and the household supplies along with the domestic support (cooking, cleaning, etc).  I have canceled checks that show that the utility payments are current.  

5.  As a matter of fact, Mr. D on Tuesday, May 17th, handed me the current Electric bill that he had just retrieved from the mailbox.  I no longer have access to the mailbox because on May 8th, Mr. Daughton, unknowingly to me, removed my mailbox key from my set of keys.

6.  I was also under the impression that Mr. D and I had come to an agreement on Sunday, May 15th, that he would not have me forcibly removed from the home prior to me finding my own residence.

7.   I am actively seeking a new residence and I have been approved for a 502 Loan from the USDA Dept of Rural Housing (provide copies of approval).  This approval expires on 7/10/05 and only allows for a 60-day extension.  It is my intention to find a residence prior to the original expiration date.

8.   I respectfully ask the court to dismiss this action of Wrongful detainment due to our oral partnership agreement and request the time necessary to seek out my new residence.  

[socrateaser]

 Please don't take my comments below as demeaning. I am being extremely tough on you, because I need you to see how your facts could be interpreted by the court, quite differently than you may now expect.

>Court Information:
>
>1. Mr. D expressed to me the willingness to purchase a home
>for us and our family prior to the summer of 2002 (see AOL IM
>conversation).  In August of 2002 Mr. D and I actively sought
>out a home to purchase.

Do you have any foundation for the email's authenticity?  Is the email still stored in your AOL personal folder, or on AOL's commercial servers, where you cannot modify it. If your bf appears without an attorney, then he will not know how to object to your offer of evidence. But, if he has an attorney, it is likely that your email will be excluded as being without proper foundation, unless you can show that it is what it is purported to be.

This hearing is not small claims court. You need to be prepared to testify and introduce evidence and examine your bf as a witness. If you are not, the judge will say, "Uh huh, buh bye, now!"

>2. When Mr. D and I purchased this house in October of 2002, I
>voiced my concerns that something of this nature could happen.
> At that time, Mr. D assured me that this was "OUR" house for
>our family.  That he had no intensions of ever having me or my
>children removed from "our" home and that this house was just
>as much mine as it was his. Therefore it is my position that
>an oral partnership agreement exists between Mr. D and I, that
>the home is partnership property, and that I am entitled to
>remain in the home.

This is your word against your bf's. If you believe that a partnership exists, then you need to file a petition for partnership dissolution and breach of fiduciary against your bf, and obtain a restraining order preventing your eviction from the property, until your case is heard. You will not get this type of relief from a court hearing on a "wrongful detainer" action.

>
>3.  For the past 2 plus years I have provided most of the
>cooking, cleaning and other domestic issues in the home and
>lived as if the home were indeed "My" home as our agreement
>states.

Same comment as #2, above. I strongly doubt that the court will find a partnership on your evidence, so this tack will fail. If you want to make this argument, you need to file for a partnership disassociation and for breach of fiduciary.

>4.  We further agreed that he would pay the mortgage and I
>would pay the utilities; provide the food and the household
>supplies along with the domestic support (cooking, cleaning,
>etc).  I have canceled checks that show that the utility
>payments are current.

Hopefully, your cancelled checks are sent to the utility company. But, once again, this is not proof that you agreed to a partnership for ownership of the home. It's only proof that you may have a partnership for other purposes.

The traditional means of demonstrating an equitable interest in real property, is (1) paying the property taxes, and (2) paying for, or making improvements to the property. This doesn't include repairs to the property, e.g., fixing a floor tile, or steam cleaning carpets. It means replacing the carpet or the floor entirely, i.e., substantial modifications affecting the property's value (usually equal to or greater than $500).

>5.  As a matter of fact, Mr. D on Tuesday, May 17th, handed me
>the current Electric bill that he had just retrieved from the
>mailbox.  I no longer have access to the mailbox because on
>May 8th, Mr. Daughton, unknowingly to me, removed my mailbox
>key from my set of keys.

You are mixing up two unrelated issues. If you believe that you are being harrassed, then you need to file for a restraining order. If you owe on the utility bill, then you certainly are entitled to see the bill that you owe. This argument is without merit.

>
>6.  I was also under the impression that Mr. D and I had come
>to an agreement on Sunday, May 15th, that he would not have me
>forcibly removed from the home prior to me finding my own
>residence.

Stating that you are under an impression, is not the same as stating that you have an agreement. You are contradicting your own argument. Either you have an agreement or you don't, and if you do, then you need to prove it with more than just your word against your boyfriend's.

>7.  I respectfully ask the court to dismiss this action of
>Wrongful detainment due to our oral partnership agreement.  I
>am actively seeking a new residence and request the time
>necessary to achieve such residence.
>

It's "wrongful detainer," not "wrongful detainment." And, here again, you are attempting to assert a cause of action over which this court has no jurisdiction. If you intend to plead an interest in title, then you must make that pleading in writing and then support your pleading with proof within 10 days.

Furthermore, your statement that you are actively seeking a new residence could be used by the court to draw the inference that not even you believe that a real partnership exists over the home, because, you are preparing to abandon it. This is a biiiig mistake. Do not go into court with the idea that you are seeking merely to extend your tenancy, because the court will blow you off.

If you act like a tenant, then that's how you will be treated. If you act like an owner, then the court may think twice about your ownership interests. But, so far, from everything that you have posted, now, and in previous threads, you appear to believe that you are really no more than a tenant.

[Giggles]

:-)

Tis quite ok Soc...I appreciate your harshness, it keeps me from looking like a fool :-)

I do not believe he will have an attorney and he very well may request that it be dismissed??  

1.  If he doesn't, will I have an opprotunity to state my case?

2.  I should then call him as a witness and ask him if he stated that the house was purchased for "our" benefit?  As for the AOL IM conversation...it was something I saved on my work computer :-(

3.  He did state that he would not have them throw us out, this conversation took place after a DV incident that took place on Friday night.  I should have...but didn't call the police because sadly, I still love him and didn't want to see him go to jail or cause him those kinds of problems. Ugh..this is such a mess!!!

[socrateaser]

>I do not believe he will have an attorney and he very well may
>request that it be dismissed??  
>
>1.  If he doesn't, will I have an opprotunity to state my
>case?

You certainly will have an opportunity, however, so far, you haven't made one that I think is a winner.

>
>2.  I should then call him as a witness and ask him if he
>stated that the house was purchased for "our" benefit?  As for
>the AOL IM conversation...it was something I saved on my work
>computer :-(

I would have a set of questions prepared that will hopefully lead him into admitting that a partnership exists, without actually asking him up front. Understand, that a partnership has a very specific legal meaning, i.e., "an agreement between two or more persons to carry on a business for profit." So, if he admits that he bought the house and that both of you were contributing to its "purchase" (magic legal word -- don't use "making mortgage payments, or "paying bills" or "rent." You want him to agree that you were both contributing towards the home's PURCHASE), then you can assert an interest in title because the property is partnership property. If he doesn't, then you're probably screwed.

>3.  He did state that he would not have them throw us out,
>this conversation took place after a DV incident that took
>place on Friday night.  I should have...but didn't call the
>police because sadly, I still love him and didn't want to see
>him go to jail or cause him those kinds of problems. Ugh..this
>is such a mess!!!

The question is: Does he still love you? Because if he doesn't, then your feelings are your enemy and they will destroy you. All the evidence that I see makes me believe that he does not love you, so, get rid of those feelings and go in fighting, because if you don't, you will lose.

Lawsuits are business, not personal -- fail to recognize this at your peril.

[Giggles]

And that's part of this whole mess.  He originally just wanted to seperate so we could "work on things" and asked me to find a place to rent.  Well, I looked into it and I couldn't afford anything in this area.  I did look into purchasing and found due to my income levels and the fact that I have 2 small children, that I qualified for a special homeowership program.  This up-set him and he stated "If you buy a place, then you wont want to move out of it" and I replied "I didn't want to move out of this one".

Thanks Soc....I'll let you know how it goes!!!

[Giggles]

Say he does get the judgement, would something like that go on my Credit report?

Thanks!!!

[socrateaser]

>Say he does get the judgement, would something like that go
>on my Credit report?
>
>Thanks!!!

Hmmm...I don't know. Generally, only money judgment info is requested by the Credit Reporting Agencies (big three CRAs: TransUnion, Equifax, Experian). But, this is a judgment for wrongful detainer, i.e., an eviction. So, it's possible that creditors would want to know if you've ever been evicted.

If you really want to know for sure, call the CRAs and ask them. Then, come back and educate everyone!