In an eviction process, can a landlord lie to a tenant in regard to a court date without being punished?
Answer:
The landlord is definitely in the wrong but without a witness verifying that your landlord told you the court date had already passed (or if you got it in writing or taped him/her saying it). But it would other wise be a "he/she said she/he said" case meaning you'd be out of luck since it's your responsibility to find out when the actual court date was/is. There's not a lot you can do about it unless as I said (and several have said) you have a witness verifying that the landlord died.
But at least take some comfort? What the landlord did was wrong, and if found guilty, YES can be punished. but if not found guilty because there's no witness or proof of the lie, "what goes around will come around". that landlord will be "paid" for lying!
Good luck
No, but it is up to the tenent to find the court dates based upon the papers you are served with. No action can be taken up on the tenent without the appropriate papers being served (or several attempts to serve). Unfortunately if you dont have any kind of documentation or credible witnesses, you may have no claim agains the landlord.
Possibly. Lying isn't illegal and I imagine it's your responsibility to verify court dates with a phone call.
No he must give you a paper showing the exact date of the hearing otherwise you could go to the court and file papers with the judge that you never recieved notice of hearing in sufficent time in order to prepare your defense and your case. I am not sure what state you are in, but most states require the paper served either by certified mail or by sheriffs service. Go to the court house and ask for the papers. Realize the employees of the court house can not give you any legal advice or assistance and if you are not sure of the legal process you need a lawyer.
Just move out and go on with your life.. If the guy lied then he'll lie in court and say he got confused and got the dates wrong! If you had it in writing then maybe but what are you going to get for 4 days?? If your being evicted then he prob has a better case then you do. Just find a new place to live.
If you can prove that the landlord lied about the court date, you have legal recourse. Go to the court where your eviction case was (or will be) heard and inform the clerks of your situation. Make sure your proof is concrete like a voicemail message, an email, a text.. something that shows he/she misinformed you. If the case has not been heard yet, bring your proof to court and address it then.
I was a property supervisor in Texas 15 years ago, but I am pretty sure not much has changed. In order for eviciton you need to be served by a process server (either law enforcement officer or civilian). That is a summons which would tell you when you need to appear in court. There will be no question as to when you need to be there. There cannot be an eviction without it. NOW, they can send you an eviction notice, but that is only a notice from your apartment manager or management company. You cannot be legally forced out without being served, taken to court then forced out by the county/perish law officials.
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