Ida reached out to Girling Law seeking assistance with a family member eviction.  Ida had to evict her daughter.  After a Justice of the Peace trial, Ida’s daughter obtained free legal representation.  Ida delivered her notice to vacate improperly.  This created a major problem for Ida.  Ida hired Dallas eviction attorney, Marc Girling.  Girling Law employed a strategy of pursuing a settlement to avoid trial.  This strategy worked well.  Ida’s daughter would later move out of the property before she was lawfully required to.

FAMILY MEMBER EVICTION CASE BACKGROUND:

Ida sought out a Dallas eviction attorney needing to remove her violent, drug addicted daughter.  Several months prior, Ida permitted her daughter to spend several nights in Ida’s Dallas home.  The daughter later refused to leave.  Family member evictions are often emotionally charged.  This was certainly the case with Ida’s eviction.  Ida and her daughter had a tense relationship for several decades.  Things got so bad, Ida had to move out of her own home.  Ida also had to remove her adult granddaughter from the property.  The daughter had recently physically assaulted the granddaughter.

Ida won an eviction judgment in a Dallas Justice of the Peace court without the aid of a Dallas eviction attorney.  However, Ida’s daughter appealed that decision.  The Dallas Clerk later transferred this family member eviction case to a Dallas County Court at Law.  Ida’s daughter then successfully petitioned the Court for a court appointed attorney.

RENTAL PROPERTY LOCATION: DALLAS, TX

EVICTION COURT LOCATION: DALLAS, TX

FAMILY MEMBER EVICTION TRIAL OUTCOME:

There was initially quite little Ida M.’s Dallas eviction attorney could do in the way of negotiating.  Ida’s daughter was homeless.  She clearly wanted to drag out the eviction process.  At least three things made this clear.  First, Ida’s daughter had no lease agreement.  Second, the daughter did not own the property.  Third, the daughter was unconcerned about an eviction judgment on her record.  This is a very common set of circumstances in family member evictions.  This is why family member evictions are so complex.  There was little Ida could offer in the way of incentives for the daughter to leave.  Because there was no lease agreement, Ida could not recover money damages for past, unpaid rent.  This also meant Texas law barred Ida from recovering money damages for her Dallas eviction attorney‘s fees.

Further complicating things was the fact that Ida delivered the notice to vacate improperly.  Ida’s best strategy was to move this family member eviction trial along as quickly as possible, and then try to settle immediately prior to trial.  Had Ida’s Dallas eviction attorney gone before the Judge, it was very likely Ida would lose because of the defective notice to vacate delivery.

Ida’s Dallas eviction attorney went to work, making several calls to the opposing attorney.  Girling Law aggressively pursued settlement.  Ida had to agree to expand the settlement authority she had originally given her attorney.  In doing so, Ida gave the daughter some additional time in the property.  With this additional settlement authority, Ida’s Dallas eviction attorney was able to coordinate a settlement.  The daughter signed the settlement agreement package and moved out prior to the agreed date.

DALLAS EVICTION ATTORNEY OBSERVATIONS:

This case illustrates well how differently things can be go during the second trial before the County Court.  This case also shows that landlords do not always have the upper hand in an eviction.  Being aggressive is not always the best approach.  This is particularly true in family member evictions.

Representing herself before the Dallas County Court at Law would have proven to be very risky for Ida.  Ida would have to navigate the complicated Rules of Evidence.  These rules did not apply in her Justice of the Peace trial.  Worse, Ida was going to have to go toe-to-toe with an experienced tenant attorney in a rather complicate family member eviction.  Ida’s notice to vacate issue was something the tenant’s attorney would certainly not miss.  To learn more about common mistakes landlords make with delivering notices to vacate, order a free copy of Mr. Girlinlg’s book Eviction Dismissed!  The 10 Most Common Mistakes Texas Landlords Make in Eviction Court.  Ida’s decision to hire Girling Law as her Dallas eviction attorney was wise because she could have never known the risks she was facing.

Tenants who do not care about having an eviction on their record are often uninterested in negotiating.  It is often challenging to obtain a settlement negotiation in a family member eviction.  Ida’s Dallas eviction attorney‘s  strategy to pursue settlement proved to be very effective.  Ida got possession of her property much earlier than she would have had she represented herself.  She also avoided having to pay much higher attorney fees for representation in a second attempt to evict her daughter.  Ida would have also otherwise faced legal expenses for the second Dallas County Court at Law trial which was sure to follow.