Minor Legal Question

[MorningStar]

A friend of mine is being sued by her former, lying slumlord. I'm helping her compose a letter to the court, but I'm not sure about the salutation.

To Whom it May Concern?

Dear Sir or Madam?

She didn't mention a specific name on the papers to respond to, so I'm not sure, but she has to submit her response by tomorrow. I appreciate the help! She doesn't have a printer, so I'm hoping to print this off for her and deliver it in the morning. She finally located an attorney today who can help her.

[Duncan]

A friend of mine is being sued by her former, lying slumlord. I'm helping her compose a letter to the court, but I'm not sure about the salutation.

To Whom it May Concern?

Dear Sir or Madam?

She didn't mention a specific name on the papers to respond to, so I'm not sure, but she has to submit her response by tomorrow. I appreciate the help! She doesn't have a printer, so I'm hoping to print this off for her and deliver it in the morning. She finally located an attorney today who can help her.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4909842_write-professional-letter-judge.html

if you could get a name that would help and then you can figure out the address after, hope this helps!

[MorningStar]

http://www.ehow.com/how_4909842_write-professional-letter-judge.html

if you could get a name that would help and then you can figure out the address after, hope this helps!

Thank you! I wish I had the court papers in front of me so I could figure a name to use and the case number. She didn't think there was a name on there. Hmm. I've got a few names for her slumlord though.

[frankenstein]

depending on the state, there may a tenant advocates group.

[bluebell]

Dear sir or madame will work just fine if you don't know the name. As long as it get's mailed to the right place and has the right paperwork with it, they will be able to figure out who it belongs to (that has been my experience anyway).

[MorningStar]

depending on the state, there may a tenant advocates group.

We have something like that, but no one was available to help her until May, so a friend hooked her up with a lawyer willing to help her. I included in the letter the eleventy million ways her landlord violated the law - entering her home without permission and without the required notice, not maintaining a weather tight condition on the home, failing to respond to maintenance requests within the required amount of time, failing to give her an inspection checklist when she moved in, failing to send her her deposit within 14 days or an itemized list of charges withheld after she moved out, failure to comply with health and safety codes, and more! I can't believe this guy. I think he's counting on her being too sick or poor to do anything about it and win by default, but he thought wrong.

[MorningStar]

Dear sir or madame will work just fine if you don't know the name. As long as it get's mailed to the right place and has the right paperwork with it, they will be able to figure out who it belongs to (that has been my experience anyway).

Thank you!

[Garden Girl]

I would probably do something like this:

TO: DISTRICT COURT #101

Lincoln County

205 Olive Street

Lincoln City, OR 97367

FROM: Jane Doe

12345 Oak Drive

Lincoln City, OR 97367

ATTN: (Name if known)

RE: Case Number 456

Smith vs. Doe

In regard to the above cited Case Number 456, Smith vs. Doe, I offer the following response:

1. Mr. Smith is my former landlord at Silverwood Apartments, 789 Main Street, Lincoln

City, OR.

2. I lived at Silverwood Apartments, Apt. #204, for the period June 1, 2008 through

September 4, 2010.

3. While I was a resident, Mr. Smith violated the law numerous times by:

. entering my apartment during my absence without my permission, and without

prior notice

. failed to respond to maintenance requests within the required amount of

time

. etc, etc, etc

SUBMITTED BY__________________________________________ DATE______________________

You will want to keep the response to the point, businesslike, and accurate...

Hope this helps...

GG

EDIT TO ADD: The above post does NOT show the "style" that I typed it, i.e., the spacing is different... even on the post to be edited it is correct, but when it prints out it is not the way I spaced it. For instance, under "TO:" the second line "Lincoln County" should start right under the "D" of District, and under #1, the sentence begins two spaces in from the 1. and, the second line starts in line with "Mr."

Under 3., double line space and start the "bullet" right under the "W" of While... type the bullet, and then two spaces and "entering"

I think this style is a crisp, efficient, statement of facts...

Good luck.

Edited April 20, 2011 by Garden Girl

[MorningStar]

Thank you! I really appreciate the help. My friend met with a lawyer yesterday for a bit and he asked, "Wow. Did you write this?" She said, "No, my friend did." He said, "Well, I was going to tell you we needed to write a summary, but now we don't. This has plenty of information." He also told her that her landlord did something else illegal - getting her to sign a separate lease from the one she had through the county. He will only get paid if she wins, so that's good.

[rpn]

If this is her answer to the complaint, it isn't in the form of a letter. You use the style from the other paperwork, title it answer. Then you merely goes down the points and says for each paragraph, admitted, denied, or don't have enough information. And then adds any affirmative defenses like statute of limitations or laches (that the landlord is a bad guy without clean hands and is there not entitled to any equitable remedy), and any counter claims (like ways the landlord violated the contract and damages tenant experienced because landlord didn't honor the contractor or claims for violation of the fair debt collection act or claims for defamation and negligence and intentionally infliction emotional distress or whatever --- claims for which small claims may not have jurisdiction)

Most states have the required forms for small claims and landlord tenant disputes online.