Big mess--our word against ex-landlord's in lawsuit

[lghtnin33]

Our ex-landlord is also my husband's ex-boss. He is suing is for over $8000 in supposed damages that we did to his house while we were living there. We "rented" the property next door to his business for 15 years--there was no written agreement. The house was in a dilapidated state when we moved into it. The landlord did not provide the proper maintenance to upkeep the house so in the state it was in already and then 15 more years of wear and tear did not do it any favors. We bought a house and were in the process of trying to move when he had someone come in to "clean up" and take a bunch of our personal things (diplomas, yearbooks, items that our children made when they were younger, educational materials, couch, tv, etc) to the dump. He was even going to have our boat hauled away, but they guy he called to haul it called us first. He is stating in the lawsuit that we "abandoned" the property in August of 2007, but our rent was paid through September and the closing date on our home was September 10th, so we didn't even start moving any of our things until that date and didn't even spend a night in the new house until the 14th. Of course, the only thing we can provide documentation of is the closing date of our house. There are no receipts or contracts or anything else dealing with the rest of it. We feel we have to counter sue just to protect ourselves. I'm afraid that with no documentation the judge is going to side with the homeowner and that we will not only have to pay our attorney's fees and court costs, but the landlord's as well, in addition to the settlement he is asking.

[annjd]

Get as much evidence as you can. Witnesses, photos, your records and notes etc.

You will be surprised all the information you may have when you really pull it all together. It should help build your case, and it will show you are serious about your position/claims.

Thank you so much for the answer. I think witnesses will be our main source of evidence. We will have to subpeona the guy that he had throw all of our things away so he can attest to exactly what all was taken. Also, the mechanic that was called to haul our boat away will be called. I have read other posts on here about tenants even getting evicted (which we weren't) and the landlords wanting to get rid of their stuff and people telling them all the steps they had to go through before disposing of the things (even keeping them in storage for 30 days after all the steps). This man did NONE of those things (posting notices, contacting us, etc. and we were right next door!).