Retaliatory Eviction

A friend of mine was having trouble paying the rent, resolved it amicably with his landlords that he would move out and make payments. He was told to put the 30 day notice of intent to vacate in writing and did so. The landlords not only accepted his 30 day notice to vacate, they amended it to say that he would make payments, although how much and when was unknown and unstated on the document, then all three parties signed.

Two days later, the landlords show up with a hand-written eviction notice, notice.

He was able to find a place where he could move and store his belongings and get moved out within a few days. He and the landlords did a walk through of the residence, and there are still pictures and video to show that there is no damage outside of normal wear and tear. The landlords were very rude and belligerent during the walk through and ejected him from the property before the walk through was completed.

30 days has passed since he has moved out and no security deposit has been returned, nor has an itemized list of "damages" been sent to him.

He has however received a summons that he is being sued for $2,900+ for default of lease.

An answer and counterclaim has already been filed with the courts. He will be representing himself.

The question is this. What are his chances of proving that since there was a signed 30 day notice of intent to vacate, there is no default of lease? Also, what are the chances that the magistrate will recognize that ORC 5321.16 has been violated by the landlords not returning his security deposit, or sending an itemized list of any damages that they may claim?

Now there is a new twist.

After submitting the answer and counterclaim, a letter from the municipal court has been received, stating that due to the amount of money claimed in the counterclaim, the case has been dismissed and moved to civil, instead of small claims court. However, no new court date has been sent.

Any help or advice that anyone could offer would be greatly appreciated.

Never mind.. we found a lawyer. Since the original case/court date has been vacated, we have some time to get control of things.