Thanks. After review the form, I decide I will counter the claim.
Luckily, just received a call from notary and said they had the email they sent to previous owner's lawyer a years ago about the hold back and asked us to drop by their office if we need help. Notary also has the same question why there is an additional charge on filing fee & service as long as we hold back $500.作者: Lik 時間: 2011-8-19 12:28
Good luck to you about the court battle. Seems like this guy needs to be taught a lesson.
-Lik作者: cunningchu 時間: 2011-8-19 13:32
I really want to give him a real lesson as chinese is not a crowd to be ripped off. my hubby wants to settle & wants peace of mind but not want to pay that $130 . But I'm definitely don't want to pay a penny unless we defeated.
the previous owner left tons of gargage, include broken freezer, washer, paints, etc when he left. we moved the broken freezer & washer at the baclony, next to the gate. guess what?! he asked someone to move the freezer to the dump area in the complex in the mid-night (we hadn't move in for rennovation). I still remember how i was shocked & furious at that time! we have owned this property for almost 2 yrs, their son (or relativess) poped up to our unit at 6:30am a couple of weeks ago, asking us returning letters for him!! Until right now, we still receive their letters and have to return to sender.
The most headache issue is: when we moved in, cop bi-weekly came to our home to check his son(or relative) is still living here. This issue had been lasted for almost 8 months until the cop asked me to present ID and phone # to proof we had no relationship with those people!
If you were me, will you still draw back and pay the money as they want?作者: FiChai 時間: 2011-8-19 15:44
Seems like the asking $500 is for the client themselves and the extra $130 is suspiciously for the lawyer himself/herself for the service provided. If the original contract of purchase & sale (the offer) clearly stated that the door should be fixed or $500 would be deducted, the seller bears that liability no matter what. The process in between might not be in the correct procedure though.作者: cunningchu 時間: 2011-8-19 19:02
just found the stamp dated is aug 11, but "someone" forward to us by hand today but didn't ask us to acknowledge receipt. Weird. We have to send it back to the small claim court by Thursday. Not sure whether pre-owner is trying to play game but hopefully we could get help and supporting doc from the notary on Monday.作者: daimo 時間: 2011-8-19 22:20
they are just trying the scare tactic ... and you already showed your mellow side from the get go.
I agree. Averagely, a lawyer will charge more than $250-300 per hour. How many hours do you think they need to fight for a $500 case? Do you think the previous owner will spend at least a couple thousands to hire a lawyer just to fight for your $500? You can simply attend to the small claim court as a defendant, show the original legal binding contract with the previous owner's signature, that it's his/her legal liability to bear the $500 door fixing cost.作者: chobit 時間: 2011-8-20 03:08
本帖最後由 chobit 於 2011-8-20 03:11 編輯
I think you should fight, it a chance to learn and experience the legal system. It may cost you some times and a few bucks, but it's worthy作者: cunningchu 時間: 2011-8-20 20:41
We refuse to release the hold back $ because the door he fixed cannot be closed completely while there is a big crack on the "inside" surface of the door.
Since he assigned lawyer to handle when he sold the property to us. The hold back money is part of the deal, is it the responsibilty for the lawyer to follow-up, like filing to small claim on behalf of his client even the deal had been completed almost 2 yrs? Thanks.作者: FiChai 時間: 2011-8-20 21:11
We are not sure if the lawyer who is handling this case was the same one being hired for the previous transaction. He/she might know nothing about the precious deal. For what the previous owner hired him/her this time is to chase the $500 after you, of course no lawyer will refuse doing such a job, even they know no details.
But you have the original offer on hand, have the previous owner's signed, means you know you are not at fault to have the money being held back. However, the progress might not be in the most appropriate procedure, cuz the previous owner should have a choice to either re-fix/replace the door for you or agree that you could hold back the $500. But the original offer is a binding contract so you didn't owe the previous owner that $500 at all.作者: Look4chrisng 時間: 2011-8-21 07:10
I would file a claim for $501 (plus filing fees) for the time and effort spend on cleaning the garbage. Just to piss him off.
Seriously, I think he just to see if he can get $500 from you easily. Fees will eat up that $500 for 0.75hr.作者: Look4chrisng 時間: 2011-8-21 07:11
I think even if you have to go to court. It is a good learning experience provide that you are not going to hire a lawyer.作者: cunningchu 時間: 2011-8-21 13:39
本帖最後由 cunningchu 於 2011-8-21 13:41 編輯
填份claim form, 先發現要俾$26 as filing fess and an additional $100 for counterclaim.
The $130 is the filing fees and it won't be awarded to him. I'm pretty sure.
You have to calculate how much it costed you to clean up the junk and how much you paid to fix the door.作者: cunningchu 時間: 2011-8-21 14:45
本帖最後由 cunningchu 於 2011-8-21 15:01 編輯
回復 daimo
I'm a little bit confusing. he is asking us to pay $500 + $100 (filing) + $30 (service) = $630. if we lose, shouldn't we have to pay the money according to his total claimed amount?
The property was rennovated once we own it and we asked the rennovation guy to fix the door for us. For cleaning up the junk it was around $100 but we havn't receipt & will not counterclaim. I have no idea whether we should considered $130, he requested, as a counterclaim.
Do you know if i could seek advise to fill the form at the small claim's office in Richmond? since, we received the form on Aug 18 but small claim stamp was Aug 11, so, we have to send the form back by Thursday. time is critical.作者: daimo 時間: 2011-8-21 15:22
it's not up to him to determine what he gets. $500+document fees is what he HOPES. he hopes that you will just give him the $ without going to court.
It's the small claim arbitrator who determines if he gets even $500 or not.
Counter sue or not doesn't quite matter, (if i were you I won't, for tactical reasons). it's really about if you want to spend $30+ 2 hours and see if you can save $500. It's well worth the exercise and risk.作者: daimo 時間: 2011-8-21 15:25
you can try to call S.U.C.C.E.S.S. and they work with UBC law school. but it won't meet your schedule.
it's not difficult to do, just google for tips.作者: daimo 時間: 2011-8-21 15:29
my guess, let's say it indeed cost you $100 + the renovation guy's fee (ask him to give you the receipt now) ... say it's $250. so what he will most likely get is $500-$250=$250.
that's the argument. he will have to eat the $130. and, don't worry about if down the road he spends thousands into lawyer's fees. it's 99% not going to be awarded.
so ... $30+2 hours to get $250 back in a worst case scenario? i'll still do it.作者: FiChai 時間: 2011-8-21 21:18
I agree. Life is like that. Sometimes it's not about you are right or wrong, but it's about how much time and effort you need to prove yourself is right! Referring to the original contract of purchase and sale, I am pretty sure the righteous is on your side. However, if you go to court, it's very likely you can keep the held back $500 but may still need to pay for the needed administration fee (the hundred something), that judges by the arbitrator. You may also need to take a day off or so, to attend court. See which thing you rank is more important, righteous or time.作者: cunningchu 時間: 2011-11-30 05:55
hey guys - we WON the trial
Even we didn't counterclaim but at least we won't be bothering anymore.
