Legal Aid abt small claim

cunningchu

又係我...黑仔王 水蛇春 的求助, 請耐心細閱

我地依家住的地方1.5年前買, 買時, 已經係合約講明話storage度門係爛, 要求整好, 否則會扣起$500.

到我地收樓當日, 發覺前業主換左度門, 但係門入面裂左 (係門背面好大的裂開左), 門亦唔係完全可以關上, 同時亦留下大量的垃圾, 當時agent 已寫信 (連相)比對方的經紀話我地要扣起錢, 因為度門同垃圾...雙方拉据後, 我地的經紀同我地講己經過左俾錢的日期, 我地的錢過左戶比對方, 無得扣啦. 之後, 無再理我地.

點知我地的notary (我地無用律師買樓) 唔知點樣成功幫我地扣起$500, 之後以notary的名義俾張支票我地.   我地見既然扣起左,根係要啦.   過多幾個月, 因為我地買左另1間 APT, 再去返呢間notary辦手續, 佢地同我地講上次扣起果$500, 俾對方律師發信追佢地拎, 佢話唔駛理亦無問我地點處理, 更無話要我地比.

點知今朝收到small claim專人送信比我地, 話我地要俾番$500, 另加$100 filing & $30 services, 合共$630.  

我想問有無得拗 (我仲有keep agent sent 俾對方的電郵話度門, 垃圾等間題及相片, 而扣起$500)....打去俾notary 唔理我地..老實講, 我覺得錯不在我,唔想俾, 但又會攪好耐同煩, 就算俾都係$500, 無理由要俾多$130, 有無free legal aid可以問?  謝謝.

daimo

Just proceed into small claim, you can fight your own case.

I doubt they will hire a lawyer for $500.  so it's just 2 of you fighting each other ... you have a chance.

cunningchu

我岩岩再睇番文件, 份表格stamp 8/16, 但個西人今朝先拎黎, 俾我無話係咩黎, 問我同老公個名係咪係度住, 就"責"左份野俾我, 又無叫我簽收. 佢走左我望封信先知咩事.

同埋果$500係用電腦印, 但其餘的$100同$30就手寫, 想問下$130係咪前業主的私人額外索償.  同埋果西人係SMALL CLAIM的職員定係前業主的FRIEND, 甚至係佢本人?!

cunningchu

回復 2# daimo

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.

Lik

Good luck to you about the court battle. Seems like this guy needs to be taught a lesson.

-Lik

cunningchu

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?

FiChai

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.

cunningchu

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.

daimo

they are just trying the scare tactic ... and you already showed your mellow side from the get go.

you should fight.

Trust me, lawyers don't look at $500 case.

FiChai

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.