Mark Elliott Saltzman’s Answers

There are many websites where you can form an LLC quickly and inexpensively, without an attorney. The problem with the sites is that they ask you to make very important business decisions, on the spot. For example, you will need to identify members and managing members and determine how many of each there will be and their duties. As indicated in the previous answer, the LLC's operating agreement is critical and can result in legal disputes or a smooth running organization. It would be worth...

If you and your husband were behind on rent payments, the landlord can serve you with a 3-day notice to pay the rent or leave. If you don't leave, then the landlord can start eviction proceedings. If the landlord accepts your late rent payments, it might be a good way to resolve the matter, but nothing in what you have described alleviates you from paying the unpaid rent. Let's say that you missed two months of payments. Now, you can make your regular payment, plus a little more for the unpaid...

Ordinarily, your insurance policy will only cover you, up to the policy limits. So, if you are found liable for the accident and a judgment exceeding your limits is entered, you would be personally responsible for the excess. Be sure to report the accident to your insurer. If it appears that your exposure to liability exceeds your limits, your insurer may have you represented by its own lawyer and another lawyer, relating to the excess liability. The insurer will, likely, pay for both lawyers....

You might contact the attorney with two pieces of information. First, you can inform him that he owes you money for 3 years of storing his vehicles. Perhaps, you can settle the account by having him pick up the cars, within 10 days of your letter. That should catch his attention. Second, in the same letter, you can inform him that you intend on treating the vehicles as abandoned, and you will call the local authority to have them towed away. Of course, you would not actually have the car...

You are correct that, if the tenant is entitled to reimbursement, it would be the value at the time of the incident - not the value, when new. Unfortunately, the value, at the time of the incident, is a matter that can be quite subjective. In a large case, parties bring in expert witnesses to value the damaged items. A large machine, for example, may be valued by one side's expert at $100,000, while the other side's expert values it at $80,000. The parties would conduct discovery and present...

Small claims court is perfect for a $1500 dispute. You cannot be represented by counsel, in small claims court. You can, if you want, consult with an attorney, before the trial, to go over what you should say, but it's not usually necessary. I sit as a Judge Pro Tem in small claims court and find that people do very well when they come to court with all their documentation nicely organized and their story well practiced, so that it is clear and concise. In your case, you can simply tell the...

There is either something missing from your question or from the landlord's thinking. Why would the landlord evict you, even if your daughter should not attend the local school? Is the landlord a crusader for the school? Or, alternatively, does your studio apartment lease indicate that the unit may only have one occupant? I suspect (giving the landlord some credit for having sense) that the latter is true. If so, the landlord can evict you for over occupancy. If not, then the landlord has...

First, look at your lease. In most written leases, the responsibility for repair and damage, inside or out, are allocated between the landlord and tenant. Commonly, the lease requires the tenant to have insurance for damage to the inside of the house, while the landlord has insurance for the outside. Read your lease, carefully, or bring it to an attorney, who is familiar with residential leases. If you do not have a lease, you can look to your landlord for repair and reimbursement for the...

That service is good. The clock starts ticking upon service.

As long as the tenant paid the rent to the end of the month, the tenant has the right to occupy the premises. I suggest that, unless you get consent from the tenant, you wait to the end of the month, before changing the locks.