Sarah Elizabeth Peart

This lawyer is pretty surface level & didn’t really dive into the complexity of my case. I feel as if I’ve wasted thousands of dollars for her not to inform me prior to taking the case , that a judge would rule based on the definition of ‘eviction’ under black’s law dictionary (which no average citi...zen, let alone tenant would have common knowledge of) which apparently prevails over the state’s jurisdiction & intellectual property (website) , for the Hillsborough county’s definition of an unlawful detainer not being a eviction. When filling out my lease application “falsely” against my knowledge, I went with a guidance of Hillsborough County’s website & sheriff officer’s affirmation that an unlawful detainer is not an eviction. Sarah backed that up upon consulting, which made me strongly believe that we would win this case. I wasn’t guaranteed a win, & I won’t claim such on her behalf. However, the level of effort in her suggestion was a great misrepresentation. I suggest that Sarah be more realistic in her level of understanding of the law and how efficiently she can or can’t relay that information to the client throughout the process of litigation. At the final hearing, she pretty much accepted my defeat & her $8000 , by not emphasizing to the judge that a common citizen would have no such prior knowledge of legislative definitions over the guidance of the state’s appointed authorities & public information in their website. There was no accountability given to the state for providing tenants w false information when filling out rental applications. The liability of misinformation remained on me, & I felt I was not defended well enough by her in regard to that. She felt her job was done & I had already paid. No suggestions or care of how I could proceed with various areas of countersuits &/or official complaints to remedy my loss with the landlord. Then I was informed that she truly feels she went beyond her job’s standard for me. Although this lawyer was at least able to negotiate a non-judgment order to vacate on my behalf, there could’ve at least been some grace given to follow up with my account being sent into collections following an order of disbursement of funds. It would’ve been nice to know that : even though you paid rent to the clerk of court, the plaintiff can’t withdraw any money until they get your final correspondence. Now I’m dealing with a former landlord that sent my account to collections, prior to allowing the payment due date of 5/18/24 under the mailed invoice received just on 4/27/24 , to pass. As of 5/3/24 , everyone’s paid in full. No more stress for me , thank God. The only positive I can say is that they are flexible in regard to allowing a payment plan for surprise invoices , following the final hearing. I am very relieved to be completely done with this business. They need to do a better job at providing a payment expectation roadmap for which clients can better understand how much they will need to plan to come out of pocket for , throughout the potential hearings required for a specific case. These are all legal factors of necessary information needed, that can impact a tenant’s life forever , a tenant lawyer should take that into the upmost consideration when communicating with clients. Sarah’s unwillingness to even make a phone call on my behalf following the $8000 I had already wasted, left an off putting impression of her business. She upsold the fact that I was not entered a judgment, but it would’ve been cheaper to pay the landlord $3064 to just end the contract earlier, or simply vacate for free, when asked. I’d only expect someone to do their job as well as I do mine when it comes to informing clients on topics they have no prior knowledge of. The initial consultation is about as good as your communication & limited questions, at that time, will get.