Kenneth Herbert Carlson

I went from being terrified of being evicted because of Covid shutdown and loss of earnings to feeling empowered and having fun representing myself "In Pro Per". When my big corporate landlord raised my rent by $200 as soon as the emergency order was lifted in LA, I knew I couldn't afford it. I've be...en here for 12 years and I've always been a good tenant and paid on time. There are covid protections in place that you can read about on Ken's fantastic informative website. Landlord's are counting on that fact that you will be ignorant of the laws and be intimidated into moving out so they can raise the rent even more. I am trusting and doing everything according to Ken's brilliant system. I'm so glad and thankful to stop feeling like a victim and start beating my narcissistic bully landlord and his dishonest attorneys at their own game. If you represent yourself, keep a good attitude and be willing to run down to the court house to file papers and get orders at the drop of a hat. I had to run back a few times because I forgot something but Ken's system works! It will cost money, but not nearly as much as if you've hired an attorney on retainer. Think of all the money you are will be saving by staying in your home during this process and not paying rent. I'd much rather give it to Ken and still save a ton of money in legal fees. Ken has a great sense of humor and has calmed me down and encouraged me every step of the way. We still have quite a ways to go but I can honestly say, I trust Ken Carlson. I'm looking forward to winning and working out a way with my landlord to stay in my home. Ken's staff is great too. Just stay organized with a good filing system, record your calls so you don't miss anything and do some deep breathing and stay positive! You'll be fine if you follow Ken's instructions exactly. Thank you so much Ken, Julie and Keven. I truly appreciate you.

Ken prefaces by saying, it’s going to look like you’re losing, but our goal here isn’t to have our motions granted, rather we’re playing the system. That system, is a time game. Most of the folks fighting the evictions are exploiting loopholes from the restrictions on evictions and so in essence,... as long as you follow their little roadmap to finality, you milk another 6 months out of your current situation. Where you run into trouble is if you countersue, or file a complaint regarding habitability. As others have mentioned, Ken is competent although incredibly egotistical and lacks any integrity whatsoever. He’s entirely driven monetarily and will fail to communicate unless there’s a pressing reason AND he’s been pre-paid. It’s a crapshoot with regard to who you’ll end up with after Ken performs the consult. We’ve had the misfortune of dealing with Mike Hanna. Not only will you spend thousands on an eviction, but thousands more on a counterclaim suit, you’ll consistently miss deadlines and hearings, be instructed to refuse seemingly reasonable offers to settle and end up significantly worse through it all. Your motions and documents are rife with misspellings, misinformation and glaring inaccuracies—you’ll spend ages editing and revising elementary mistakes. After a year of enduring this, and at hearing how desperate we were for him to just perform, Mike suggested we file bankruptcy as a final last laugh to the landlord. So we paid nearly ten thousand dollars between multiple cases that went no where and weren’t settled, and as the final laugh we can ruin our financial situation and credit for the next five years? We’ve been garnished and will likely have no choice but to do so at this point. I imagine that in cases where landlords are in a weaker position and settle, clients end up happy campers. In cases where the landlords lawyerup and don’t back down folks really get the wrong end of the stick. I would never recommend this route to anyone after going through what we have, and I suggest you learn from our mistakes. These guys are horrendous and Ken (or Mike) no longer represent actual clients in proceedings (you’ll do all the work pro per) because they ran into some legal trouble themselves and came close to not being able practice law anymore. I suggest you do some research before making a decision. All of these folks come with baggage and a unique legal history to include run-ins with the law (on the opposite side of the scope they’re representing), bizarre complaints confirmed by their governing bodies and quirks that can only be defined by their varying levels of veiled criminality. No matter how desperate you are, these jackwagons are not the choice.

To summarize, I had a commercial landlord who was ruthless during the Newsome-mandated shut downs of non-essential businesses in CA. In good faith I continued to pay 50% of the lease payment even while we weren't allowed to open. When the lease expired, the landlord was demanding $25,000 of back ren...t that was due "due to COVID." I consulted Ken and his team, and he and Brittany Torbert, Esq. provided me with case law that insulated me from having to pay anything as they found case law that provided protection for me. I am very grateful for their knowledge and resourceful nature! I will use them again, I am a business owner with multiple businesses and leases. I can rely on this team they are phenomenal!! Leslie Gray Entrepreneur

Literally. This man is hands down the best attorney I have EVER interacted with. He is so intelligent, that I feel bad that he has to "dumb it down" for us, but thank god for his immense patience. All the points that were made by the 'Anonymous post dated ' Oct 2020' are in total alignment. Without... stumbling upon Ken, I would have been bullied into walking away from a property where I spent tons of $$ fixing repairs and deferred maintenance. I was so pissed off (still am) and frustrated at how a landlord could have literally taken advantage of someone so badly and then try to penalize them with an eviction (the nerve), especially during a pandemic! The landlord im in a lawsuit with, found a non-rent related reason to evict to get around the COVID 19 moratorium and cited ( unauthorized guests, and other BS for reasons) . I cant believe courts allow landlords to waste their time with such frivolous evictions that are really retaliatory against the tenant. Like the anonymous post stated, most of what you learn from Ken is that you're going to be playing a game against a rigged system (everyone from Judges to the court clerks). That was such a crude realization. It makes you see a world of complete injustice. I did also note that you have to be an active player in your lawsuit. If you are passive this wont work. You have to be pro-active, ask questions, watch your case on the court website, retrieve documents, upload documents to Ken and follow up in a diligent process like you're learning a new language. You have to talk to clerks, go to the courthouse, and literally immerse yourself in this process. Id be lying if I said I wasn't confused at times about what documents said, where to look for dates, how his strategy would ultimately work out and what to expect, and for someone that likes to be in control, and know the details before moving forward, there have been times where I have had to just 'let go' and trust that Ken has it.That is difficult thing to do. I don't think that someone who just likes to "set it and forget it' would do well given that this process can consume your time and require you to learn this subject matter very quickly. I have actually appreciated how much Ive learned in the process. It is so refreshing to see how much Ive learned going through this process that I would have never learned with any other attorney helping me. I cant thank this man enough.

I've been consulting Ken since April 2017 and he has helped me to deal with a bully-landlord - a big corporation that wanted to walk into my apartment and start renovating my kitchen, bathroom, closet and make me and my pets live in a construction zone. Mr. Ken Carlson was very supportive from the fi...rst consultation back in April 2017 up until today. He is simply amazing. He will take care of you. Trust him. He is very knowledgeable, has over 30 years of experience dealing with landlords, and is ALWAYS on your side. Every single time. Even when you want to give up. Even when you feel you can't do this any more. He will be there for you to support you. Every single time after a consultation with Ken I felt a lot better, I was educated on my rights, on the next steps, and the best way to approach the situation. I will always recommend Ken to my friends, colleagues, and I strongly recommend him to you. I've worked with attorneys before, but I've never met an attorney who was this passionate about protecting tenant's rights. Here is the full story: The landlord wanted for all of us, tenants to pack up our kitchens, bathrooms, and closets and live in our apartments out of boxes, while they are renovating our apartments and then raise our rent. They did not proactively offer us any rent reduction or moving to another apartment or a hotel while the work is being done, and they told us that our pets will need to be crated while the construction workers are demolishing, banging, hammering and drilling in our apartments! Just typing this now I'm thinking... is this even real? What kind of monster landlord would do something like that to his tenants? And all of this is in the prime area of LA for $2,200 per month! There is more to the story: when these renovations are being done the kitchen is separated from the living room by a plastic with a zipper, there is no proper floor or ceiling, wires sticking out, dust everywhere, including your bathtub, sinks, stove, floor, you might even not have a sink for a few days, and you are pretty much walking and living in dust, extreme noise (nuisance), several construction workers having full access to your apartment during the business hours, who are extremely loud, even play music (!), hammering, drilling and demolishing your place.... Imagine yourself working from home, or leaving your pets in these conditions, or even leaving your private belongings (documents, laptops, other valuables with construction workers and your door wide open during the day!). Well, of course, this is illegal according to California law and the law of my city, but the landlord persisted on doing the renovations in my apartment as all of the apartments were being renovated at the same time. The problem is that many tenants don't know that this is illegal and simply comply without thinking that they have rights. Mr. Carlson has helped me through this situation. In the end, the landlord not only DID NOT enter my apartment to do the renovations at all (The landlord even attempted to evict me!), while the rest of the apartments were renovated, they offered a few favorable to me options and offered to pay me according to law as they got desperate to complete the renovations in the building. Ken is very knowledgeable and supportive. He will take care of you, just make sure to follow his directions. He is simply amazing. I've recommended Ken Carlson to other tenants and they are currently working with him, and are also very happy with his service and are amazed by how passionate he is about protecting us, tenants.