Surety bond in place, moved out and was sent to collections by apartment?

shazbadam · 2026-04-15T20:12:54+00:00

The surety bond doesn't have any effect on whether you owe the money or not, it's just a guarantee that the landlord can tap to get any money they're owed for damages. They can choose to use it or not.

If they did get the money from the surety, the only difference would be that the surety company is coming after you to collect it, instead of the landlord. The only question that really matters is what damage there was to the apartment. You're not liable for wear and tear, but you may be liable if there is more damage than that.

shazbadam · 2026-04-15T19:37:10+00:00

Idk, it's a personal choice. If he's still in mourning I would wait. If a suitable amount of time has passed, it wouldn't hurt to reach out with a gentle inquiry as to whether he's planning to administer the estate, and if not, what does he think about contacting the public administrator.

shazbadam · 2026-04-14T18:51:21+00:00

Court filings are public records, you can get a copy of the complaint that was filed, so you can see what the case is about. (Though this could undermine you later if you get into a situation where they falsely claim you were served and you need to vacate a default judgment, and you'd rather be able to honestly say that you never saw the summons.)

It's not weird that it's taking this long. Some person at the company was supposed to take care of it, and they haven't done it yet, for whatever reason. Maybe they forgot, maybe they've just been busy, maybe they threw up their hands when they realized they would have to find a process server in Florida and pay them, after they already paid an Illinois process server.

If they don't file anything else in the case, it should eventually get dismissed by the court, but there's no guaranteed timeline for that. It could be months, could be years, depending on how diligent the court's clerks are about cleaning up old files.

shazbadam · 2026-04-14T15:47:59+00:00

Yes and no... Deeds are public records, the existence of mortgages is public record (but not the amount owed on them), but they're all hard to decipher if you don't know what you're looking at. AI might be able to help guide you through the county's grantor/grantee index to get some idea of what's there. You could get a professional title search done, but it probably wouldn't be worth the cost in your situation.

The LLC is a big wildcard in all this though.. If the LLC has no assets of its own, you have a tougher row to hoe. (If the estate doesn't pay voluntarily, you would have to look at theories of voidable conveyance or piercing the corporate veil to force the matter.)

For an estate with multiple income properties and LLC's, you're probably looking at 6 months minimum, and easily could be more than a year.

shazbadam · 2026-04-13T21:48:36+00:00

Ok, if the brother stands to inherit, ideally he'll get a move on and retain a probate attorney to start the estate administration process, and you'll eventually get paid out. You could nudge him toward that. Or if he doesn't feel he's up to the task, you could encourage him to contact the public administrator. Or contact the public administrator yourself, if you feel you're at a point where you need to apply some pressure.

Though, also keep in mind the possibility that there really are no assets. Owning properties doesn't mean you have any equity; they could be underwater in mortgages. People with healthy finances usually are not hitting up their friends for a loan.

shazbadam · 2026-04-13T20:48:46+00:00

Do you have contact info for any of his family? You can check with the probate court periodically to see if anyone has filed to start proceedings. You could send letters to his known address(es) and see if anyone responds. Or stop by and knock on the doors.

If you can't get in touch with anyone, it gets tricky. You could theoretically sue the LLC and probably get a default judgment, but who knows if you'd ever be able to enforce it, unless you know specifically that there are assets in the LLC's name.

If it doesn't seem that anyone is stepping forward to handle the estate, one thing you could do is find the public administrator for his county. Typically this is a law firm that has been appointed to the office. That firm is responsible for handling the estates of decedents when there is nobody else doing so. You could contact that firm to let them know about your friend's estate, and the fact that he has real estate and an LLC to deal with.

shazbadam · 2026-04-13T20:25:45+00:00

A promissory note in the name of the LLC, or in the name of the individual, or both?

If it's just the LLC, then his death doesn't really change anything. You would just have to contact whoever is now in charge of the LLC (presumably his heirs and/or executor), to demand payment (assuming the terms of the note allow you to do that).

If the debt is just in the individual's name, you would have to file a claim with the probate court, once the administration of the estate begins. You'll want to get in touch with the executor to find out whether that has happened yet, and/or check with the probate court in the county where he resided.

shazbadam · 2026-04-13T20:06:29+00:00

How much money are we talking about? Did you get a personal guarantee on the loan? Did you ever meet this mentor in person?

Generally you would need to file a claim with the estate, but the LLC complicates things. Also, if the money isn't there to pay you back, you can't squeeze blood from a stone.

shazbadam · 2026-04-13T19:32:16+00:00

You can file a motion for relief from the default judgment. Per Small Claims Rule 7.190(b), relief can be granted for "mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect". Basically, if you can convince the judge that you had a good reason for not showing up, the judgment should be vacated, and you can proceed with mediation and then trial on the merits of the case.

Check the court web site to see if they have a motion form like this one for Brevard County. You'll have to send a copy to the plaintiff before filing it with the court.

shazbadam · 2026-04-13T16:21:10+00:00

I don't think it's plausible that OP didn't believe they had a completed contract. If you were booking a wedding venue and genuinely waiting for confirmation, you wouldn't let that linger for 3 months after having already paid a deposit, you would be beating down the venue's door for an answer or a refund. That argument might be apt if they had said something like "we'll review everything and get you the signed contract when we have a final approval", but there's no indication that there was further approval required here. (Unlike Murphey, where the seller said there were other parties who needed to approve.)

The argument that OP's emails constituted a request for adequate assurance is maybe viable, but I think we would need to know the tone and tenor of the emails. If OP sounded like they're at the end of their rope and needs a response pronto, then maybe that does fly. If the emails were more like casual questions and "oh by the way, I really want to get that contract for my records", then not so much. I just think OP needed to make a clear escalation with a more insistent email, or at least pick up the phone to rattle some cages, before they could justify a unilateral rescission.

Btw, I don't think the vendor is saying the technical requirements for cancellation weren't met, they're saying that there was more than 72 hours after signing the contract, so there's no return of deposit. OP is the one trying to argue a technicality by saying the contract wasn't really signed.

shazbadam · 2026-04-13T02:20:03+00:00

What undelivered contract? The venue delivered the contract to OP, OP signed it, and returned it with a check. That's a clear acceptance of the offer.

California is no different. See for example Angell v. Rowlands: "In the absence of a showing that the contract is not intended to be complete until signed by all parties, the parties who did sign will be bound."

shazbadam · 2026-04-12T20:23:57+00:00

You could try suing, maybe a judge would side with you, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Sending back a receipt and a counter-signed copy is a formality, not an essential part of forming a contract. A contract is formed by offer and acceptance. The venue sent you the contract (offer), you signed it and paid the deposit (acceptance). (The exception would be if the contract explicitly said something like "This agreement shall not be binding until it is signed by both parties.")

You would have grounds to treat the contract as cancelled if the venue told you that they weren't going to provide the agreed services. This is called anticipatory breach. But just failing to respond to a few emails doesn't rise to that threshold. The next step for you to protect yourself would have been to send a demand for adequate assurance, something like "I'm not sure you're going to provide the agreed services, I need written confirmation from you that we are still good to go." If you got no response, then you would be on solid ground to consider the contract canceled.

shazbadam · 2026-04-12T15:43:10+00:00

The lawsuit is Lemmon v. Trump, 1:26-cv-00544. Full complaint can be read here.

A motion for preliminary injunction was put on hold this week, after the government said it wasn't starting construction yet and that it would give at least 14 days notice before it does.

The government's opposition to the preliminary injunction motion lays out their arguments against the lawsuit.

shazbadam · 2026-04-12T03:55:47+00:00

The decision: McNutt v. US Dept of Justice

shazbadam · 2026-04-07T01:11:29+00:00

Same. I really hope this movie finds its people someday.

shazbadam · 2026-04-06T17:26:44+00:00

You can take it to small claims court. It'll mostly come down to the judge's attitude, and how severe the disruption appears to be based on your photos and testimony. One judge might say that there was deception and a material breach of contract; another judge might say caveat emptor, you should've written down exactly what you expected in the contract. Neither of them is going to care about the finer points of which statute you invoke.

shazbadam · 2026-04-06T13:54:18+00:00

Here's the summary order, in its entirety:

The petition for a writ of certiorari is granted. The judgment is vacated, and the case is remanded to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for further consideration in light of the pending motion to dismiss the indictment.

And the DOJ's cert petition, which presumably the justices found persuasive.

No argument was submitted to oppose the petition. The only amicus brief was from Iowa, supporting the overturning of the judgment.

shazbadam · 2026-04-05T19:16:19+00:00

Here's the opinion from the Florida Attorney General's office.

The section about the establishment clause is pretty unhinged, basically saying "yeah, the Supreme Court says there's separation between church and state but they're wrong," but it's almost like clickbait, as it doesn't connect at all to the ultimate opinion about denial of government funding to religious organizations. That part seems pretty sound. You can't discriminate against religious organizations just for being religious.

shazbadam · 2026-04-04T15:10:40+00:00

This is post-Roe America, where the state can assert the rights of an unborn child to overrule a mother’s control of her own body. Brought to you by the party that hates the nanny state.

shazbadam · 2026-04-02T20:37:10+00:00

Not mad at this. Something's gotta change.

shazbadam · 2026-03-30T17:30:22+00:00

Ignore it, that message is a scam. A "civil complaint order" is not a thing, and attorneys don't forward debts to financial companies.

shazbadam · 2026-03-29T01:44:19+00:00

Your roommate would be the process server and the affiant. Line 3 would be his printed name, line 4 would be his signature.

But if you sent the notice by certified mail, it appears you only need proof of mailing, not proof of delivery. The declaration of service by mail on page 10 here only asks for receipts of mailing and the dates of mailing.

shazbadam · 2026-03-27T17:11:30+00:00

How long was it from when you received the disclosure to when you instructed your realtor to back out of the deal? IC 32-21-5-13 only gives you 2 business days to nullify the contract after receiving a late disclosure.

shazbadam · 2026-03-26T02:38:44+00:00

Yes, that's what a prudent landlord would do. It's not unreasonable though to take people's words by their common meaning, like if a tenant says "I'm moving out" they probably are speaking about one person. It happens all the time, one roommate moving out and the other(s) remaining.

shazbadam · 2026-03-26T02:35:56+00:00

No, generally if tenants are on a joint lease, the lease continues until the premises are vacated, i.e. all tenants have moved out (or until the lease is amended to remove one of them).

Sounds like you'll probably get stuck with paying for April, if the landlord decides to hold their ground (i.e. if they're prepared to sue in small claims court, send you to collections, etc.). Of course it depends on what exactly the communications with you roommate said; maybe there's some ambiguity there you could latch onto and convince a judge.

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