Recent Answers to Lease Contract Agreement Law Questions

I recently relocated my office and the old locations’ landlord is withholding my security deposit in bad faith, no itemized deductions for any claimed repairs, and no supporting documentation for anything reasons they are using to hold my deposit. I would like to send a demand letter to them and then prepare for small claims. I just have a question on how much i am allowed to sue for. I heard it is something like 3x of the amount, plus all other reasonable fees. Would like some counsel here.

Kelvin R.

Answered Aug 2, 2022

Justice Courts have jurisdiction of civil matters in which the amount in controversy is no more than $20,000 (or $10,000 if the case was filed prior to September 1, 2020), exclusive of interest and court costs, but including attorney fees, if any. I presume someone has mentioned to you theories of treble damages recoverable under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act (DTPA) for knowing and intentional deceptive acts. While the DTPA is a broad, ranging statute, it cannot convert what appears a purely a breach of contract claim into a DTPA claim (in most instances) absent an separate act by the landlord. You should consult a contracts / DTPA lawyer who can help you evaluate the viability of your claims. Start with your lease agreement. Hope this helps. Kelvin www.roqski.com

My Dad died early 2021 and he leased a car and the lease end date is in 2 days on May 18th 2022. I’m his son and I was with him at the lease signing in 2019. I basically drove the car for personal use and to drive my Dad to wherever he wanted to go and to his doctor’s appointments. After his death I applied for a lease transfer but was denied. The monthly lease billing statements after that now state my Dad’s name Estate. The car company never told me to return car so I kept making the monthly lease payments. I asked the car company if I can purchase the vehicle and they said I have to be the Executor of my Dad’s Estate. I said to them aren’t you acknowledging that I’m the Executor/Administrator by not telling me to return the vehicle and accepting my payments after my Dad died. There’s no way for me to become Administrator of my Dad’s Estate in time before the lease end date because of the Court case back log. Lawyer friends of mine say it can take months. A couple of weeks before the lease end date I decided to give it a try anyway and filed paperwork to become Administrator if my Dad’s Estate even though he really doesn’t have an Estate. I called the Surrogate Court office and spoke to a clerk about my situation and he said to enter the car lease in the personal property area on the forms. I’m waiting for something in the mail but don’t even know if my paperwork has been looked at yet. I need to become Administrator to purchase the car at the lease end price. If I don’t I can only purchase it by having the dealer purchase at auction and then sell it to me for thousands of dollars more than the lease end price. What can I do?

Jane C.

Answered May 17, 2022

I suggest you speak with an attorney.