We have been wrongfully evicted by a landlord who won a Default Judgment, as we had no idea she was sneaking behind our backs to file this suit. There are a few important background notes:
1) The landlord lived in the house (her primary residence) and rented a room to us (a couple).
2) All rent was paid, contrary to what was alleged in the eviction suit.
3) She filed the eviction in a Retaliatory manner the day after we presented her with a notice to fix the a/c. The a/c was never working, but we did not know it when we moved into the home in March. The upstairs was unbearably hot, and the landlord used a window unit in her master suite, with no relief provided to us.
4) She breached contract by kicking us out of her home without the required 30-day notice per lease.
5) The reason she wanted us out of the house is because she did not want us to receive notice of the eviction hearing.
6) We did not receive notice, failed to show in court, and she won a Default Judgment against us 7 days after we moved out.
7) The eviction hearing and 10-day appeal period passed before she notified us of her judgment.
8) 10 days after we moved, we notified her in writing of our forwarding address, and requested return of security deposit.
9) She failed to return or account for security deposit within the statutory 30-day period after our vacating the home.
Obviously, we have a lawsuit planned against this person, and have lots and lots of documentation (pictures and videos of the notice of repair, cancelled checks, signed lease, illegal notice to vacate, video of the pristine condition we left the house in as we departed).
My main question is...does anyone know if you can file a "Motion for New Hearing" in JP Court in Texas? If not, even if we win the second lawsuit against her (and, we will!), without a new hearing, we will not be able to overturn the original eviction ruling. I understand that we may be able to get the record "Sealed", but it just doesn't seem fair that this crazy lady was able to file for eviction, have the notice served to her house (which she had already kicked us out of), accept the notice, appear in court and get a judgment against us without us even knowing that a hearing (and appeal period) was taking place! I feel like she defrauded the court, and it makes my blood boil!!
Well, any help would be appreciated. Again, the main info I need is if and how to file a "Motion for New Hearing", and if that option is off the table due to time lapse, whether I can ask for the eviction ruling to be sealed. As to the latter, do I do this as part of my new lawsuit against her? FYI, it has been approximately 2 months since the original eviction ruling.
Thank you, legal eagles!!
1) The landlord lived in the house (her primary residence) and rented a room to us (a couple).
2) All rent was paid, contrary to what was alleged in the eviction suit.
3) She filed the eviction in a Retaliatory manner the day after we presented her with a notice to fix the a/c. The a/c was never working, but we did not know it when we moved into the home in March. The upstairs was unbearably hot, and the landlord used a window unit in her master suite, with no relief provided to us.
4) She breached contract by kicking us out of her home without the required 30-day notice per lease.
5) The reason she wanted us out of the house is because she did not want us to receive notice of the eviction hearing.
6) We did not receive notice, failed to show in court, and she won a Default Judgment against us 7 days after we moved out.
7) The eviction hearing and 10-day appeal period passed before she notified us of her judgment.
8) 10 days after we moved, we notified her in writing of our forwarding address, and requested return of security deposit.
9) She failed to return or account for security deposit within the statutory 30-day period after our vacating the home.
Obviously, we have a lawsuit planned against this person, and have lots and lots of documentation (pictures and videos of the notice of repair, cancelled checks, signed lease, illegal notice to vacate, video of the pristine condition we left the house in as we departed).
My main question is...does anyone know if you can file a "Motion for New Hearing" in JP Court in Texas? If not, even if we win the second lawsuit against her (and, we will!), without a new hearing, we will not be able to overturn the original eviction ruling. I understand that we may be able to get the record "Sealed", but it just doesn't seem fair that this crazy lady was able to file for eviction, have the notice served to her house (which she had already kicked us out of), accept the notice, appear in court and get a judgment against us without us even knowing that a hearing (and appeal period) was taking place! I feel like she defrauded the court, and it makes my blood boil!!
Well, any help would be appreciated. Again, the main info I need is if and how to file a "Motion for New Hearing", and if that option is off the table due to time lapse, whether I can ask for the eviction ruling to be sealed. As to the latter, do I do this as part of my new lawsuit against her? FYI, it has been approximately 2 months since the original eviction ruling.
Thank you, legal eagles!!