Eviction dismissed with prejudice
NC · Member since 2019 · 38 posts · 16 votes
I was served with an eviction for late payment of rent and we had court December 4th. We both showed up but the landlord stepped out and when the judge called for us she didn’t come back in the room so I was asked how would I like to proceed. Would I like a continuance or to dismiss it and I said dismissal please. So the case got dismissed WITH prejudice. I understand that this now means the case is over and can’t be reopened. The landlord can’t file under the same grounds but what does this exactly mean ? Like do I not have to pay rent for a amount of time ?do I start paying rent again like it never happened? Do we work out some kind of agreement? I have no clue what’s to come next and would like so help and in site please. Thank you !
Fresh start? So you want the landlord to just forgive more than a months rent and just move on like nothing happened? Landlords have bills to pay and mouths to feed as well. You agreed to pay $XX per month and if you wish to stay you should pay
I know some commenters are making like this person wants a free handout or doesn’t want to pay the rent. In this case, the landlord, I’m assuming, wouldn’t work out or accept a way for you to pay your late rent & therefore, filed an eviction. At this point, you had a particular amount of days, usually 10, to pay back rent & for whatever reason, couldn’t. Here’s the thing—once you go to court, if the case is dismissed without prejudice, from everything I’ve read & have been aware of from my own friend/neighbor, you do not owe the landlord back rent. You move forward paying the amount that has accrued from the month/amount that the landlord was trying to evict you on. If you’re late again, they can re-file, but only for the current month you’re late on—NOT any of the money they were originally taking you to court for. Also, if they were to accept your rent for the current month, you go back to the agreements set in the original lease. Landlords also cannot use this dismissal to then retaliate & evict you. Not to mention, using any other reasons mentioned in the prior case to evict you. My neighbor just had this same thing happen. She went to court & when she was explaining things in her rental that had been overlooked & not cared for, like not having smoke detectors, the judge dismissed it. The landlord refiled, but on the day of court, the landlord accepted a full months rent for the current month she’d be renting—their court date for the current eviction was also that same day. He was evicting her for 1.5 months for past rent, yet when they got in court, he had not brought any records or anything showing proof where she hadnt paid. This eviction was already a weird case bc the landlord had previously allowed her to pay what she could towards the rent without evicting her—they let this go on for like 3 months where she had worked out a sort of pay what you can when you can type scenario. Then one day they come along & say “pay all the rent you owe us now or we’re filing for eviction”. So they allowed her to go almost 3 months without filing eviction—when they weren’t happy that they weren’t getting the amounts they wanted, then they filed for eviction. Also, he was not the landlord for her. A mother/son own about 100 properties & they each split the renters they’re responsible for. The mother was this lady’s landlord & is the one who signed her lease & she didn’t show. While they didn’t use this as the reason for dismissal, the tenant could’ve said that he was not her landlord & it would’ve most likely been dismissed. After it was dismissed, he has now had lawyers send her a notice to quit & vacate, however, this has only been done in retaliation for the fact that their case got dismissed—they also took money for the current months rent which I’m pretty sure is illegal to do. This is also a discrimination issue, as another tenant was in court the same day & their case was dismissed & yet they’ve received no notice from the lawyer to quit & vacate—-these folks are white & are “friends” of the landlord—my neighbor is the only black lady in a trailer-hood of APPR. 100 properties——you do the math!!!