AboutJonathan Dever, Esq Expertise Real Estate Law, Buying Selling, Investor, all types of acquring property through "creative techniques" and fraud avoidance
Experience Super Lawyer by Law and Politics for the last three years, part of over 900 transactions in the last 6 years
Organizations Ohio Bar Assn
Greene County Bar Assn
Champaign County Bar Assn
Publications Personal web site and web articles
Education/Credentials JD - Capital University
MA - IU of Penn
BA - U of Cincinnati
Awards and Honors Super Lawyer 2005, 2006, 2007
Who is Who, Lawyers 2006, 2007
In Grays Harbor County,WA the Plaintiff (landlord) Filed a Complaint for Unlawful Detainer. The Defendant (tenant) was Ordered to appear in Court for a Motion To Show Cause hearing. The defendant appeared in Court at the time specified . The Plaintiff, however, failed to appear at the hearing and the Presiding Judge "Struck" the hearing. So, it was stricken. The defendant thanked the Judge and exited the courtroom. Two days later, the defendant received ANOTHER order from the Court to appear for ANOTHER Motion to Show Cause hearing. The latter Motion To Show Cause had the same case or cause number as the prior Motion To Show Cause. Is it proper procedure that the Plaintiff in this case would have to RE- FILE the Complaint For Unlawful Detainer and then Set another Motion To Show Cause hearing?? I feel that the plaintiff should be subjected to sanctions by the Court, just in the same manner that the defendant is. Had the defendant failed to appear for the Motion to Show Cause, the judgement would have automatically been in favor of the Plaintiff. Therefore, shouldn't the judgement be in favor of the defendant? Without having to pay another filing fee opens the door for any plaintiff in these cases to "harass" a defendant at the cost of the Court, does it not? Isn't the filing fee ALSO implemented to deter any "game Playing" in these matters? And shouldn't this case be dismissed for the fact that the Plaintiff failed to appear? What does the defendant do in this case? File a Motion for Dismissal,or???
Thank you for your time and consideration.
God Bless,
JB in WA.
Answer A show cause hearing is a hearing ordered by a Court when a party fails to appear at Court. It is not necessarily related to the Complaint as filed. If you failed to show up for court as an example, a Judge would issue a show cause order. The offending party would then give a reason for their absence. beyond that simple explanation, I cannot assist further without reviewing the case file. If you need someone to do that, I would be more than happy to. Head over to my site and register for free www.deverlaw.com. Enter a support ticket and the secretary will create a file room for you.
