Contact me at markploftus@aol.com

Have spent the last three days compiling discovery responses in a property damage case where a homeowner basically lost her home because a siding contractor failed to properly protect the property after he removed the siding. Water got in after heavy rainstorms, then mold grew and testing revealed unhealthy levels of contaminants in the house. My clients were forced to live in a series of rental properties for a year while a remediation company tried to get rid of the mold. Tomorrow will finish answering the last defendant's discovery. I will be all caught up and can start pressing the defendants on their failure to timely file answers.

In an interesting side note, the owner of the property found a buyer for the home and wants to sell it and move on with her life. Unfortunately the defendants all object to her transferring possession until they have had an opportunity to go through the property. So the client is forced into a position where she can close on the sale of the home, but can't transfer possession for some time. After all she has gone through she now has to pay rent on the house to the new owner until she is given the okay to transfer the property. The client, remarkably, has kept her sense of humor while her life has been turned upside down.

Was approached the other day by a new client who wants me to represent her in a consumer fraud case against a local car dealership who sold her a damaged car. In addition, they misrepresented the car history. They told her the car had one previous owner, a young girl whose father had brought her the car. According to the salesman, the young lady traded it in because she didn't like the color. In actuality, the car had been purchased as a rental vehicle shortly after it came off the assembly line. Shortly thereafter it was involved in an accident, and then sold at auction. Then the dealership in question purchased the car. I've done some investigation and it appears this dealership has a history of misrepresenting the condition of cars to buyers[talked to a former salesman who was suprisingly candid about the scams the salesmen pulled]. The actual damages at this point however,don't appear to be large. In consumer fraud cases however, the prevailing party may be entitled to attorney fees. I am awaiting some additional information to determine if I will go ahead and file suit. Will update in future posts...