Link: https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/refusing-287-repair-bill-portland-120107376.html?guccounter=1

The clash began after Spring refused to pay a $287 electrician's bill that his landlord forwarded him for the repair of a burnt-out socket in his unit. Shortly after, the landlord notified Spring that his rent would increase by $100 per month.

The jury awarded Spring $16,000 — an amount that Oregon law doubles to $32,000 because of the nature of the violation. On top of that, Spring's attorneys also are entitled to ask a judge to order the landlord to pay all of Spring's legal fees, an amount that currently stands at $225,000.

Hell yeah, fuck land parasites.

Totally bogus bill. Just replace the damn outlet, you dumbasses.

Also, nearly $300 to replace an outlet? I should have been an electrician.

Hahaha

Landlord and property managers are such idiots.

Judges don't like them, let's be clear. Judges will only side with them of they absolutely have to.

Remember, judges have family and friends themselves with these asshats too, plus judges see them in their courts all the time.

I hope on appeal they get hit even harder.

Wow legal fees of $225k. Maybe don’t lawyer up next time.

I’ve beaten landlords in court on my own. Lawyering up isn’t always necessary, despite what some commentors seem to think. Research your own states renters rights before you do anything in court on your own.

And you didn't get them to pay $225k in legal fees when you did, either. If your case is airtight and your state allows/requires legal fee repayment by the losing party, lawyer up.

200k in legal fees? What the fuck?

HVAC is where the money is. $1000+ for replacing a compressor coil.

Landlord probably tried to string it along to force the tenant to settle due to costs.

Jesus christ, I'm an electrician, that's 90 second job that takes $4 in parts. Who the fuck is charging $2.75 per second to change an outlet!

In court... NOOOO!

But I did win 4x what I was owed. So you do you moneybags.

Most people renting can’t afford lawyer bills like that.

Seems like you just want to argue. Have fun with that.

Thats a nominal “get out of bed” kind of quote. You dont be a tradesman and drive to someone’s house for the $25 that it actually costs to do the job.

Drive to my house and I will pay you $4

The lawyers probably worked on contingency, expecting to win against a well insured corporate landlord. You cant simply rack up that much without a way to pay. Why would the lawyers do that? They know it would be impossible to collect if they lose.

LOL, I wish I could afford that. Have you never heard of lawyers that work on contingency?

This is the default strategy that I have seen. Civil courts heavily favor flexing resources wih stall tactics.

Very rarely does it pay off for the smaller entity even if they do win, but it's always nice to see when it does.

Read the headline like "renter beats the shit out of landlord in court" like WTF, he wasn't even arrested, not only that, but was awarded $32k.

Sorry, english is not my native language.

You don't think the electrician doing the work got all that, do you? The company that signs his paycheck took the lion's share.

Probably fair.

I was imagining an independent contractor type of guy, but it seems walk wall street owns everything now.

A small job like that would charge a minimum of an hour, $4 for a receptacle, $30 for a gfi. We're looking at a $150 to $200 job.

Good point. I do nearly everything myself, so I don't normally consider time and transit...

But I'll continue doing things myself when it costs that much!

Honestly crazy that an old blown neutral ended up a $32k+ lawsuit.

where the street walking towards?

Nah something weird is happening. Most s**tates don't have cost/fee shifting for small claims court and the awards can't usually be higher than 5-7k even when doubled.

The truck roll is the expensive part.

Your boss.

The ~$35 you get for your time is your cut.

I'd unionize.

Depends on the judges. The county I grew up in was notorious for having republican leaning judges that almost always sided with the landlords.

County made a point to make sure landlords could evict as fast as legally possible.

Knew a few people that owned some apartments. The only credit I can give them is they bought raw land and built them themselves so they didn't just buy up existing housing supply. But yeah, I've heard their stories on the court's efficiency

Truthfully I'm surprised they even hired out an electrician for that. General handyman can replace an outlet.

As a non-proffessional I've replaced outlets in my own house. It took me 20 minutes for the first one. Now it takes about 10, but that because I triple check everything and go slow

You know it's a typo because there are no streets for walking in the US.

Haha too true.

Haha.

My stepdad was a self employed electrician, I went to work for him in the 90s and I remember him billing $60 for a automatic light switch in a public bathroom. I made about $0.50 doing the work. He paid me a dollar an hour and I was overpaid.

A lawyer for the landlord made clear under no uncertain terms that the Portland renter was about to make a stupid mistake — intimating in an email to Spring's attorneys that Spring "probably has a lower IQ." Lawyer John Berman also said he would cause Spring "great harm" and use Spring's words to "absolutely destroy" him on the stand.

Dude this lawyer harassed the client.

Fuck him.

What I was saying is that anybody who would make a big deal out of a $287 bill is low IQ."

Incredibly self-aware, isn't he?

A local mechanic wanted $25 for an oil change, after I bought the oil and filters. I ended up taking it to the other shop and getting a fully synthetic change for $7 less than the local guy, if I had purchased conventional oil, and that's not including disposal cost.

Office expenses and office staff, too. I worked for a particular industry that used software that we plugged in monthly expenses, annual, and semiannual, including payroll, and it gave us back prices for individual screws that would bug your eyes from your head to also cover a nominal profit (about 15%), and unexpected expenses like insurance rate hikes for liability insurance, workers' comp, broken equipment, etc. So that $0.30 screw suddenly became $6.

It's like that where I live, too.

$25 seems entirely fair for that

but it also sounds like oil changes are incredibly cheap where you are. a cheap synthetic change around here is $70

It's a 10 minute job, 15 at most. If I'd had ramps and my tools that were stolen, I would have done it myself. So I paid less, got a name brand oil and filter without having to shop for it, no disposal fee, for a 20 minute drive. I also had an appointment and was in and out in about 20 minutes, including talking with the shop owner, their family, and the shop fur babies, which my own fur baby got to enjoy.

15 minute job, plus talking to you, doing the books, having the bay taken up, having the tools and equipment...

people deserve to be paid for their work

They should move for sanctions next.

Landlords are scum.

It isn't small claims court

Nah, this is a backyard guy.

I like your version. More tenants should beat the shit out of their landlords. America would be a better place.

The electrician did a piss poor job, the slotted head should be vertical.

ah, that makes a lot more sense then

English is my native language, and I read it that way too

Cheap ass

So he doesn't deserve to get paid for his work... The fuck is wrong with you.

I feel like there should be a circuit-breaker that stops the money flowing past a certain point. I don't care what accounting magic you use, a few hundred bucks should never balloon to 250k.