Article March 27, 1995 Issue

When justice seems far away

Thomas Richard Mitchinson

A Few years ago I went through an experience that seemed so unfair. I felt that justice was out of my reach.

When I became engaged to be married, my fiancée and I found a lovely house and made an offer, which was accepted. I then put the home I had been living in on the market. Months went by with no offers, until the real estate agent himself stated that he would like to purchase the house. Since he needed time to get the down payment together, he offered a contract to rent with a commitment to buy at the end of one year.

I trusted this man, so I entered into the agreement after my attorney reviewed it. The tenant paid the first few months' rent, but then he began to make excuses and his payments stopped. I contacted the attorney who had drawn up the papers. He said that after a rather quick process the man would be out and I would have my home back. But as things developed, every step we took was counteracted by the tenant, and things became mired in legal proceedings and lawyers' fees. I became literally sick over this whole situation.

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