It's The Law!

I recently had file a small claims action against a tenant of a rental property I own, for non-payment of rent and damages. At the hearing, the renter said they moved out prior to the end of the lease, and without notice to me, because I had told them I was putting the house on the market to sell it. This was not exactly true, since I had only offered to sell it to them, because they stated they might be interested in buying it. They also told the judge that all of the damages to the property were incurred before they moved in...also not true. When the judgment was handed down by the judge, he said they were not obligated to pay because I had sold the house and the security deposit would serve as payment for the required 30 days notice they were required to give prior to vacating the property.

When I asked the judge if the judgment would be altered if the errors in the conclusions he cited in the court order were corrected he said, "no...that speaks to the 'finding of facts' not to his decision regarding the case."

My question is, if the facts are not accurate (The house was not sold) and if the facts were not relevant in making a decision, then how could an accurate, reasonable decision be made, and why does he, as a judge, not care about the accuracy of the decisions he makes! Scary stuff!

And yet, through the 30 + years I have dealt with the legal system in many capacities, I have repeated seen that the legal system has little to do with justice or truth, and more to do with the letter of the law, and the egos of judges who are entrusted with protecting our rights and giving us a voice. Unfortunately this also seems to parallel the underlying lack of integrity and accountability which has brought us to the mess in which we are currently embroiled.