Urgent Legal Advice needed against Landlady of the House, Unsafe Unlivable Conditions..

Living in independent house in Lantau Island, 2 yrs fixed contract, first 1 year hell found out illegal electricity wiring all over, dangerous, Now theres a plumbing issues affecting the whole house within the structure of house, due to which we got flooded for 3 hrs from the Kitchen Main Fixture Light like Rain..

Illegal Occupancy of Govt Land going on between her & the govt since couple of months & we r still paying rent to her for that piece of land...

Govt Deptts called in saw & said its Unsafe to live. Thinking of suing her & going to small claims court as she purposely has been avoiding the issue since last 6 months, VERY IRRESPONSIBLE, Negligence Behaviour and Looking for hideways always, for more details call me BUT NO ONE SHOULD BUY THIS HOUSE FOR SURE< ITS DOOMED NO EXAGERATIONS I HAVE PROOFS TO PROVE & VALIDATE THE BAD CONSTRUCTION OF THIS HOUSE for Plumbing, Electricity, Pipes, Drains etc, u name it..

any advise pls respond.. Landlords forgetting thesh*t they create will come back to them sooner or later, Circle Of Life...

You have no choice but to sue the landlady. But weigh the choice of the small claims tribunal's limitation of $50K where you represent yourself (therefore at no cost) with the possible costs of employing a lawyer, only SOME of whose costs you may get back.


A lawyer can save you a LOT of work -- but you will pay for it! And unless you have a lot of TIME to do all that is required for a complicated court case, you may decide that is better.


I unfortunately KNOW, because I had to sue someone (a company, actually, for PSLA) -- and the amount of TIME it took up can never be justified by the pifling $50K I won. Especially because NOW they are resisting paying.....


Because, yes, getting "judgement" in your favour is one thing -- getting enforcement, ie. the money, is quite another.

Just 18 days later, and 18 days wiser -- I can tell you that, effectively, suing anyone in the Small Claims Court is largely INeffective. I had to sue a company for PSLA, and although I did eventually win, getting just $25K for my actual pain, the rest for reimbursing the medical expenses, for a time there was a real possibility that they would not pay -- DESPITE the judge's "order".


I thought I would have to send in the Bailiffs, so, to avoid having to pay them for a fruitless seizure trip, I decided to go and "case the joint", and clearly establish the company had sufficient assets to make it worthwhile, at the address I had for them. Okay, by direct observation (I won't say how, but it was entirely legal) I found out that they did.


Meanwhile, it turned out that meanwhile they HAD paid the money into court -- although much later than they were required to do. I am now awaiting the court's own cheque.


But a quick trip upstairs to the SCT's Bailiffs section got me some pretty dismal information: If the defendent had refused to admit them, there was really NOTHING they could do, but "put a watchman" outside the premises for a maximum of just SEVEN days, to ensure they did not move any stuff out.


After that? Well, you are apparently on your own! There is effectively NOTHING (legal) you can do.


The law (in Hong Kong -- but not just in Hong Kong) is a paper tiger. Made by the rich, for the rich. Cynical, yes -- but if the Bailiffs I spoke to are correct, it's sadly true.