An Atlanta woman has won a rental dispute with Atlanta Hawks' guard Jamal Crawford.
A Fulton County State Court judge ruled last month that Sandra Weber did not owe Crawford more than $30,000 when he moved from the home she rented him, according to court records.
Crawford sued his former landlord in January, saying she failed to return to him most of the $20,000 deposit he paid for the Buckhead home he rented from her, or the month’s rent he said he overpaid “by mistake,” according to the lawsuit.
At issue in the dispute were damages to the house allegedly caused by three large dogs inside, Weber’s attorney, Seth Katz said.
“Dogs completely destroyed the house. They chewed up furnishings, they urinated on expensive drapes,” Katz said. The plaintiff's arguments "in the first place were meritless, and now to be determined is how much is owed my client for destruction of her property.”
Neither Crawford nor his attorney Leonard Medley, III, could be reached for comment Wednesday.
Katz's legal partner Robert Thompson Jr. filed a motion for summary judgment in March, saying that though Weber did return roughly $2,900 to Crawford, she operated within the bounds of the $75,000-per-year lease agreement he signed.
That contract, which court documents say Crawford had a real estate agent help him negotiate, included a clause giving him five days to dispute any damage claims after he moved out.
In an order filed late last month, Judge John R. Mather agreed with Weber’s attorneys.
“Defendant … communicated to Plaintiff via his agent that substantial damage had been done to the property,” Mather wrote in his order filed on Nov. 21 . “A damage list was thereafter provided. The Plaintiff did not dispute the list of damages or costs within five days of delivery.”
Crawford’s attorney didn’t respond to Katz’s motion in a timely manner, Mather wrote, and the judge waived any further chance to present evidence against Weber.
“Since the evidence of record is undisputed … the value assigned to the damages and the propriety of the landlord’s disposition of the security deposit under the lease … is granted,” Mather wrote.
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