- Report: #1148473
Complaint Review: Michael Brennan - Arcadia California
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Michael Brennan
67 E Live Oak St Arcadia, 91006 California, USA
Phone:
626-294-0500
Web:
http://www.mbrennanlaw.com/
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Michael Brennan The Law Office Of Michael Brennan 67 E Live Oak Ave Ste 105 Arcadia, CA 91006 (626) 294-0500 Negligent Behavior & YELP Review Hider Arcadia California
The law office of Michael Brennan assisted the homeowner Charles Davis with being compliant in regards to not crediting our account for the length of time we had to be out of the rental when the heater was broken. He also assisted the home owner during the time that we were out of the house for a MOLD test when we had constantly been sick for weeks.
His office did not return calls or emails and made up stories about the actual facts.
Mr. Brennan cited in a letter that we failed to "inspect and safeguard" the heater and implied that we allowed a heater to break that was installed by an incompetant and unlicensed installer. To date we have not received proof that the original installer was licensed or insured to do work on the house. We spoke with 2 lawyers and 10 different people about the claim that we allowed the heater to break and they all felt it was hogwash.
Mr. Brennan used scare tactics via threats and letter and went back on his word over 7 times with the help of his cronie helper Tracey Merrel.
Mr. Brennan told us verbally that we were not to send any rent payments until the matter is resolved via a release of liability. He then turned around 2 days later and had us served a notice to pay or quit and failed to return our calls regarding the notice for 3 days.
When we did pay his office played games for 2 days saying they had not received payment from us. After many phone calls and emails on our part they claim to have finally found the check when it had been sitting in their office for 2 days.
They then claimed that a notice of a rent increase was sent to us. No notice was ever sent becuase they never provided proof that it was. They sent a picture of the letter that was not post marked and claimed it was delivered but failed to provide actual proof that it was delivered. Keep in mind they could have emailed the notice and we would have paid the higher rent without issue.
On the day of move out they made us travel 45 miles to their office to pick up our check. Mr. Brennan had been aware for over a week that my wife would not be present to sign the agreement as I had been scheduled to join her on vacation for over a week. Mr. Brennan received 4 emails stating this fact. Upon arrival he decided to act tough and say "I don't care where people are" and required my wife with our 18 month old son travel 7 miles in the rain to a fax machine to sign the agreement.
I personally asked a friend to join me on this trip to Arcadia so that the bullying would stop. Mr. Brennan appeared visibly nervous and shaken that I had taken this action.
Mr. Brennan cowardly sat in his office and played games that day and finally wrote us a check that was held by the bank for over 10 days because his account had suspicious activity.
What is most troubling is his reviews on YELP. He uses threats to basically hide the ZERO star reviews and then allows the 5 star reviews to show. If you take a moment to look he has the same amount of negative reviews as positive ones. yelp.com/biz/brennan-law-firm-arcadia?sort_by=rating_desc
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Tenant
Tustin,California,
Sore Loser Michael Brennan
#2Author of original report
Fri, May 23, 2014
When I read the response by Mr. Brennan I laughed and spilled coffee on my boat. No real reputable lawyer would even respond let alone air his own dirty laundry of representing a landlord clearly at fault under the law.
Mr. Brennan's attempt at a blow by of the facts is exactly what we experienced attempting to negotiate with a egotistical lawyer. His convolusion of the facts is the reason why his client finally agreed to pay a sum of monies above and beyond what he would have had to pay if Mr. Brennan had not represented Charles Davis.
In an email and phone conversation with the Landlord Charles Davis we propsed to him a release of liability and a settlement amount which was 5 times lower than what he finally paid to us. It also included us staying in the house so that he could have income on his property while the house that we purchased in the same neighborhood was finished with the remodel.
Bottom line here is that his client did not win. His client also agreed to pay a sum of monies plus attorney's fees that equaled substantially more than what he initially thought he would have to pay.
If you notice in his response he cites that this is an excellent marketing tool. While negative press is good press it goes against his usual policy of using lawyering to remove negative postings on YELP and other consumer focused complaint sites. His tactics are visible for all to see.
Mr. Brennan never disputed the actual facts of our intial complaint validating our claims. His client who he assumes will give him a reference has not been able to rent his home as of yet because of the reveiws and other complaints we have already filed with various entities. Prior to us renting the property at 14891 Featherhill Rd Tustin CA 92780 it had been vacant for over 9 months and was even listed with Section 8 Housing.
Other potential landlords who wish to use his deplorable tactics should note that no where in his response did he refute the actual facts of representing a landlord that failed to provide heat under California state law. Had we opted to go to court he would have been crushed by any judge by the finding that factually his client failed to provide a working and safe heater during the month of December. His client failed to uphold his agreement.
This was primarily why they never filed any actions against us and only used threats and intimidation that did not involve court actions because they factually had no claims that any judge could side with.
This case was never about money. It was about principals and morals. We were tenants with an impeccable record and never missed a rent payment nor did we ever dispute any issues with the landlord until he played games for over 3 weeks keeping us in the dark and playing games with our family. Allowing a family with a young child (16 months old) to not have heat for 3 weeks is unacceptable and extremely costly to the landlord as we proved and prevailed on.
As former tenants we are not DISGRUNTLED as Mr. Brennan claims. We recieved a WIN on our side that was accompanied by a HEFTY settlement amount. If you are a landlord looking to lose, pay for an attorney to help you lose and have to pay your tenants to not file any lawsuits against you then by all means Mr. Brennan is your man.
Brennan Law Firm
Arcadia,California,
Thank You!
#3REBUTTAL Owner of company
Fri, May 23, 2014
I would like to thank the author (Tim Daniels) for writing that report.
While Mr. Daniels never actually used our services, he is certainly no stranger to them.
As a law firm that represents LANDLORDS exclusively, I can think of no better marketing tool than to have a disgruntled TENANT (on whom I served a 3-day notice to pay rent) write a nasty (though entirely inaccurate) report about me and my firm. It stands as a testament to other landlords that we are an aggressive firm that takes landlord representation seriously.
Mr. Daniels falsehoods, threats of Bar complaints, child-like approach, and overall caustic personality do not bother me in the least. Anyone who wants to contact me regarding this report may do so and, in return, I will provide them the contact information to my client (Mr. Daniel's landlord) who can provide them with an accurate assessment of our services.
