Can I find public records online about my landlords sue happy tendencies?

I rented a fully furnished rental house and just moved out a month ago, when we first moved in the place was extremely worn and shabby, and when we left we left it in better shape then when we got there. Maybe very minor wear and tear, but that is normal for a rental house. The leasing agency told us when we moved out that the house was in great shape and that they were "very, VERY pleased with how well we had cleaned it", now, 3 weeks later they called and told us there were damages that they couldn't disclose, that we wern't getting our security deposit back, and that there was a certified letter from the landlord waiting for us at the post office. Obviously it's a civil suit against us. So, we decided to wait before picking up the letter from the post office, and we decided to sue the property management for our deposit before the land lord had a chance to serve us. So we did. And now I am hoping to get any kind of proof I can that the landlord is sue happy, where do i find this?

Any advice, similar stories, or general help would be much appreciated. thanks guys!!

You can find your own records (and sometimes family member's info.) for free by going to the city/county/state in which the offense occurred and requesting the information. Some precincts charge copy fees, so be prepared for that. also some have websites but charge access fees, and you'd want to check each city/county/state's site.

If you want to get someone else's info. with any degree of accuracy or you don't want to have to search all over, then you are most likely going to have to pay for a service. I have listed a few to chose from in resources.

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Chancery actions/suits are public records. Check your county government's website to see if they have records online; if not, sounds like it would be worth a trip to the courthouse to look there and get copies

the key is hopefully you took lots of pictures when you moved out to be able to prove the condition you left the place in

if not then your recourse is to force the landlord to justify the deductions from the security deposit

Try this site for Denver:

http://www.denvergov.org/apps/court/cour...

"So, we decided to wait before picking up the letter from the post office"

You really should have picked it up before you jumped the gun. You are assuming it is a "civil suit". It may very well be a letter with details that should have been included in the counterclaim or cross-complaint that you could have filed against the landlord if he is indeed suing you. If not, it would have let you know exactly what you were dealing with in order to sue him.

"and we decided to sue the property management for our deposit before the land lord had a chance to serve us."

Rather than just filing a counter-claim or cross-complaint against your landlord if he were suing you? What on earth made you think it was a good idea to sue the only people who could have testified that the house was in good shape? You could have served them with a subpoena and had them testify as to what they said to you. You shot yourself in the foot with that move.

A few things could happen now. Depending on the rules of civil procedure in your state, you could end up with a motion to consolidate (and that probably means their defenses also, as in 2 against 1), the management company could bring a third party action or the management company could file a motion to dismiss because they are the wrong party.

"And now I am hoping to get any kind of proof I can that the landlord is sue happy"

What for? He could file a civil suit every single day if he wants. It has no bearing on his claim against you. It may make you feel better emotionally, but legally it's useless.