Take that!
Here's a story from this very day.

I have an old friend who lives in a small city about two hours from my house. We've known each other for at least six or seven years- we met not long after her husband died, and have been a source of support to one another through various trials and tribulations. She's considerably older than I am so it's been more like a brother-sister relationship than anything, but we've gotten very close over the years.

She has a small company that she had with her husband, and since he died it's gradually dwindled to nothing. She's been in the process of closing it down for a couple of months now, and has gotten it pared down to a minimal amount that we had planned on moving out of the office in the next week or so.

On Monday the landlords, a particularly nasty law firm that inhabits the top portion of the building, came down at 4:45 and escorted her from the premises and had the locks changed because she was one month behind on her rent. If she wanted her computer or her papers back, she had to give them $635 in cash.

I came out on Tuesday to help her take out the computers and papers, at least, leaving the office furniture for them if they really wanted it. They flatly refused to let us in. She left there in tears and we went back to her house, where she started drinking vodka.

I had to go back on Wednesday, but as I couldn't raise her all day Wednesday or Thursday I was getting worried. I called a lawyer I know and consulted with him, and he agreed that what they were doing was illegal- they had not followed proper procedure for eviction, so therefore she is still their tenant. I came to her house and found her still in a deep depression, but managed to get her roused up to go and at least talk to the local sheriff's office.

On the way there we stopped by the office and found that there were workmen inside. With her friend Maggie we popped in and, before they could stop us, grabbed all of the paperwork that was in sight and the computer and got them into the back of the car.

I had no sooner set down the CPU when the building manager emerged, yelling for me to put it back as it was now their property. I politely refused. He made to grab it but I lunged to block. He then tried to grab a second computer from Maggie, who asked "Are you going to assault me?" He leaped back as though burned, and started threatening to call the sheriff. I replied, "Please do. We are planning on going to see him anyway. Please let him know that we are on our way."

We left there with him yelling things after us.

The sheriff couldn't take any action because the courts have not been notified of this and have not directed him, but he indicated that he sees no real troubles in getting her stuff back. As this is the law firm that usually gets hired by corporations to shake down the little people, they thought that steamrolling over an elderly widow and extorting six hundred bucks would be easy. Well, we've filed paperwork against them to appear before the courts and explain themselves.

Should be fun.
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Fri 6 May 2011, 23:40, 8 replies)

They didn't serve her a pay or quit notice?
She needs to look into DFEH as it sounds like these guys are acting illegally in the eviction
(nolongernuts, Sat 7 May 2011, 1:24, closed)

They are definitely acting illegally.
Two or three lawyers now have told her as much, but as it's a small town they're unwilling to get involved. They say that she can go to court herself on this one without them, though I think she'd really rather have some representation in this.

In any case, it was rather entertaining to watch the guy fuming in impotent rage as we took out the important stuff and headed over to the sheriff. We were also there in the sheriff's office when they called him to complain. The sheriff didn't want to say anything- by law he really couldn't- but he made it pretty clear that we had nothing to fear.

Elderly widow 1, craven venal underhanded cocksuckers 0.
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Sat 7 May 2011, 2:19, closed)

Go round there
with your assault rifles and ventilate them. Then hold the pigs at bay for a few hours, sniping at the odd dumbass who sticks his head up. Make sure there's a massive shoot-out to conclude, blow some shit up, and escape, like that bloke in that film "Leon". Write it up - I guarantee you will get the most clicks this week, and everyone will love you.
(Apart from a certain cocksucker who will call you a liar because he's never had a shootout himself)
(Rsoles, Sat 7 May 2011, 1:54, closed)

Better yet
I thought of going by there with a battery powered drill and taking out the lock and simply removing the remaining things, then leaving them $50 for the lock repair. She's still the tenant, so she has the right to do that if she wishes- as long as the repairs are covered.

More fun still would have been to bring the cutting torch, of course, but the glass doors might have shattered from the heat.

Nah, better to have the judge spank them. More humiliating for the lawyers to be on the receiving end for once.
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Sat 7 May 2011, 2:22, closed)

If they do get a spanking
Make sure that the local press hear about it. It sounds like they could do with the coverage.
(Captain Skippy pooed in a bag and left it on your doorstep, Sat 7 May 2011, 6:33, closed)

Glass...
If it's toughened glass, you can just smash it into car windscreen fragments with one of those clicky centre punches that you use for marking where to drill a hole. The ambo and trumpton crews use them for getting into cars in an emergency.

If it's plate glass, then just heat it with a blowlamp until you've got a circle a bit bigger than a grapefruit and then slap a wet towel across it - the hot bit will suddenly contract, crack all the way round, and drop out.

If it's laminated glass, the problem is the layer of plastic in the middle, That might give you problems. Most interior doors are toughened glass though.

Note that I'm not telling you what to do, I'm telling you how you could do it. Not the same thing at all.
(gordonjcp, Sat 7 May 2011, 8:51, closed)

Best of luck with that one, I hope the court gives them a kicking.

(Redemption blamed it on the Bossa Nova since, Sat 7 May 2011, 7:16, closed)

Seems like the old girl
needs to learn how to pay rent on time
(NuffMuff fucks shrubbery, Mon 9 May 2011, 12:56, closed)