A simple paralegal tip that saved my client $2,000 last week

I was sitting in the Daley Center waiting for a hearing on a landlord-tenant dispute. My client was about to agree to a settlement that included paying for some damage the landlord claimed. I noticed the landlord's photos had timestamps that didn't match the move-out date. I pointed it out to the mediator, and the landlord backed down immediately. My client ended up saving about $2,000 in unnecessary fees. Has anyone else ever caught a case-breaking detail in a photo timestamp like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

phoenix_martin401d ago

Wait, were the timestamps off by a lot or just a few hours? That's a solid catch on your part. I've seen clients get burned by stuff like that more times than I can count. Landlords will try to get away with anything if you don't double check their paperwork. Photos are super easy to fake or reuse from a different date so you always gotta look close at the metadata. Honestly most people just trust what they see in a picture without thinking about when it was taken.

gracethomas19h ago

Oh jeez, how far off were the timestamps? That's rough, I feel for you. It's honestly wild the stuff landlords try to pull when they think nobody's paying attention. I've had friends get burned by similar things where the landlord reused old photos to avoid fixing real problems, and it's just not fair. You're totally right that most people just glance at a picture and trust it without digging into the details. The metadata is such a simple thing to check, but it can save you so much headache if you know to look. Hope you're able to get this sorted out without too much hassle.

the_claire16h ago

oh yeah @phoenix_martin40 it was like a whole month off, real professional move there