Held Personally Liable for the Debts of a LLC, Appeal Denied

My question involves court procedures for the state of: MI

I signed a lease as a LLC, rent was paid up till 8-30-2015 on the complaint, with partial July ($150) owed . they claimed i had not paid $700 for Sept, i had the receipt that rent was paid with me at the eviction hearing. The receipt was for $700 and paid on 9-1-2015

She then awarded a judgment against the LLC for default and then one on me personally as well. She told me that i said i had the rent (bank) receipt but only “waved” it... when in fact transcripts proved that i had asked to submit it and she told me to give to the opposing attorney

So two judgments, one for my LLC which signed the lease and me personally as well. $1715 each for a total of $3430

I then appealed.... Stating that there was error by the judge by not taking the receipt and the fact that the LLC signed the lease as the Trial Judge ruled and therefore not the right party in this lawsuit... The circuit court on appeal denied me saying it was a frivolous appeal... So now even tho i paid rent, and a member of a LLC they won the appeal and awarded them fees...

so now what can i do? can i file a lawsuit against the same parties and show the evidence again? the rent was paid!

First, get a time machine. Second, travel back in time to before the trial on the original case. Third, hire a lawyer to represent you....

Okay, too late for that. Your options are to (a) pay, (b) attempt an appeal to the Court of Appeals or, (c) do nothing and see how aggressively they pursue you for the money. Your appeal would be by leave.

The good news, as such, is that your being personally responsible for the debt doesn't mean you have to pay it twice -- it means that it needs to be paid in full by you and/or the LLC.

it appears you failed to seek to have you (the person) dismissed from the case as not being proper defendant. That should have been dealt with in your original answer to the complaint. Since you didn't then, it's too late to claim it later.

As to the default against the LLC. Was this in small claims court? Unless it was you needed a lawyer to represent the LLC. If there was none and the LLC was properly served a default judgment would be the valid result. If it was in small claims; do you have any idea why the LLC was issued a judgment by default?

judges don't "take" evidence. You must properly submit it to the court. Did you include it in your evidence prior to the hearing?

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Quoting jk

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judges don't "take" evidence. You must properly submit it to the court. Did you include it in your evidence prior to the hearing?

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In most courts evidence is not submitted to the court prior to the trial. Michigan’s rules of evidence are based on the federal rules of evidence and nothing in it or in the rules of civil procedure states evidence is to be submitted to the court prior to trial. Rather, the typical process is that the party seeking to have the evidence admitted brings the evidence along with any necessary witnesses needed to lay the foundation for that evidence to court at the time of the trial and then at the trial follows the necessary process of calling the witness, asking the questions needed to lay the foundation for admission, and then asking the court to admit the evidence. If the OP failed to lay the proper foundation then the court would properly refuse to admit the offered evidence and it then could not be considered in deciding the case.

If all the OP did was provide a copy to the attorney for the plaintiff, never having the proposed exhibit marked or admitted, then it was never part of the record and was likely never even seen by the judge.

@mr knowitall

yes that is what happened basically. I have the transcript, i asked the judge" can i give you the receipt" she said give it to the Mr...(opposing attorney)... she then stated later i never submitted it, he held it the remainder of trial.... the opposing attorney brought the receipt up during his examination. then the court decided that i only mentioned it never submitted it..

also i fought i was only a member of the LLC and that under MCR 450.4501(C)(4) how could i be liable for this debt... the judge only said at the hearing that he denied the appeal.

It's not a matter of what the court "decided" that you did -- it's a matter of what you did or did not do. It is your responsibility to make sure that your exhibits are marked, and it's your responsibility to offer them into evidence. Leaving your proposed exhibit with opposing counsel does not result in its admission into evidence, and does not get it before the court for the court's consideration.

As for your personal liability, we were not in court and have no access to the record, so we would have to guess. Perhaps you personally guaranteed the lease. Perhaps you were alleged to have personally guaranteed the lease and forgot to deny dispute that claim in court. Perhaps the plaintiff successfully argued that the debt arose from your personal wrongful conduct, such that you were jointly and severally liable with your LLC. Etc.

this was an eviction hearing over rent not being paid, i told the the judge at the outset here is bank receipt i paid, why are we even here today? i asked can i give to you, she said no... and then told me later i never showed her...

Can someone tell me how that works?

now the attorney is the attorney for the city where my business was located... he brought the LARA docs to court to prove that the LLC was in good standing, NEVER once brought anything to do with me committing fraud, wrongful doing or piercing the corporate veil. I paid rent in cash, did have a separate biz account but never used to pay him.

the lease does NOT have any personal guarantee stated anywhere either...

the judge had already decided in a companion case days prior that it was signed by the LLC and refused any of my arguments that it was not... we fought for it cause i was defending myself and they used that it was a LLC, so that i could no longer defend myself

You need a lawyer (and a time machine, but... alas). You can discuss with your attorney whether you have a plausible basis for further appeals, given the state of the record and your loss at the first level of appeal.

since i was a member of an LLC can i file a lawsuit fora frivolous suit against me? or a abuse of process?