The Cat Worth Seven-Figures by Michael Fuller, OTLA Guardian Late on a Thursday afternoon an interesting submission came through our website. “‘My cat Frank is missing. My neighbor said he saw my landlord walking towards his car with a cat the day Frank disappeared. My landlord Devon denies it. Is this legal? My cat is my life. He’s been my only solid companion since I got sober and got off drugs.’ — Josh”. I immediately went to meet Josh Smith near his sober-living home. Within ten minutes, I could tell he was a genuine person. He opened a worn spiralbound notebook and showed me a statement his neighbor scrawled on one of the lined pages. It read: “‘I saw Devon put a cat in his car.’ — Willie G”. After reviewing Smith’s lease and taking a picture of Willie G.’s statement, I drove home and began drafting a complaint. The next day, the Friday headline of The Oregonian read: Portland landlord catnapped tenant’s ‘best friend’ Frank, lawsuit claims. Over the next several days, Smith and I interviewed neighbors and put up reward signs around the neighborhood for Frank’s safe return. Smith started training to become a barber after his sobriety but at the time we filed his case, he had no income. He owned nothing but the clothes on his back and his barber tools. A $500 reward for Frank was all he could afford. After a week of investigation, we were unable to find any solid leads. Our entire case seemed to hinge on the eyewitness testimony of one Willie G. The defendants in the lawsuit were the landlord, Devon Andrade and his housing corporation. They denied Andrade stole Frank and, instead, alleged in their answer: “Defendants lawfully entered the home. Upon finding a cat, which was not permitted by the lease, defendants moved the cat outdoors, where it was provided food and water.” Unfortunately, the discovery phase of the case didn’t provide many helpful leads either. The landlord stuck to his story and his business partner in the housing corporation said he knew nothing about any stolen cat. Through public records requests, we learned the day after The Oregonian article, Frank had been left at an animal shelter by an anonymous woman. The note from the animal shelter records read: “Finder refused to give any information. She just wanted to drop the kitty and run.” After nine months of litigation, we still hadn’t uncovered any solid evidence we could use to prove the landlord stole Frank the cat. The landlord’s attorneys filed a motion for sanctions against us and summary judgment was looming. Liberty Mutual, the insurance company for the housing corporation, was so confident in their case that they didn’t even oppose our motion to amend to add a claim for punitive damages. The top offer to settle the case at that time was $30 — the cost to adopt a stray cat. Then in the Spring of 2020, I received a random phone call that completely changed everything. Caller: You know the case where the guy says his landlord stole his cat? Me: Yeah, I know the case. Caller: Well, it’s true. I’m Ashley. The landlord is Devon, my husband. We’re getting divorced. He stole the cat to get back at Josh. Then he had me take the cat to the human society after The Oregonian article came out. As I listened to Ashley Andrade’s story of what really happened to Frank the cat, I smiled as wide as the Grinch who stole Christmas. I quickly jotted down everything she said, then emailed it over to her in a draft declaration, which she signed and returned. MICHAEL FULLER is the founder of the Underdog Law Office. He’s an OTLA Guardians Club level contributor and co-chair of the OTLA Consumer Protection Section. Fuller focuses on class actions and civil rights cases. The Underdog Law Office is located at the US Bancorp Tower in downtown Portland. He can be reached at [email protected] or 503-222-2000. 34 Trial Lawyer | Fall 2024
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