The Paletz Law Blog

From the Desk of CEO Matthew I. Paletz December 2021

Next year will mark my 15^th year at the helm of Paletz Law. We have made it through the Great Recession, a momentous family succession and are continuing to endure through the Covid-19 global pandemic. My mother, our Firm’s founder, never promised things would be easy, but who could have anticipated things would be this disruptive.

The world around us is in crisis and at times seems like its problems are overwhelming. But it is unreasonable for any of us to think we can take on all these issues.  Instead, I believe the thinking should be what can I do to make the corner of the world that I occupy a better place? The answer for me starts with my two families, at home and at the office.

My wife and children are my rock and without them it would be easy to be consumed by the busy goings of the workday and the never-ending demands that being an entrepreneur entails. The effects of the pandemic have been unforgiving and have tested all of our resolve.

Paletz Law has strived mightily to persevere in order to continue to serve our clients in a manner they have become accustomed. We have relied on our core values time and time again to guide us: teamwork, mutual respect, and zealous advocacy. We have been steadfast in our mission to protect the property rights of our landlord clients while treating tenants with dignity in the process.

Politicians on both sides of the aisle, the Michigan court system and changes in the law over the last two years have made this challenging to say the least. Too many misguided policies and administrative overreach have devastated my clients’ private property rights. Fast forward to the recent supply chain and labor disruptions whereby the legal system has certainly not been immune.

Courts, many of whom were already understaffed, are now suffering from the same labor shortages many other industries are dealing with. This has led to less experienced personnel able to process and schedule court cases, resulting in longer periods of time in between hearings and delays in scheduling those cases.

Although rental assistance has been helpful, its administration has been hampered by delay and inconsistencies. One can only hope that these problems get ironed out with more experience.

One silver lining has been the judicial system’s openness to use zoom for court hearings.  This is the next evolution in the practice of landlord-tenant law and I am optimistic that it will be embraced long after Covid is in the rearview. Not only will it have the potential to save time and lower costs, but it is in the mutual interest of the landlord and tenant, and that is a rare commodity.

As far as prognostications for 2022, it’s anyone’s guess.  I don’t wish to be a downer so let’s hope that things get incrementally better over time and that people choose to make the figurative space they occupy better when they leave it than when they found it. My sincerest wish for all of us is to have a safe, healthy and profitable 2022!

Matthew I. Paletz, CEO Paletz Law