Matthew I. Paletz

Matthew I. Paletz is the Chief Executive Officer of Paletz Law. He oversees all operations of the Firm, as well as its future trajectory and growth. As CEO, he promotes the core values and spirit behind Paletz Law, and fosters its innovative culture. Matthew is also responsible for the financial and capital management of the Firm, and heads all marketing and promotional efforts. He strives to consistently ensure that the needs of his clients are met while being a leading advocate and supporter of legislative efforts on behalf of the real estate industry. During the Covid-19 Pandemic, Matthew was relentless in his defense of private property rights. These efforts included advocating in court, to lobbying state officials, to waging a full-fledged media campaign to bring awareness to the plight of landlords and property owners in Michigan, Ohio and throughout the country.

Matthew practices in the area of general civil litigation with an emphasis in landlord-tenant, nationwide fair housing defense of property owners, and protecting the rights of creditors in bankruptcy. He leads the Firm’s attorneys in application of legal strategy and overall direction. He also has an extensive background in collections and account receivable recovery, where he is often brought in as a corporate consultant with respect to improving his clients’ collection practices and procedures.

Matthew began his career as a collections attorney at one of Michigan’s most prominent collections law firms. He quickly distinguished himself and then eventually left to join the family business, where he had previously worked as a law clerk while in law school. Matthew takes the same aggressive mentality gained from his prior collections experience and channels it towards landlord-tenant law.

He has also customized training manuals and taught instructional sessions for his clients, on both law and the technology that is offered through Paletz Portal, the Firm’s software platform, that allows clients to monitor the status of their eviction cases online 24/7. Matthew routinely prepares both internal and public policies for his clients, most commonly relating to fair housing compliance. He has consistently been at the forefront of the newest changes to national fair housing laws in an effort to keep his clients informed and up to date.

Matthew is a 1995 graduate of the University of Michigan where he earned a B.A. in Communications. He also graduated from Specs Howard School of Media Arts with a concentration in video production. He then earned his J.D. from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law in 2002, where he was a finalist in the G. Mennen Williams Moot Court Competition, winner of the William Henry Gallagher Intramural Moot Court Competition, and a participant in a national competition held at the Duke University School of Law, all of which earned him to be selected as a national member of the Order of Barristers. He also served on the Moot Court Board of Directors, as well as Student Bar Association Vice President.

Matthew has also presented several times for Sterling Education Services (SES) on their Landlord-Tenant curriculum, and has spoken on numerous legal panels for the DMAA, IREM, MMHA and WAAA pertaining to landlord-tenant, fair housing, and collections legal issues. Paletz Law was also recognized as the IREM Michigan Chapter 5 2014 Industry Partner of the Year.

Matthew represents veterans in various civil litigation matters through the American Bar Association Military Pro Bono Project. In addition, he occasionally volunteers as a Moot Court judge for the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. Matthew proudly serves on the Advisory Committee for the Oakland Community College Paralegal Program which is approved by the American Bar Association (ABA). He also supports Volunteers of America; Yeshiva Beth Yehudah, a Jewish day school that is supported by the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit;  the House of Providence, which provides a familial environment for minors in the foster care system who are without the prospect of permanent placement; and The Joseph Project, an organization that provides pro bono legal services to victims of human trafficking.

He is a member of the following organizations:

• Building Industry Association-Apartment Association of Michigan (BIA/AAM)
• Detroit Metropolitan Apartment Association (DMAA)
• Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM)
• Michigan Creditors Bar Association (MCBA)
• Michigan Manufactured Housing Association (MMHA)
• National Apartment Association (NAA)
• Oakland County Bar Association (OCBA)
• Ohio Manufactured Homes Association (OMHA)
• Washtenaw Area Apartment Association (WAAA)

Bar Admissions:

• Michigan, 2003
• Ohio, 2014
• United States District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, 2007
• United States District Court, Western District of Michigan, 2007
• United States District Court, Northern District of Ohio, 2016
• United States District Court, Southern District of Ohio, 2017

Case Highlights:

• Obtained summary disposition in favor of manufactured housing property owner on a conversion claim brought by a former tenant, who was alleging personal property loss. The doctrine of estoppel was successfully argued, and the former tenant’s claim was dismissed and attorney fees were granted to the property owner.
• Awarded a substantial settlement for a commercial property owner in a highly disputed corporate lease case where the client was sued by the tenant for damages. After significant negotiations, the client was not only monetarily compensated by the tenant, but was absolved from paying any damages.
• Won multiple appeals on a possessory judgment at the state court level while simultaneously defending a lawsuit brought in federal court by the tenant, who alleged discrimination against the landlord client. The underlying possessory judgment was granted due to the tenant’s creation of hazardous conditions on the premises and the federal case was dismissed.
• Successfully defended property owners on housing discrimination claims brought by both the state and federal levels against landlords that resulted in dismissals and exoneration of the clients.
• Negotiated a settlement in a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy proceeding to keep the secured interest on the title of a manufactured home in response to the Chapter 7 Trustee initiating action to strip said secured interest. The settlement avoided sale of the asset, which would have resulted in substantial loss of money for the property owner client.
• Represented clients’ interests arising out of the sale of a parcel of land, where some ancillary items that were not disposed of in the original transaction were subject to litigation. Additionally, there was rehabilitation needed relating to corporate formation, as well as tax consequences. Oversaw efforts of the multiple attorney litigation team to conclude litigation and further the related sale.
• In a lawsuit brought by a municipality seeking alleged past due personal property taxes based on abandoned mobile homes, reduced the amount in dispute by over 50% after identifying a discrepancy in the municipality’s tax calculations.

Publications:

• “Fair Housing Can Get You Hoppin’ Mad!”, Institute of Real Estate Management / Detroit Metropolitan Apartment Association (May, 2013)
• “The Legal Buzz… What Landlords Need to Know About the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act”, … (October, 2013) (Revised March, 2017)
• “Post Eviction Accounts Receivable Solutions”, Institute of Real Estate Management / Detroit Metropolitan Apartment Association (December, 2014)
• “Vigilant Landlords Are Diligent About Delinquency”, LinkedIn (February 6, 2015)
• “Kangaroos Are Not Limited to Courts Anymore”, LinkedIn (June 19, 2015)
• “The Judges They Are a Changin’”, LinkedIn (September 21, 2015)
• “Frequency of Discrimination Complaints Based Upon Disability”, State Bar of Michigan Real Property Law Section e-Newsletter (September 1, 2017)
• “Source of Income or Source of Concern?”, Manufactured Housing Insider (July/August 2019 Issue)
• “Landlords Caught in the Covid-19 Crossfire”, Crain’s Detroit Business Op-Ed (May 11, 2020)
• “Governor Whitmer and Supreme Court Push Family-Owned Landlords Into Financial Abyss”, Detroit News Op-Ed (June 19, 2020)
• “Short-Term Rent Moratoriums Will Put People In Street In The Long Term”, Crain’s Detroit Business Op-Ed (March 16, 2021)
• “Constitutional Property Rights Taking a Big Hit During Covid Occupation”, NARPM Monthly News Magazine – Residential Resource Cover Story (March 2021 Issue)
• “Government Eviction Moratorium and the Negative Long-Term Effect”, Manufactured Housing Insider (July 16, 2021)
• “Keep Michigan Courts on Zoom to Give Access to Justice”, Detroit News Op-Ed (June 18, 2022)
• “The Rental Market Has Unfortunately Become the Mess We Predicted”, Crain’s Detroit Business Op-Ed (July 21, 2022)