Former landlords angry at judge for backing troubled tenant

<p>An accused serial squatter who has frustrated landlords using an apparent tactic of legal delays was granted yet another trial continuance Wednesday by a Sonoma County judge, sparking an outcry from a former landlord who was ejected from the courtroom.</p><p>Gwendolyn Smith, a paralegal who has eviction cases against her in three states, is being sued by Constance Cook of Sebastopol who claims she owes her more than $66,000 in damages, including months of unpaid rent.</p><p>Her latest trial was set to begin Wednesday morning, but Smith did not show up. Instead, her lawyer, Dwayne Light of Marin County, requested a postponement on the grounds his client was receiving “medical treatment” in Los Angeles and couldn't make it.</p><p>Superior Court Judge Mark Tansil granted the postponement. But that drew an angry outburst from Barbara Wilt, a former Smith landlord who has a $42,000 judgment against her and was in the courtroom.</p><p>“She's such a scammer,” she told Tansil. “You're not doing your job.”</p><p>Tansil booted Wilt from the courtroom and set a new trial date of Oct. 27.</p><p>Outside the courtroom, Cook, 66, was in tears. She said more than 18 months of not receiving rent from Smith on her converted barn apartment had forced her to put her home up for sale.</p><p>“I'm extremely disappointed,” said Cook, a retired dance teacher, who allowed Smith to move in February 2009 without knowing her history. “Now I don't know where I'm going to live.”</p><p>Her lawyer, Jim Sansone, objected to the continuance, which he told Tansil was “game playing.” In his trial brief, Sansone laid out a history of motions and delays from Smith that he said were a tactic to avoid paying rent or getting evicted.</p><p>“Based on her history, I don't think anything she says is credible,” Sansone said in court. </p><p>Smith is appealing a default judgment against her<NO1>SMITH<NO> made earlier this year by Judge Elliot Daum after Smith did not appear at a hearing.</p><p>Tansil said he would require proof of Smith's medical treatment at the next hearing.</p><p>“The court's not trying to delay this but we need to move in fairness, particularly with a medical issue,” Tansil said.</p><p>Lawyers for Cook and Wilt urged District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua to get involved in what has so far been a civil dispute. </p><p>A spokeswoman for Passalacqua said the landlords would have to lodge a complaint with local police before any criminal charges could be pursued. Diana Gomez, assistant district attorney, said the office has received no reports from law enforcement about Smith.</p><p>“We can't act on a newspaper article,” she said. “An actual person has to come forward and complain. That's the first step.”</p><p>According to Sansone's trial brief, Smith runs a “scam pattern” in which she finds a kind landlord, moves in and never intends to pay anything but the first month's rent. Smith rented Cook's converted barn with her then 15-year-old son Zeus on Feb. 19, 2009, complained about the condition of the water and stopped paying by June.</p><p>Testing confirmed the water had fewer contaminants than city water. Smith then complained about a gas leak she said was making her ill, but PG&E found no leak and said the complaint was baseless. Later, Smith said the apartment had electrical problems and accused Cook of renting an unpermitted unit - a claim that also was found to be untrue, Cook said. </p><p>Cook filed an eviction suit in August, triggering a series of motions from Smith who remained in the rental unit with her son.</p><p>The case was finally set for trial last month. Less than an hour before the opening, Smith moved out, owing more than $10,000 in unpaid rent, Sansone said.</p><p>A hearing for damages was scheduled to take place Wednesday. But Cook said collecting any damages might be impossible because Smith already has a more than $80,000 judgment against her in Wisconsin and owes Wilt, her previous landlord, $42,000.</p><p>Cook said the loss of income made it impossible to cover the mortgage on the rural property she bought about a decade ago. She put the house and rental unit on the market earlier this week, she said.</p>