The tenant knew he had some leverage in this case, but he never expected it to play out so well for him. The OP in this story formerly would sit in on tenant/landlord disputes for an old job of his, so he knew how to work his way around the court. In fact, the OP actually knew he'd get summoned for not paying his rent…which is exactly why he chose to do so. He wanted to blindside his landlord with all of the unlawful schemes the complex has been trying to pull for the last few years...