Civil Court Case

Civil | Mainville v. De Santis Rentals. LLC

A Case for Justice

This page shares the journey of my legal battle that began as a simple complaint filed with the Attorney General's office and evolved over a year into a federal civil rights case against judicial officials in District Court, Court of Appeals, and the Office of Administrative Hearings working alongside opposing counsel and my previous landlord. As of August 2025, the complaint includes 39 claims of constitutional violations. I haven't been able to name all the parties in my complaint because the NC Court of Appeals refuses to release the names of the judges who ruled on the alleged violations.

There is a timeline below where you can click on each of the events and view the documents associated with it. The documents have not been altered other than to remove emails, phone numbers, certificates of service (unless they pertain to an argument), my medical history, signatures, logos, and repeated emails in replies. On some documents, I've added direct notes to clarify the record, while others speak for themselves.

I have been representing myself in these proceedings, which has presented its own challenges and opened my eyes to the fact that what we perceive as a fair and impartial tribunal is in reality very subjective. I have contacted multiple channels for answers and support and continue to face deflection or am straight up ignored, as you will see below. I will try to update this site and respond to any messages as quickly as I can.

NOTE: Nothing on this page constitutes legal advice. These are my personal experiences, positions, and filings related to my case only. If you're facing a legal issue, please consult with a licensed attorney. You can also check out the resource page that has links to some sites that offer legal advice.

A Call for Action

Sign the petition demanding a non-partisan investigation into the North Carolina court system and support critical reform to restore transparency, accountability, and fairness in our courts.

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Timeline of Events

Below is the timeline of events based on my judicial logs, with the most recent event at the top. I’ve compiled everything so you can see just how much I’ve had to manage on my own while working full time. You can use the filter options below to view entries based on your preference.

I’ll do my best to keep this updated, but as things continue to progress, the federal court increases the burden it places on me while revoking fair access for electronic filing without just cause. This requires me to take over 2 hours just to file in person during working hours or pay printing and mailing fees if I can’t take time off from work.

I also have a full timeline log on Google Sheets that I compiled to help stay organized, which will remain up to date and you can view any of the cases online through the court and Pacer RECAP.

*For some reason, my OAH contested case doesn’t show up on the public filings, which is case number 25HRC00824.

District p25-113 COA 25-521 COA FHA Claim 1983 Claim

Reference of Filters:

Civil Dispute: The overall civil case
Court of Appeals: Actions or filings at the NC Court of Appeals.
Court Order / Judgment: Rulings or orders issued by a court.
Defendants: Events specifically involving De Santis Rentals, Anna De Santis, or her counsel
DOJ / AG Office: Events involving the Department of Justice or NC Attorney General’s Office.
Federal Court: Events or filings at the federal court level.
Judicial Misconduct Alleged: Allegations of serious judicial misconduct or abuse of judicial authority.
Law / Statute / Information: A state or federal law, rule, or case law cited or tips pertaining to the event.

NCHRC / HUD: Actions, delays, or issues involving the NC Human Relations Commission or HUD.
Office of Administrative Hearings: Events or filings within the NC Office of Administrative Hearings process.
Plaintiff: Events, filings, or actions initiated by me as the plaintiff.
State Court: Events occurring in Small Claims or District Court in NC.
Violations: Clear, provable breaches of law, rules, or tenant protections committed by defendants.
Attorney Misconduct Alleged: Ethical or procedural violations committed by opposing counsel (Frank McGraw & David Yopp).

District Court | Attorney David Yopp | Chief District Court Judge Eagles

Motion to Continue Misconduct

After filing my federal complaint, the court continued to disregard the automatic stay, the defendants filed a motion to continue and a lowball settlement offer, and I was ordered to appear in person despite prior requests for reasonable accommodations—prompting a formal objection and raising deeper concerns about the pattern of retaliation, judicial inaction, and trust in the system itself.

Apr 21-24 2025

Federal Court | Complaint | Plaintiff

TRO & Federal Filing

With trial days away and state courts refusing to enforce the automatic stay, I filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Anna alongside an emergency TRO to stop ongoing retaliation by the defendants. I knew the TRO was a long shot—but it was the only path left to protect my rights without directly suing the courts.

Apr 21 2025

Supreme Court | Petition | Plaintiff

Supreme Filing

On April 17, 2025, I petitioned the North Carolina Supreme Court to review the Court of Appeals’ rulings that disregarded precedent, allowed forum shopping, violated the automatic stay, and raised urgent questions about appellate jurisdiction, procedural equity, and access to justice for pro se litigants.

Apr 17 2025

District Court | Attorney David Yopp

Request for Judicial Review

Defendants’ request for judicial settlement under Rule 11(c) was improper because it sought to strike filings the rule doesn’t cover—like my Rule 9(d) supplement—and was part of a broader pattern of forum shopping, where opposing counsel first asked the Court of Appeals to rule on timeliness (outside its jurisdiction), then used that ruling in trial court to justify overreaching requests the judge wasn’t authorized to grant.

Apr 16-17 2025

PETITION | NCHRC | OAH | DOJ

Motion for Summary Judgment

After the tribunal issued a flawed denial of my Motion for Reconsideration while delaying a ruling on the merits, I filed for summary judgment—laying out overwhelming evidence that NCHRC violated state and federal law, failed to investigate core claims, and relied on hearsay to support a procedurally void determination that must be set aside.

Apr 10-15 2025

Court of Appeals | Attorney David Yopp | Plaintiff

Appealing to the Court of Appeals

Although I properly served the proposed record on March 5 and his objections were filed after the deadline, the Court of Appeals granted his motion without giving me the full response period, allowing untimely objections to override the settled record and force the case into further delay.

Apr 4-12 2025

Petition | NCHRC | OAH

Dept of Unjustice

After the DOJ filed a misleading and hearsay-filled opposition to my motion to disqualify, the tribunal abruptly cancelled the hearing without proper justification, prompting me to file a motion to reconsider that challenged the mischaracterizations, procedural inconsistencies, and the court’s failure to address the actual conflict of interest at issue.

Apr 1-3 2025

District Court | Defendants | Attorney David Yopp

Motion to Transfer Venue

Opposing counsel escalated their misconduct by filing hostile responses, misrepresenting the law, moving to strike my right to reply, and attempting to transfer the case to Superior Court based on a counterclaim filed during the automatic stay—blatantly violating appellate procedure and jurisdictional boundaries.

Mar 25-26 2025

complaint | NCHRC | OAH | DOJ

Dismissed by the DOJ

After discovering the DOJ had filed a premature motion to dismiss my contested case—without proper notice and despite their conflict of interest in defending the agency that violated my rights—I responded with a detailed opposition and petitioned for their disqualification.

Mar 18-21 2025

District Court | Attorney David Yopp | Plaintiff

Counterclaim

On March 14, 2025, despite the automatic stay, opposing counsel filed a duplicate motion to dismiss and untimely counterclaims—refusing to withdraw them even after I warned him—forcing me to file a formal notice of violation to document this ongoing misconduct and protect my rights on appeal.

Mar 14-17 2025

Court of Appeals | Attorney David Yopp | Plaintiff

Sanctions

After defendants filed a misleading opposition to my Writ of Prohibition, I submitted a reply and motion for sanctions, while also calling out opposing counsel’s improper communication with the judge’s clerk.

Mar 11 2025

Contested Case | NCHRC | OAH

Petition for Contested Case

After HUD wrongly denied my appeal by claiming lack of jurisdiction, I filed a contested case hearing petition with the Office of Administrative Hearings to challenge the NCHRC’s mishandled investigation as a faster and more affordable path to accountability.

Mar 6 2025

Court of Appeals | Plaintiff

Proposed ROA & Failed RFAs

I completed and served the Proposed Record on Appeal through the eFile and Serve system to opposing counsel.

Mar 5 2025

District Court | Orders | Lead Civil Judge Walcyzk | Appealed

Deem of Admissions

After I filed a notice confirming that admissions were deemed admitted under Rule 36(a), Judge Walczyk improperly granted the defendants’ extension in a way that suggest off-record coordination with opposing counsel. When I sought clarification from the TCA, opposing counsel falsely accused me of baiting court staff and suggested a gatekeeper order be issued against me, continuing a pattern of retaliation and procedural abuse.

Feb 27 2025

District Court | Defendants |Attorney David Yopp

Obstructed Discovery

While the case was under appeal, opposing counsel submitted discovery responses filled with boilerplate objections, false statements, and withheld documents—knowing I couldn’t compel compliance—deliberately obstructing the process and forcing me to respond under threat of ethical grievance.

Feb 25 2025

Court of Appeals | Plaintiff

Prohibition

After the Court of Appeals denied my motion to stay, I was forced to file a Writ of Prohibition—an extraordinary remedy—because the trial court continued ignoring the automatic stay, leaving me no choice but to act to protect my rights and prevent further harm to my case.

Feb 21 2025

District Court | Court of Appeals | Plaintiff

Order Required in the Court

On February 17, Judge Davidian issued a procedurally flawed and biased order that ignored the automatic stay, mischaracterized the case, selectively ruled in defendants’ favor, and extended their deadline beyond what Rule 12 allows—further demonstrating jurisdictional overreach and improper judicial conduct.

Feb 14-19 2025

District Court | Court of Appeals | Plaintiff

Automatically Denied

At a hearing that should have been canceled under the automatic stay, the judge allowed opposing counsel to argue against my rights, ignored jurisdiction, dismissed my pending motions, and reduced the process to a disorganized, biased exchange that blatantly violated judicial and ethical standards

Feb 13 2025

complaint | NCHRC | HUD

Final Determination

After discovering that the NCHRC issued a final determination without using any of my evidence and mailed it to the wrong address, I appealed to HUD’s Fair Housing Enforcement Office and asked the Chief Judge at the Office of Administrative Hearings to investigate.

Feb 10 2025

District Court | Court of Appeals | Plaintiff

Notice of Interlocutory Appeal

After realizing the court would not correct its procedural violations and that further hearings could irreparably harm my case, I filed an interlocutory appeal on February 10 to trigger an automatic stay and protect my rights under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1-294.

Feb 10 2025

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