My landlord wants me to sign something at the courthouse, should I?

Slow down before you sign anything at the courthouse, even under pressure to wrap things up quickly. Two pieces of paper you might be handed at that moment can look nearly the same at a glance but land you in opposite places, one ends things with nothing on your record, the other is your own signature confirming you lost.

Asking for a few minutes to actually read what's in front of you, or asking to speak with the courthouse self-help center first, is a completely normal, reasonable thing to do. Nobody there should expect you to sign on the spot without understanding which of those two documents you're actually looking at.