I think the lawyers are probably right about suing but there are ways to address what that guy is saying. First get a friend to call for a reference instead of hiring an investigator because you could be worrying about nothing. I'm sure you know he can't say anything negative. This would look badly to an ethical company asking for a reference too.

2nd search the internet for ways to deal with being fired or a bad ref. one thing is you can just come clean and say he isn't going to give a good ref. it is honest and it is a chance to let them know things they always want know. For example how do you handle a challenging situation? What could you have done differently? (If you can't think of something make it up.) If you have a ref from a peer use that. My first job in my current career ended badly and I was able to make it an asset by how I addressed it so it doesn't matter how many jobs or how long it has been.

Then I'd take the investigator money and hire somebody to clean the house. Better yet see if you can take a percent off the realtor commission and let them go to town. It's better if a professional stages it anyway. If you have some skills to trade you could also advertise on Craig's list. Like a website for a small cleaning company in exchange.

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