Thanks for reading and having an input. What should I do about the DCA? I wouldn't have stopped paying rent unless he'd said to. It's all a bit annoying! I'd say my loss is easily at least what he's asking for in rent. I guess proving it is difficult. He's now refused to clear the access until I've paid in full etc. This is the agreement:

Hello, I am in pretty desperate need of advice! I rented a unit to use as a photography studio around 18 month ago. When I looked at the unit, there were a few leaks, which the landlord said he would repair, but never did. I carried on paying rent, but not using the unit as a studio, more of a storage space, as the leaks prevented me from having my equipment set up. Fast forward to December (my dad was incredibly ill and passed away in the August of last year, so all of the unit leaking and not being able to use it went right to the back of my mind) the landlord gave me a polite reminder that my rent is due. I, again, politely reminded him that the unit leaks and nothing has been done about the leaks since I'd been there. He apologised and told me that I wouldn't be paying any rent until he'd repaired the leaks. I then spoke to the landlord in July, him asking what was happening etc. and whereabouts the leaks are etc. so he could get them fixed. I explained that I don't use it etc. and most of my work involves me working away (or I use my garage as a small studio) and I wouldn't be back until mid August. I then start getting messages from the landlord saying that I'm owing the full missing months of rent, from the last time I paid in December. I received a letter the other day from a debt collector company saying that I owe the landlord £4248, which is the 10 months rent (£400/m) plus a late payment fee. The guy was friendly enough and I explained the entire situation and he appreciated that I as clearly not trying to rip them off etc. He said that as it's a commercial property, the fact the landlord told me not to pay until he'd fixed the leaks was completely irrelevant unfortunately. The unit still leaks next to the 3-phase 415V main fuseboard, so as far as I'm concerned, it's a death trap and I could never have clients into the building etc. He said that even though the landlord had said that (not paying rent etc.), I was still responsible and if anything, should have had the roof repaired and taken it out of the rent. Where do I stand? The chap I spoke to said the amount may be negotiable, but to be frank, I feel that I shouldn't have been paying full rent for the period that I was, let alone for the period that he told me not to pay through. I fully appreciate that although the guy I spoke to was very friendly etc., but is obviously working for the landlord and not myself, so there is going to be an issue of him biasing towards their interests and not my own. There's just no way I could afford to pay that figure, it's hard enough working as a freelance photographer at the best of times, let alone paying rent on a unit that's been unusable since I got it. Where do I stand? If anybody has anything impartial to say, that'd be great and thanks in advance. Sorry for long post.

Any idea anyone?

Hi, Not sure if this is the best sub forum for this but here goes. A relationship ended last year during July. The girlfriend and I had a joint account which had around £2500 in when we split up. Foolishly, I left that money there until a few months ago. I rang the bank to close the account and transfer the remaining funds. The bank informed me that the other name on the account had emptied it into her bank account in October. The partner did not work due to disability and my wages were the only source of income, therefore I kind of feel a bit cheated. Especially as the funds were the remainder of a refurbishment venture's profit, so I will still have to pay tax on the £2500 as well as being without it. I realise this may just be tough luck as it was a joint account, but is there anything I can do at all? What should have happened to remaining funds in the joint account? Split? Would it be a small claims case if I thought I had a case to argue?

Not yet, just the complaints person dealing with it has indicated that the matter of compensation will be discussed after we're back in possession and happy with the work. He has confirmed that there will at least be some compensation though.

Thanks to all for the advice! The bit I'm having trouble with is putting a price on inconvenience. Like even how many zeroes is a reasonable figure? Insurance haven't offered an amount yet, just trying to be a little bit prepared for when they actually come up with a number. At the minute they're concentrating on delivering the vehicle back and us being happy with the repair.

Ah! Thank you. I did try in FF and IE, but both were the same. Might be my work's firewall.

Due to that being really difficult to read, pastebin link that's a fair bit easier on the eye:http://pastebin.com/XeM29czg

Short version: Had a non-fault accident 12 months ago, garage/insurance communication has been really poor and led to various delays and hickups, insurance is now returning the car fixed and is offering compensation and is certain we will be able to settle the matter without the financial ombudsman needing to become involved.Long version: Bit of a weird one this. Basically had a car drive into the back of us nearly 12 months ago. Car is a classic car insured on a classic policy.The rear required straightening out, a few bits replacing and re-finishing. The garage the insurance took the car to painted the rear in 2-pack paint materials, while the rest of the car is finished in cellulose. As this was a non-fault claim, I was unhappy that it was not returned to it's original condition, ie all painted in cellulose. The garage then sub contracted out to a firm that 'specialise' in classics. They painted it in cellulose and while the finish was very good, it was the wrong colour. By a mile. Car was sent back to garage as we were not happy and the garage agreed it was not a good match.I expressed our concern to our insurance company who after a few emails back and forth, agreed to refinish the entire car in 2 pack paint materials (also, after it had been returned to us for me to remedy some bodywork issues on the front of the car). At this point we were were happy something was being done and we'd be getting it back in near showroom condition. We'd been without the car for a while already (and no courtesy car) so it looked like we were approaching a satisfactory conclusion. The garage were told each time we contacted them to not use our landline as we don't use it, it's purely there for the broadband but obviously insurance insisted on a landline number when we signed up. Mobile number given each time, but they still kept trying us on the landline number (apparently).What had happened was the insurance had purely fobbed us off with the promise of the respray and the garage had not been instructed to do anything of the sort. They had redone it again in cellulose and were now happy with the match. We were still expecting them to contact us regarding returning of the car for me to work on it to return it for the full respray.Garage were a bit rude about the car being in their way and wanted us to pay to have it recovered as it was out of their remit now. Complaints went back and forth to insurance with delays of up to a month between replies from them. Eventually looked up what we were meant to do if they weren't playing ball and found out they were overseen by another big company. Complained to them, waited a couple of weeks and then got a reply and promise of return of our car and compensation for our trouble.As far as I'm concerned, the car has been out of action for 12 months, while insured, the MOT and tax have ticked away and expired now, there's a good chance the tyres will have flat spots and will require replacing, clutch/brake hydraulics may require attention due to being sat, engine may need attention due to not being started. Fortunately we had another 2 cars anyway, but that may not have been the case.What sort of figure should we be expecting/pushing for?Thanks! Edit: Ah! Forum is losing my formatting for some strange reason. Apologies.

Sorry I didn't reply sooner! Thank you very much for the offer of further help should we need it and you are very generous in your offer. For the moment, we're happy to accept the outcome and put it to bed. We are happy that we could win this outright though, concentrating on the point above. We maybe did too much defending of the condition of the flat as opposed to highlighting the fact the landlord waived his right to retain any moneys when he failed to lodge the deposit with the TDS. Not heard anything from the court yet. Court in question was Pontefract County Court.

Ok so: Judge awarded them £400 towards decorating, due to the mold being caused by us fitting and using a dishwasher and 'my lifestyle'. (Other party claimed that we never had the windows open at all during our entire 9 month tenancy and the judge believed them) Awarded £100 for cooker and fridge cleaning. (We admitted we'd forgotten to clean the cooker, but fridge was never claimed for anyway) Awarded £38 for missing fridge door shelf, despite it never being fitted when we moved in. Awarded £87 for changing flat door lock and supplying 3 keys. Obviously gave us the deposit + 3 x deposit minus these items. So £850 ish in our favour, refused the landlord's request for appeal, although he stated that'll he'll be seeking advice and taking it higher. Judge would not allow us to claim for any litigant in person amounts and said court costs would basically cancel each other out. He did scrub out the majority of their counter claim including that for replacement of carpets and lino, replacement of cooker, replacement of front door lock and supply of 30 keys, and deep cleaning of the flat. Landlord walked in with estimate for works, not a single scrap of evidence that he'd actually spent anything. His photos of alleged marks on the carpet could literally have been taken in any one of the 12 flats in the building that presumably have the same carpet. Not a single identifiable photo of the flat showed any marks on the carpet. On the whole, utterly dissappointed with the judge's bias towards the landlord and not really sure what we're goign to do if he is granted appeal by the next judge up the ladder. They went in and lied through their teeth about various problems and the judge sided with them. Not once did the judge take our word in our defence, even when we produced the photographs that showed that the lino had not been replaced and did not need replacing. It was pretty unbelievable and we thought that the judge would've had more common sense. We were under the impression that the landlord would have to prove the damp problem with a survey report and the claim that it was caused by us using a dishwasher is just plain stupid and I am struggling to find a single reference to it happening before anywhere on the net! It's a 200+ year old, sandstone house, with an open wet cellar beneath. Our flat is separated from the cellar with only the floor boards that make up our floor. he mould is on outside walls only, on the far living room wall and other far end bedroom wall in equal measure.

Last couple of questions: How do we structure what we want to say? Do we start off with everything that we are claiming for broken down into value of each item, why we are claiming, our defense to the counter claim or what? How do we actually make sure we cover everything, without sounding greedy and lingering on the 'how much we are claiming for' bits? Would i start with stating why we think we have a case for sueing for TDS breach and go into ins and outs and then at the end state what it is exactly we are claiming for? And then once that is cleared up, go into why we think the counterclaim is false, unjustified etc. and invalid for the various reasons? I'm searching for info, but can't really find much guidance on how to structure what we will actually say on the day. Edit: Ooh, also, do/can I claim for a days lost leave from work?

That's put a big smile on my face Lawdoctor. Thanks for the support and we owe you a big one for your advice. You have been a massive help, as has everyone who has replied has to be fair. I just want today to be over so we can just get stuck in.

Apologies for ridiculously long post!

Thanks Lawdoctor. We'll be having a last 'tot up' this evening. We are also travelling approx 130 miles to the court, due to our new address being some distance away from the old place. Do we ask for that or are we then sounding like we're taking the Michael? On the hours spent thing, what is a reasonable amount to say? I'd have thought it is at least 20 as this whole business is something neither of us knew much about at all prior to it. But at the end of the day, I'd rather not ask for anything rather than sound like we're trying to milk them dry! Anyway, Landlord filed his papers yesterday. Yes, 2 days before the case. They submitted a few photos supposedly taken the day after we moved out showing a few bits of mould, indentations in the carpet where their sofas live and a couple of marks on the carpet that could have been taken anywhere to be fair. Unsigned, undated, brief inventory with no provision for condition of items at the start of the tenancy. Here's the good bit and I need to concentrate a bit on my wording tonight: Landlord states that flat has now been renovated again since we moved out and is now in pristine condition. The letting agent photos do indeed show this. Unfortunately for them, they have not submitted a single bill/invoice or even quote for work required after we moved out. They have an estimate from a company for various works including replacing the lino in the kitchen. Our photos and the letting agent photos show that the lino has not been changed and combined with the fact there aren't any invoices for work carried out, it's pretty obvious to us at least that the flat didn't need any work, hasn't had any work and the land lord is not intending to do any work. He has submitted one of our own photos that we submitted last week as it shows a tumble drier that we bought while we were living there for when we'd moved. We didn't wash our clothes at the property due to the communal washing machine giving me a belt in the first couple of weeks of being there. The photo also shows the dehumidifier sat next to this tumble drier that we used to have to use to bring the humidity down in the flat. The landlord has identified the dishwasher we fitted and the tumble drier as the causes for damp and mould. An independant inspection would confirm that the flat is insufficiently heated and has no mechanical ventilation. Am I right in thinking it's their responsibility to get the proof that it is us that have caused the mould? And the landlord just stating that we had a dishwasher, tumble drier and 'never had the windows open' is not enough? How late can documents be submitted that would be deemed too late to be used? We obviously know we still have a very strong case with or without their papers. We were a few days late in submitting ours, but it still gave them a good week to work through them (and plagiarise them!). We don't really want the case adjourned due to us both effectively being late in submitting documents as I suspect a judge could/may do. I had to take yesterday afternoon off work to give us as long as possible to study their docs and I'm ready to leave work today due to nerves! The landlord has admitted in his covering note with the documents that our deposit was not protected due to an oversight on their part, so at least that bit is easy.

No, no! Thank you very much for your reply. We appreciate any advice in it's entirety. I have emailed each scheme as you have suggested.

Just checked with court and they still haven't filed any papers! What are they playing at!?

Sorry, deposit was indeed £370. So £370 + 3 x £370.

It's this that worries us somewhat (taken from another forum): If a tenant is concerned that his deposit is not protected by a scheme and/or he has not been provided with the prescribed information and/or the scheme administrator does not confirm that their deposit is protected then he can commence proceedings against the landlord under HA 2004, s 214. Although it appears that if, by the time of the hearing, the landlord has complied with the requirement there is no sanction. If the court finds that the landlord is in breach then it must order up to three times the amount of the deposit to be paid to the tenant within 14 days (s 214(4)) as well as ordering the deposit to be paid either into the custodial scheme or to the tenant (s 213(3)).

Ok, to save cluttering the other threads: Basically our court hearing is this Friday (26th Feb, 2010). We have submitted our documents we wish to refer to, but the defendant has not submitted anything at all (so far). We had a stroke of luck before submitting the documents, which was finding the new advert for the flat, with new photographs taken presumably by lettings agency landlord has chosen to use. These photographs show the same carpet fitted and as immaculate as the day we moved out (very clean, no marks etc.!), Shows the same cooker fitted (which was deemed 'dirty beyond cleaning'), and finally shows the lino has not been replaced. It could of course be argued that they have a regular supplier who supplied same lino, carpet, cooker, etc. But various dark/light shades in the 'fake wood grain lino' correspond with our photos of while we were living there. You can literally see parts line up with the units that show beyond doubt, it has not been changed (or has anything wrong with it). Both photographs submitted to court along with all other photos and letting agents advert. We were kind of hoping that they would've submitted receipts for lino replacement etc. (seeing as these would have to have been falsified), but nothing as yet and court have also confirmed nothing has been filed. So documents looked like this: Tenancy agreement, Deposit, Confirmation from each TDS that deposit is not protected, LL's registered address. Photographs during tenancy, Photographs on final day of tenancy (Sparser than we would now like, as we only took a few for 'memories', we didn't for one second think they would try anything!), Evidence of keys being returned, Current Letting agent advert for flat with blown up photos. With all of these bits and pieces, have I overlooked anything? Anything they could pull out of the bag and completely blow us out of the water with? And to quote MrShed from another thread: "It would be pretty simple - you just show in court tenancy termination date, as compared to the date of protection." Where does it say that a deposit cannot be registered after the end of the tenancy and would this not be subject to the recent Hiigh Court decision? We really really appreciate everyone's help BTW!

That's good to know. What could I refer to for info on that point?

It is likely to be 'The Deposit Protection Service', as in his defence he noted that he is registered with them. Although nothing has been communicated to us or even filed with the court regarding. Is there a central comparison/run down of each of the schemes different rules etc. regarding this? Or is it a case of going through each website?

Could this ruling be applied to a case where the deposit was not protected during tenancy/before court proceedings started, tenancy has been terminated? Could a landlord still wriggle out by protecting it close to hearing date and applying this ruling? (Our case is in court Friday 26th Feb).

Another thing. The landlady ticked the 'court has no jurisdiction' (or whatever the exact wording is) on the original claim form, but I can't see why. Why would someone tick this unless just stalling?

Yeah, one of the many frustrating things we had to put up with. Don't know if there was/is anything we could have/can really do about it though. I'm sure we'll laugh about it in years to come!