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    • Thanks for all the suggestions so far I will amend original WS and send again for review.  While looking at my post at very beginning when I submitted photos of signs around the car park I noticed that it says 5 hours maximum stay while the signage sent by solicitor shows 4 hours maximum stay but mine is related to electric bay abuse not sure if this can be of any use in WS.
    • Not sure what to make of that or what it means for me, I was just about to head to my kip and it's a bit too late for legalise. When is the "expenditure occured"?  When they start spending money to write to me?  Or is this a bad thing (as "harsh" would imply)? When all is said and done, I do not have two beans to rub together, we rent our home and EVERYTHING of value has been purchased by and is in my wife's name and we are not financially linked in any way.  So at least if I can't escape my fate I can at least know that they will get sweet FA from me anyway   edit:  ah.. Sophia Harrison: Time bar decision tough on claimants WWW.SCOTTISHLEGAL.COM Time bar is a very complex area of law in Scotland relating to the period in which a claim for breach of duty can be pursued. The Scottish government...   This explains it like I am 5.  So, a good thing then because creditors clearly know they have suffered a loss the minute I stop paying them, this is why it is "harsh" (for them, not me)? Am I understanding this correctly?  
    • urm......exactly what you filed .....read it carefully... it puts them to strict proof to prove the debt is enforceable, so thus 'holds' their claim till they coughup or not and discontinue. you need to get readingthose threads i posted so you understand. then you'll know whats maybe next how to react or not and whats after that. 5-10 threads a day INHO. dont ever do anything without checking here 1st.
    • I've done a new version including LFI's suggestions.  I've also change the order to put your strongest arguments first.  Where possible the changes are in red.  The numbering is obviously knackered.  See what you think. Background  1.1  The Defendant received the Parking Charge Notice (PCN) on the 06th of November 2020 following the vehicle being parked at Arla Old Dairy, South Ruislip on the 05th of December 2019.  Unfair PCN  4.1  On XXXXX the Defendant sent the Claimant's solicitors a CPR request.  As shown in Exhibit 1 (pages 7-13) the solicitors helpfully sent photos of 46 signs in their evidence all clearly showing a £60.00 parking charge notice (which will  be reduced if paid promptly).  There can be no room for doubt here - there are 46 signs produced in the Claimant's own evidence. 4.2  Yet the PCN affixed to the vehicle was for a £100.00 parking charge notice (reduced if paid promptly).  The reminder letters from the Claimant again all demanded £100. 4.3        The Claimant relies on signage to create a contract.  It is unlawful for the Claimant to write that the charge is £60 on their signs and then send demands for £100.   4.4        The unlawful £100 charge is also the basis for the Claimant's Particulars of Claim. No Locus Standi 2.1  I do not believe a contract exists with the landowner that gives MET Parking Services a right to bring claims in their own name. Definition of “Relevant contract” from the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Schedule 4,  2 [1] means a contract Including a contract arising only when the vehicle was parked on the relevant land between the driver and a person who is-  (a) the owner or occupier of the land; or  (b) Authorised, under or by virtue of arrangements made by the owner or occupier of the land, to enter into a contract with the driver requiring the payment of parking charges in respect of the parking of the vehicle on the land. According to https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/46/section/44  For a contract to be valid, it requires a director from each company to sign and then two independent witnesses must confirm those signatures.  2.2  The Defendant requested to see such a contract in the CPR request.  The contract produced was largely illegible and heavily redacted, and the fact that it contained no witness signatures present means the contract has not been validly executed. Therefore, there can be no contract established between MET Parking Services and the motorist. Even if “No Parking in Electric Bay” could form a contract (which it cannot), it is immaterial. There is no valid contract. Illegal Conduct – No Contract Formed  3.1 At the time of writing, the Claimant has failed to provide proof of planning permission granted for signage etc under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. Lack of planning permission is a criminal offence under this Act and no contract can be formed where criminality is involved.  3.4        I also do not believe the claimant possesses this document.  No Keeper Liability  5.1        The defendant was not the driver at the time and date mentioned in the PCN and the claimant has not established keeper liability under schedule 4 of the PoFA 2012. In this matter, the defendant puts it to the claimant to produce strict proof as to who was driving at the time.  5.2 The claimant in their Notice To Keeper also failed to comply with PoFA 2012 Schedule 4 section 9[2][f] while mentioning “the right to recover from the keeper so much of that parking charge as remains unpaid” where they did not include statement “(if all the applicable conditions under this Schedule are met)”.    5.3        The claimant did not mention the parking period instead only mentioned time 20:25 which is not sufficient to qualify as a parking period.   Protection of Freedoms Act 2012  The notice must -  (a) specify the vehicle, the relevant land on which it was parked and the period of parking to which the notice relates; 22. In the persuasive judgement K4GF167G - Premier Park Ltd v Mr Mathur - Horsham County Court – 5 January 2024 it was on this very point that the judge dismissed this claim. 5.4  A the PCN does not comply with the Act the Defendant as keeper is not liable. Interest 6.2  It is unreasonable for the Claimant to delay litigation for four years in order to add excessive interest. Double Recovery  7.1  The claim is littered with made-up charges. 7.2  As noted above, the Claimant's signs state a £60 charge yet their PCN is for £100. 7.3  As well as the £100 parking charge, the Claimant seeks recovery of an additional £70.  This is simply a poor attempt to circumvent the legal costs cap at small claims. 29. Since 2019, many County Courts have considered claims in excess of £100 to be an abuse of process leading to them being struck out ab initio. An example, in the Caernarfon Court in VCS v Davies, case No. FTQZ4W28 on 4th September 2019, District Judge Jones-Evans stated “Upon it being recorded that District Judge Jones- Evans has over a very significant period of time warned advocates (...) in many cases of this nature before this court that their claim for £60 is unenforceable in law and is an abuse of process and is nothing more than a poor attempt to go behind the decision of the Supreme Court v Beavis which inter alia decided that a figure of £160 as a global sum claimed in this case would be a penalty and not a genuine pre-estimate of loss and therefore unenforceable in law and if the practise continued, he would treat all cases as a claim for £160 and therefore a penalty and unenforceable in law it is hereby declared (…) the claim is struck out and declared to be wholly without merit and an abuse of process.” 30. In Claim Nos. F0DP806M and F0DP201T, District Judge Taylor echoed earlier General Judgment or Orders of District Judge Grand, stating ''It is ordered that the claim is struck out as an abuse of process. The claim contains a substantial charge additional to the parking charge which it is alleged the Defendant contracted to pay. This additional charge is not recoverable under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, Schedule 4 nor with reference to the judgment in Parking Eye v Beavis. It is an abuse of process from the Claimant to issue a knowingly inflated claim for an additional sum which it is not entitled to recover. This order has been made by the court of its own initiative without a hearing pursuant to CPR Rule 3.3(4)) of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998...'' 31. In the persuasive case of G4QZ465V - Excel Parking Services Ltd v Wilkinson – Bradford County Court -2 July 2020 (Exhibit 2) the judge had decided that Excel had won. However, due to Excel adding on the £60 the Judge dismissed the case. 7.7        The addition of costs not previously specified on signage are also in breach of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, Schedule 2, specifically paras 6, 10 and 14.  7.8        It is the Defendant’s position that the Claimant in this case has knowingly submitted inflated costs and thus the entire claim should be similarly struck out in accordance with Civil Procedure Rule 3.3(4).  In Conclusion  8.1        I invite the court to dismiss the claim. Statement of Truth I believe that the facts stated in this witness statement are true. I understand that proceedings for contempt of court may be brought against anyone who makes, or causes to be made, a false statement in a document verified by a statement of truth without an honest belief in its truth. 
    • Scottish time bar: Scottish appeal court re-affirms the “harsh” rule (cms-lawnow.com)  
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Deposit Protection - A total waste of time!


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TDS case lost, and it's all the tenants fault for not asking the LL to protect deposit! :mad:

 

Tenant took Landlord to court for non compliance, the judge fully accepted that the deposit should have been protected, looked like tenant had won. Then the LL then claimed "it's not an assured shorthold tenancy, so TDS doesn't apply." The Judge can't find a copy of the 1988 housing act for the definition of an AST, so adjourns and reschedules so that he can find out. His closing comments were "if it's an AST, deposit should have been protected."

 

Reconvened weeks later, the judges opening statement (after allegedly reading the relevent housing acts), were that yes it was an AST, but as the tenancy has now ended there can be no claim for TDS non compliance.

 

The judge asked "where in HA 2004 does it say that the tenant can claim after the tenancy has ended?" Well, it doesn't as far as the tenant could see, so couldn't argue it. Tenant had results of similar cases where tenant was awarded 3x plus deposit back, but the judge wouldn't budge.

 

 

Apparently it was the tenants fault for not asking the LL to protect the deposit! Case dismissed! Got the distinct impression that the judge only adjourned to search for a loophole to get the landlord out of trouble.

 

What a total waste of time and money. Now landlords can flout TDS, if the tenant tries to enforce it, LL evicts them for being 'difficult', and the court can't do anything because (and I'm sure the Judge was wrong) 'there can be no claim after a tenancy has ended'.

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So sorry to hear that especially as I have a case coming up soon (although we are still in the tenancy). Doesnt sound right to me though cos surely a lot of tenants are only going to find out their deposit isnt protected when they have problems getting it back at the end of the tenancy. I think any new laws should come with guidelines/instructions for judges to avoid this happening.

 

In my view you have been penalised with regard to the court costs for bringing the action and that's not right.

 

Is it too late to appeal ?

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The tenant is considering appealing on this case. Anyone got any experience of small claims appeals process?

 

Any other comments? Is it likely to be a waste of time and (more) money. Not even sure what form to use to request an appeal. The lady in the court office was most unhelpful -

 

"You can't start an appeal until you get the result in writing, and all the details on appealing will be included". Now received confirmation of the result, and no, there is no info on appeals process. :-?

 

"There's no point in appealing on a point of law - the judge knows the law, and they don't get it wrong"! :rolleyes:

 

Can anyone direct me to the correct form for appealing a small claims court decision? :)

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As I said on other threads billy, I think this case MUST be appealed. No, I dont think it will be a waste of time and money.

7 years in retail customer service

 

Expertise in letting and rental law for 6 years

 

By trade - I'm an IT engineer working in the housing sector.

 

Please note that any posts made by myself are for information only and should not and must not be taken as correct or factual. If in doubt, consult with a solicitor or other person of equal legal standing.

 

Please click the star if I have helped!!

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Tenant has been advised by a solicitor that it's probably not worth appealing, as the solicitor believed that the reason the judge dismissed it was due to it being a replacement AST (i.e. the original deposit was paid over before 6th April 07). So the solicitor advised against appealing as the there is no precedent yet on whether a new AST (that replaces an exisiting one) requires DPS. Solicitor also quoted the shelter website info:

 

"What if I paid a deposit before 6 April 2007?

 

If your tenancy started before 6 April 2007, then you will not normally be protected by the scheme. However, if you have been given a new tenancy agreement since that date, you should get advice. In this situation, the law does not specifically say that your landlord has to protect your deposit, but the Government has suggested that they should do so. An advisor may be able to help you come to an agreement with your landlord."

 

Even though the judge agreed in the hearing that it was a new tenancy and the deposit should have been protected (he still dismissed it for the tenant not making the landlord protect whilst the tenancy was current, although no reason is given in the judge's written verdict), the solicitor advises that an appeal will be compromised by deposit being received before 6 April 07.

 

The tenant is not really willing to risk even more money on a test case/appeal, so it looks like another victory for the landlords. :x

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I disagree with the solicitor. The law does state that the deposit should be protected.

 

Do you know how much the costs will be?

7 years in retail customer service

 

Expertise in letting and rental law for 6 years

 

By trade - I'm an IT engineer working in the housing sector.

 

Please note that any posts made by myself are for information only and should not and must not be taken as correct or factual. If in doubt, consult with a solicitor or other person of equal legal standing.

 

Please click the star if I have helped!!

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I disagree with the solicitor. The law does state that the deposit should be protected.

 

Do you know how much the costs will be?

 

No idea what costs are involved in appealing, can't find any useful information on it. We can't even find the correct form to appeal with!

 

All we can find is on this guidance (The requested resource (/HMCSCourtFinder/tiles/Her Majesty's Courts Service -Forms and Guidance) is not available):

 

In the following types of proceedings the Court of Appeal is very unlikely to be

the appeal court.

Small Claims

The small claims track is the normal track for

any claim for personal injuries where the financial value of the claim is not more

than £5000 and the financial value of the claim for damages for personal

injuries is not more than £1000;

any claim which includes a claim by a tenant of residential premises to require the

landlord to carry out repairs and the costs of the repairs is estimated to be not

more than £1000;

any other claim which has a financial value of not more than £5000.

10. The circuit judge is the appeal court where the decision being appealed was

made by a district judge hearing a claim allocated to the small claims track.

11. Where, exceptionally, a circuit judge hears a claim allocated to the small

claims track, a High Court Judge is the appeal court.

 

 

Mr shed, do you know what form we should use, or what costs are/could be involved?

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p.s. what do you make of the shelter statement. They are implying that it is a grey area, as yet untested.

 

The only appeal form we can find is N161, but it says in big letters "All appeals except small claims track appeals". We can't find any other forms? :confused:

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They are dead right. It is just that my opinion(and that of many others) is that we are fairly confident that the first test case will result in enforcement of TDS for renewals.

 

With regards the appeal - sorry, I have sweet FA experience with appeals I'm afraid!!!! Someone else should know though....

7 years in retail customer service

 

Expertise in letting and rental law for 6 years

 

By trade - I'm an IT engineer working in the housing sector.

 

Please note that any posts made by myself are for information only and should not and must not be taken as correct or factual. If in doubt, consult with a solicitor or other person of equal legal standing.

 

Please click the star if I have helped!!

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I was under the impression that if you want to appeal a decision in county court, then you have to ask the judges permission on the day after he has given his judgement?

 

You may have missed the boat on this.

 

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/ex340_0405.pdf

Edited by Planner
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I was under the impression that if you want to appeal a decision in county court, then you have to ask the judges permission on the day after he has given his judgement?

 

You may have missed the boat on this.

 

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/ex340_0405.pdf

 

I can't see anywhere where it says that you must get permission the day after? I have spoken to the court who advise that the form for small claims appeals is N164, and that form talks about 21 days from the judge's decision:

 

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/n164_e0407.pdf

 

I'm sure the tenant hasn't missed the boat because the lady on the court desk said that the appeal process could not begin until written confirmation of the judges decision was received (which happened 8 days after the hearing).

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My bad grammer. That would be on the day, after he has given his judgement..... rather than the day after.

 

Maybe my impression was wrong?! Just thought I would add to the speculation.

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  • 3 months later...

No, the tenant has given up with it, having lost all faith in the county court system. It was not a large deposit, and the court fees had already taken a significant amount of money. An appeal would have raised the costs even further, with only a small chance of success.

 

A victory for the bent landlord I guess.

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Hi, thats a shame, I am currently suing my LL, we rented one property from 2000 - 2008 then we moved to another of the same LL's properties. So we only paid a top up on the deposit. But our AST states that the full amount of deposit was to be paid into a TDS.

We are waiting for a hearing. I have to say I am so determined that if we lose, I am certainly going to appeal, even just so this forum knows what the next step will be. We are claiming just over £4500, but it really is not the money, its the principle. If you drink and drive you get penialised, if the LL does not pay the deposit into a TDS then they must also be penialised. OOh , dear me, Rant over lol

Please note, my advice is only my opinion.

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I think in this case, the judge was definitely wrong.

 

According to the Housing act 2004 section 214:

(1) Where a tenancy deposit has been paid in connection with a shorthold tenancy, the tenant or any relevant person (as defined by section 213(10)) may make an application to a county court on the grounds—

(a) that the initial requirements of an authorised scheme (see section 213(4)) have not, or section 213(6)(a) has not, been complied with in relation to the deposit; or

(b) that he has been notified by the landlord that a particular authorised scheme applies to the deposit but has been unable to obtain confirmation from the scheme administrator that the deposit is being held in accordance with the scheme.

 

Since it was clear that "a tenancy deposit has been paid in connection with a shorthold tenancy" in this case, and there is nothing in the law says that "there can be no claim after a tenancy has ended", the tenant should be able to claim and the judge shouldn't dismiss the case using the reason he/she gave.

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I agree,

a 'renewal' of an AST ends the original, thus meaning that the deposit should be protected by law.

i'd fight this one to the death because it's the LL's responsibility to place a deposit and not the Tenants duty to remind/ask him to do it.

I can find nothing in any of the Housing Acts where it states that a claim has to be made whilst your still in an agreement, and as was previously stated it's usual in cases like this that a Tenant only finds out a deposit was not protected after they move out and request it back.

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Thinking back, I think the judge's decision was based upon the tenant not chasing up DPS info from the landlord after the 14 days allowed from the start of the tenancy. Therefore, the judge decided that it must have been some kind of entrapment by the tenant, and that it was the tenant's fault for waiting until after the tenancy before raising the issue.

 

I beleive the tenant in question is waiting for a precendent to be set before taking further action, as the costs could easily spiral out of control. Somehow I doubt that a DPS case will ever get to a higher court though. :rolleyes:

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Agreed.

7 years in retail customer service

 

Expertise in letting and rental law for 6 years

 

By trade - I'm an IT engineer working in the housing sector.

 

Please note that any posts made by myself are for information only and should not and must not be taken as correct or factual. If in doubt, consult with a solicitor or other person of equal legal standing.

 

Please click the star if I have helped!!

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