Help with TDS Claim

[Steve__M]

Mostly agree with Planner. You need to do this if only to stop this landlord evading the law!

 

Yes do ask for your deposit back as an alternative to putting it in a scheme. You may find that the hearing does not take place till after the property is relet.

 

If you have received a letter from his solicitor then normally you should write back to his solicitor I believe. This has the added advantage of costing your landlord money

[Gaskie]

Mostly agree with Planner. You need to do this if only to stop this landlord evading the law!

 

Yes do ask for your deposit back as an alternative to putting it in a scheme. You may find that the hearing does not take place till after the property is relet.

 

If you have received a letter from his solicitor then normally you should write back to his solicitor I believe. This has the added advantage of costing your landlord money

 

Perfect, I'm going to see a solicitor tomorrow and start proceedings against him as soon as possible. Even if he does put the money in to a scheme I'll take the risk and continue to pursue. I'll keep you all updated.

[Esio Trot]

If you have received a letter from his solicitor then normally you should write back to his solicitor I believe. This has the added advantage of costing your landlord money

 

IMPORTANT

 

When replying to the solicitors letter.

 

1. ALWAYS put "Without Prejudice" at the top of the letter. This prevents it, except in rare occasions, being used in a court of law as evidence.
   
2. try to think of a question for the lawyer to ask his client, then reply to you with the answer - this again costs money! e.g."May I ask you to enquire of your client if he might be willing to negotiate on the sums in dispute." (The most letters I got by doing this was six. If they were charged at £20 a time, plus reading my letters sent in, it cost the other side more money in legal fees than the amount in question!!!)
   

[Steve__M]

While I am not a lawyer...

 

I disagree slightly with Esio Trot on point 1. Often you will want your correspondence to be available in court to prove what you have done to resolve the situation.

 

If you are writing purely to threaten an action for non-protection of deposit, this should not be without prejudice.

 

Without Prejudice may be used if you are making an offer to settle a claim that you would not want a judge to see (as it may weaken your case should it go before a judge).

 

Privileged, Without Prejudice, and Without Prejudice Save As to Costs documents. - Alway Associates

 

Point 2 is an excellent idea if you are writing your own letters, but not if you are paying your solicitor to write them! I engaged a very large firm of solicitors in long correspondence. I think I also got to 6 letters. All my letters were in long-hand, written in my worst handwriting, and they all got individual responses.

[help me kick his butt]

So to clarify, if I send a letter to the defendant's solicitor saying that I am willing to accept 2 x deposit plus costs, I mark this "without prejudice" and say that I will subsequently drop all court proceedings when the funds are clear. If the LL refuses this offer then the judge wont know that I have tried to settle? However, I would like the judge to know that I have done my best to try and settle out of court. Anyone know?

[Zamzara]

I agree with Steve M. Writing without prejudice simply means that if you are offering to settle for a smaller amount, the offer does not prejudice your claim for the full amount if it is refused.

 

If you aren't negotiating an offer to settle then writing without prejudice is pointless.

[Gaskie]

Right, I've decided that in preparation of seeing a solicitor on Friday, I'd like to get the ball moving by sending in an LBA with an attached N208 form. I need help with two parts here, confirmation that my LBA is clear and correctly formatted, and some help with the N208. Right, firstly the LBA goes like this:

 

MY NAME

MY ADDRESS

MY PHONE NUMBER

DATE

HIS NAME

HIS ADDRESS

without prejudice

 

LETTER BEFORE ACTION

 

Dear Mr X,

 

I write with regards to our telephone conversation on Saturday 1st November, and the letter from your solicitors dated the same.

 

Under Chapter 4 of the Housing Act 2004, my deposit should have been placed in one of the registered Tenancy Deposit Schemes, with details of the holding scheme forwarded to me within 14 days of you receiving this deposit. You will be aware non-TDS compliance is an absolute offence for which there is no defence. The penalties of non-compliance are the full return of the deposit without deductions + 3x the deposit amount, in this case a total of £3400.

 

As the fine you will be made to pay is considerably less than all outstanding rent on the property, I am prepared to not pursue this matter any further, if, within 14 days we receive a letter confirming that we are no longer tied to the tenancy agreement on

. If this is not received then I will submit the attached N208 to the county court without further notice, at which point you will also become responsible for the court fee and my reasonable costs.

 

I look forward to your prompt response.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

MY NAME.

 

 

I think that's what I should be writing... hopefully any errors in the content or layout will get spotted if there are any.

 

As for the N208, it seems simple, yet confusing. Having never filled out anything like this before I just want to make sure I get it perfect.

 

In the Claimant and Defendant boxes at the top left, do I put both of our full names and addresses? Should I use my current address of the address of the flat I'm claiming on?

 

At the bottom of the first page, is another box for the defendant's name and address. Do I just repeat the information in here? Do I use his details or his solicitors?

 

What should the court costs, solicitor fees and issue date be?

 

At the end it asks for the name of my solicitor, if I leave this blank for now because I don't have one, can I change the details afterwards, or even slightly modify it when I send the form to court in 14 days once I've seen a solicitor?

 

I'm so sorry for all the questions, I just don't want to mess this up.

 

James.

Edited November 4, 2008 by Gaskie
Corrected letter.

[Planner]

The LBA looks fine to me. Of course theres always that very good chance that the landlord will protect it on recipt, which would be the easiest option for him and save a considerable amount of money.

 

In terms of the N208, If you use the flat you are claiming on then court correspondance will be delivered there. I would use the flat I am living in now for easy.

 

Repeat the defendants information in the top and bottom boxes. As your landlord said that all correspondance should be through his solicitors? If not then I would use the address given on your tenancy agreement for him, if he wants it sending to his solicitors then he can arrange that with the court.

 

Im not sure is you will be able to add a solicitor for yourself at a later date, chances are though it will not be something you have to worry about as the landlord should have the sense to protect the deposit after your LBA.

[Esio Trot]

I would suggest though, that you address the letter to his lawyer and change it slightly e.g. 'telephone conversation with your client on 1 November ...'

 

This way the lawyer will charge the landlord for relaying the information in your letter to him.

[Gaskie]

I would suggest though, that you address the letter to his lawyer and change it slightly e.g. 'telephone conversation with your client on 1 November ...'

 

This way the lawyer will charge the landlord for relaying the information in your letter to him.

 

 

Makes sense. So I assume I would change his address to:

 

HIS NAME

C/O Solicitors Name

Solicitors Address

 

Would I start the letter with Dear Mr X? Or shall I say Dear ?

 

 

Finally (I hope!) I assume I can leave the box with Court Fees, Solicitor Fees and Issue Date blank for now, and fill in the relevant information when I take the form to court?