Tenancy Deposit - Small claims action

[disappointed_london]

Hi,

I have gone through the various threads in this forum and seen really helpful and knowledgeable people here. I am hoping to draw on their experience to help me out.

 

This is a strange problem since the landlord agrees that he needs to refund the deposit but has not actually refunded the amount.

 

I was a tenant in a property from Sep-05 to Apr-08. The contract was re-drawn in Sep-06 and not thereafter. The property (together with some of his other properties in the development) went into receivership sometime in early 2007. However, hopefully, this information does not have bearing on the case since I have confirmed with the receiver and the landlord that the deposit is with the landlord. Also I diligently paid all rents to the receiver as instructed by him.

 

When I moved out of the property, there was a proper handout, etc. The landlord sent me an email regarding the amount that was to be refunded and we agreed on it. However it has been more than 7 months and he has not refunded the same. I have since moved out of UK on work and perhaps he thinks therefore he can get away easily.

 

I have filed a county court claim against him. The deposit amount was £1350 and with interest and court fees I made a total claim for about £1470. The landlord filed a “defence for full amount”. However, his defence was that he owed me only £1350 and not £1470. The court has sent a “General form of Judgment or Order” with the following –

 

“There be a hearing on 22-Jan-09 for the defendant to show cause why his defence should not be struck out & judgment entered for the claim & costs”.

 

With the above in mind I contacted the landlord again thinking he would be more willing to settle this out of court, given his defence and court order. However he came back and said that I had not paid water bills and therefore he was holding back the deposit. This is incorrect since when we had agreed on the amount to be refunded and therefore it means all bills were paid. In any case, I pointed out that the development had a community water connection and therefore I had not received any water bills in my name. He replied that I had to pay the pro-rata bills anyway and that he had sent me invoices (which he did not). I asked him to deduct whatever this amount was (which he was not sure but said around £300p.a.) and return the rest. However, not surprisingly, he has not done so. On calling him to remind, he accuses me of “wasting his time” and that he would make the refund when he finds time!

 

Please can someone help me with the following –

 

1) Can he claim water bills for a community connection?

2) Can he change his defence, i.e. he did not mention the bills in the initial defence and in the last 7 months worth of correspondence? Also would he not have to show that he made reasonable attempts to communicate the bills to me (which he did not)?

3) Do I need to be present at this hearing or can I request an absence? Does this have any bearing on the outcome of the case?

4) I ask the above since I am not in the UK and the travel costs may be more than the refund amount itself. If I do decide to attend – can I claim the travel expenses?

5) It seems that the landlord does not care for the court process because he has shown no inclination to settle this. Is that reasonable or are court orders strictly enforced and therefore should not be ignored?

 

Amusingly, I did a google search on the landlord and he and his property firm is listed in the UK rich-list of timesonline!

 

Looking forward to some guidance.

Many Thanks!

[Steve__M]

If you have the following:

 

"an email regarding the amount that was to be refunded and we agreed on it"

 

then he should not have been able to change the amount. However, you have apparently agreed that he can now deduct £300. Is this on record in an email? I suppose this could make things complicated if he brings it up at a hearing - I have no experience of these things though.

 

If you win some money and the money is not paid, it is up to you to execute judgement. There is a sticky thread at the top that advises on this.

[disappointed_london]

Thanks Steve. Yes both these facts are on email record. I think I was trying to just save time and settle it soon. But I guess that was a mistake.

 

Any idea about requirement of being present at hearing, if the notice is for the defendant to show cause?

 

Thanks again!

[Steve__M]

I have no idea about attending the hearing. Can you ask the court? Is there a requirement for the landlord to present his evidence for this hearing prior to the court date?

 

If the landlord presents this email it may be that the wording of the email is important. Eg. whether it was an absolute offer or conditional on him paying you. But I really don't know.

 

I hope you can keep us informed though!

[disappointed_london]

thanks. I had given him a date by which if he does not refund the net amount then I will continue with the court process. Now that you mention this, I am not sure how the court would look at it.

 

All the notification that I have received from the court states is that the "defendant needs to show cause why his defence not be struck out and judgement entered for claim and costs". No idea whether evidence has been asked from him.

 

I called the court office and they say that I should write a letter requesting absence and, although he was not sure, he said that the notification language seemed to suggest that it was only the defendant who was being summoned.

 

Also any idea if I can add on other costs - like travel expenses, postage expenses to the claim?

 

Thanks for all the help and I will definitely keep you all posted.

[disappointed_london]

BTW is there a database of all the errant landlords who have caused grief to previous tenants? At least that way it could be a deterrant as well as provide useful red flags for future tenants.

 

I realise there might be data protection issues but atleast where the landlords have lost a court case, perhaps those names can be made public?

[Steve__M]

I think the court would not look unfavourably on what looks like a generous offer to settle. They positively encourage such action.

[disappointed_london]

Hi guys - Thanks to all the help on this forum I have won the case against the landlord in a county court. He failed to show up for defence. I have an order from the court for him to pay by 5-feb.

He has ofcourse not paid up till now. I did some research on google about him and it seems many people are chasing this guy for amounts bigger than mine.

 

1) Is there any use trying to enforce the judgment against him?

2) I came across Marston group - a group claiming to enforce the judgments on my behalf. How effective/genuine/costly are these agencies?

 

Thanks for all the help!

[Steve__M]

Well done on winning the case. But sorry, can't help on how to get your money. Does he have any assets such as a home or other properties?

 

Have you read the sticky on getting paid.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/residential-commercial-lettings/116744-got-judgment-how-get.html