Ex landlord wants to sue us for £7k!

[bedlington83]

Oh, and I forgot to say: Don't ever underestimate the potential for any individual to be incredibly stupid. Owning property gives you neither intelligence nor common sense

[Lia7769]

Thanks for the advice! He is indeed a fool. We all have bank statements proving we paid all rent, although we did underpay him by £80 which was an honest mistake (he says it was £2k).

 

We were heavily reference checked (i.e 3 months worth of bank statements, multiple references) so I beginning to wonder if he planned this...He now claims he knew nothing about us and that we turned up on his doorstep to move in!

 

We don't qualify for legal aid (even though we are all broke). How can we get representation in court?

[bedlington83]

He now claims he knew nothing about us and that we turned up on his doorstep to move in!

ROFL. Any chance you could scan, anonymise and post the counter claim? If nothing else it might give a few people a laugh.

 

You don't need to be represented. Honestly you can do it yourself. I was scared at first but, after the preliminary hearing, just felt empowered. The best advice I can give you is to go to your local county court and explain your situation to someone there. Tell them that you'd like to sit in on a couple of landlord and tenant claims. You should be allowed to as the hearing is intended to be public, albeit in chambers rather than court.

 

FWIW a woman followed my former ll and I into court and sat there throughout the hearing. The judge never battered an eye lid. If he'd enquired he would've discovered that she was my wife but he didn't enquire because he didn't care.

[jackieandwayne]

Don't be nervous of County Court, its very informal. Still to be taken seriously of course, but informal.

 

I go all the time, and I used to be terrified of showing myself up. You just have to make sure you know what you are there for, you understand what you are arguing, and make sure you have your court bundle indexed easily so you can get to the information you need quickly - those big yellow post its work a treat! Take another complete indexed copy to give the judge in case he's lost his - it does happen and makes you look like a saint.

 

Take your time to answer any questions and the best advice I can give anyone in this situation is to run through your mind what you want to say BEFORE it comes out of your mouth. And take a deep breath before you go in. Don't be drawn into arguments, don't let the other side make you angry. The judge will assist you as he will recognise you are not a legal expert.

 

Sounds like your landlord is not an expert in anything except fiddling, and from what I've read on your thread he's going to fall flat on his face. With any luck he'll realise that before any hearing and go away.

 

Good luck and let us know how you get on because it helps other posters on here to see the outcomes.

[DisgruntledTenant]

Don't be nervous of County Court, its very informal. Still to be taken seriously of course, but informal.

 

 

How do you find out about what cases are on? And when they start? I'm guessing TDS cases are quite rare?

[bedlington83]

I've no idea but I would imagine that they're fairly common going on the number of threads about them.

 

Your best bet is to talk to the staff at your local county court. I'm guessing here but I think that once you've seen a couple of landlord and tenant cases, not necessarily TDS, a large number of them will be the same as yours: One side just going through the motions in an attempt to get what they're entitled to with the other side a completely clueless idiot making a fool of themselves.

[DisgruntledTenant]

I've no idea but I would imagine that they're fairly common going on the number of threads about them.

 

Your best bet is to talk to the staff at your local county court. I'm guessing here but I think that once you've seen a couple of landlord and tenant cases, not necessarily TDS, a large number of them will be the same as yours: One side just going through the motions in an attempt to get what they're entitled to with the other side a completely clueless idiot making a fool of themselves.

 

Thanks

[bedlington83]

Sorry DT I've just realised you're not the OP for this thread. My advice about going to the court is the same but your case isn't quite as clear cut as the OP here in that your ex-ll isn't counter claiming with a load of made up stuff

[DisgruntledTenant]

Actually... the ex-LL is counterclaiming with a load of made up stuff

 

5 different things, all of which are bogus.

[bedlington83]

Lol. I stand corrected

[Lia7769]

Hi, just a quick update - currently tackling the N265 disclosure form.

What a treat that is!

Is anyone aware of any claused in the Landlord Tenant Acts that we can refer to to back up that what he is doing is wrong??

 

Thanks,

Leanne

[Lia7769]

Hi,

 

One more thing now. As previously updated, it's been allocated to fast track. We've supplied our disclosure list. The landlord has completely missed the deadline and not supplied anything.

 

Just wondered if anyone knew what this meant? It's a longshot, but guess this doesn't mean we can automatically put in a judgement against him?

[Kentish Lass]

Excellent instructions and details about how fast track claims are dealt with. Explained in really simple terms.

 

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/ex305_web_0409.pdf

 

If LL is missing deadlines, I don't think judge is going to be too pleased. This does not mention what happens if defendent does not return the disclosure list, but does mention the next stage (pre-trial checklist). In particular read p6 and p7 - you could be lucky and judge will "strike out" his claim, but I am not sure what happens then. If LL is not following the procedures, judge may well just award a judgment in your favour.

 

You have included legal fees and costs in your claim, haven't you?

Edited September 16, 2009 by Kentish Lass