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    • Hi,  It has been a long time but I have had confirmation claim will proceed to hearing in roughly 1 months time.  I was wondering if anyone could advise on defence please.  A few questions I have are: 1) I didn't notify VCS that I was not the driver of the vehicle and the judge may look negatively on this point.  I did not receive any direction in correspondence from VCS  that I should inform them if I was not the driver and that was going to be the foundation for may argument on this point. 2) The vehicle is stopped at a zebra crossing.  Based on the images from VCS for around 10 seconds.  At that time there is someone standing near the zebra crossing and someone else enters my vehicle.  I was going to raise the point that stopping at a zebra crossing when someone is standing near it is to be expected.  I was also going to ask the question how you can have a no stopping zone when there are zebra crossings where the driver is required to stop. 3) The no stopping zone is clearly signposted, however, no drop off or pickup is not clearly signposted with one small sign at the zebra crossing, parallel to the road and on the passengers side.  I was going to challenge that no-drop off or pickup is clearly signposted.  4) VCS mentioned my initial defence was generic and clearly copied from the internet.  It covered 1) Claimant not being in a position to state if the Defendant was the driver at the time.  2) No evidence that claimant's contract with landowner supersedes byelaws & signage isn't legally binding contract. 3) No contractual costs and interest cannot be accrued on speculative charge. I am interested to know if anyone has had success or been unsuccessful with this 'generic' defence. 5) If I should submit an updated defence to the court based on questions 1, 2 & 3.  Or if it is better to only raise these points in court? Thanks.  Any guidance would be appreciated  
    • I honestly don't know, Baz. In addition what I don't  understand (from that pamphlet) is this: The s88 criteria are quite clear and don't need a medical professional to interpret them . The one most relevant to his topic says that an application is not a "qualifying application" if a relevant disability has been declared. The problem with the word "may" is how does the applicant establish whether me "may" driver under s88 when he has not complied with its conditions? I don't know the answer to that either. But to further muddy the waters, the pamphlet says this (about : But the s88 statute says absolutely nothing like that at all. It simply says that if you have declared a relevant disability s88 does not apply. The DVLA pamphlet is simply confusing as far as I can see. That's actually my opinion and that's what I would stick to if it was me making the application. But I'll seek a few opinions from others over the next couple of days.
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Hi all, first let me apologise if this post is in the wrong place, I wasn’t sure where to put it and this seemed like the most appropriate place at the time.

 

Anyway, a couple of friends of mine are having some trouble with the housing association, Affinity Sutton.

 

Background is, my friend she was married to this guy back in 2000s, in 2005 she moved out of the property she shared with him and says she informed Affinity Sutton of the move and requested she be removed from the tenancy.

 

Shortly after leaving the property, she then moved into another property, not with the housing association, with my other friend, her new partner, and they signed a new tenancy agreement with their landlords at the time for this new place. She also began divorce proceeding in 2006 but failed to get the husband to sign anything so technically they are still married (more on this later).

 

In 2009 Affinity Sutton contacted her, at her new address (the one she provided in 2005) telling her she was liable for the sum of £6000+ (not sure the exact figure), as the husband had not been paying as per his agreement and he had been issued with court proceeding on 2-3 occasions and now they had evicted him. Thus the outstanding owed to them was the £6K.

 

She contacted Affinity in 2009 when she got the letter and called them and also emailed them regarding the demand. She explained she has moved in 2005 and that he was the sole tenant in the property from that date. At this time they said they would look into it and she heard nothing else.

 

Today she has received a letter from Empress Credit Solutions telling her she owes £8,500+ in outstanding debt/rent for the property. Now she has been trying to get divorce proceedings and CSA from this guy since 2006, he runs up debt, moves and if he is found, he leaves his job and disappears again, so Affinity Sutton have obviously had trouble finding him because her own solicitor has had trouble and the CSA have found him on a couple of occasions but then he goes off radar again.

 

Now the question is this, is she liable for this debt? If so, how so? What do we need to do to get liability removed for her, this debt is clearly not hers and she can prove she has been living elsewhere since 2005 and she also has various emails to Affinity Sutton regarding the situation. She has up to this point been very open and helpful in my opinion and it would seem they are just using her because she is an easy target.

 

Any advice and guidance is always appreciated…

 

mrbrooks

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Yes she is liable. A joint tenancy creates joint and several liability. Whilst she states she contacted them telling them that she was no longer living in the property, her legal obligation to end the tenancy requires her giving notice to quit in a prescribed format (it's not difficult, but it must contain relevant information). This ends the entire tenancy and the HA would then have to create a new sole tenancy for the remaining tenant. Clearly this did not occur, therefore (unfortunately for her), the HA are within their rights to pursue her for the debt. She can, if she pays the debt, pursue her ex for the money, however he is unlikely to pay up since she's having problems getting money from him anyway.

 

You should visit a solicitor to see if they can examine all paperwork to see if there is any way she can get out of this liability (it is reasonably unlikely on the information you provided, but she may have more information/proof that is relevant).

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Hi Lea_HTH, thanks for the reply, this all sounds a little unfair to me, I understand what you are saying (and I'm not having a moan at you here in any way, just kinda thinking out loud) but it seems an injustice for her to have to pay this (Which she cannot)...

 

It is clearly demonstrable that it was her Ex who has let this pile up, and that was him living there knowing full well he was not paying, he has a history of avoidance (which of course is now becoming clearer and more evident), on top of this they knew full well she no longer resided at that premises, yet still allowed the situation to continue...

 

Also if he had received court summons over the situation, and she was also liable, then why would she not receive a letter herself, after all, they knew she had moved, this is evident in the fact they contacted her at her new address...

 

When she called them originally, should they not have pointed out she had to go through these procedures in order to remover her from the tenancy? And would they not have to have made changes to his tenancy knowing she had left the premises and no longer wished to be named on the agreement?

 

Another thought, why have they not pressured her since 2009? Why has she received no letter or contact since 2009 warning her of her potential liability and the prospect of being pursued or going to court If she was fully liable, why wait till now press the issue?

 

When she left the property, she claims the rent was up to date and they agreed with her it was upto date at the time. What she said and how she said it (i.e. informed them) I do not know, but I do know she definitely told them she was leaving and she no longer wanted to be associated with the tenancy. She did as they told her at the time (whatever that was).

 

It all just sounds so wrong to me, I agree with you also re solicitor, but these people are on benefits, one is disabled and they cannot afford to hire solicitors or pay this ridiculous demand.

 

Again Lea thanks for the reply, it has given us something to think about, and something to investigate…

 

mrbrooks

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As per Lea. However more detail would help.

Date T commenced

Rent due frequency

Fixed term length

What date did wife move out in 2005

Date HA regained legal possession

Was wife name as a joint T eg Mr & Mrs Smith or just husband as T ie Mr John Smith

Did HA serve Notice of intended repo on all joint Ts or just husband Mr Smith.

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Her tenants handbook would have provided her with the information on how to terminate a tenancy properly.

 

Unfortunately, unless she was not named on the tenancy agreement, then she is liable and they are entitled to chase her (and will if they believe she has the money to pay). This does not mean she cannot chase the other party for the money however, nor does it mean that she should not attempt to persuade them that she had, in fact, terminated the tenancy.

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Hi Lea thanks for the reply, I think we are going to go down the road of SAR and then get any information we can get, and then try to convince them she made the request for removal of her name from the agreement...

 

re your other comments about pursuing him for some payment if she pays up (Which she cannot), she does not know where he is, the CSA finally had his contact details again, obtained via other agencies (I am not sure which ones), but then 2 weeks before he was due to begin paying his first payment (including arrears over the last 9 years) he left his job and absconded again...he has done this about 6-7 times now in the last few years, so this really is a non starter...

 

She has not had the tenants handbook since 2005 so I cannot vouch for whether she followed protocol or not, I do know for sure though, she told them and made the request...

 

I feel the law should be supporting her here not punishing her for his actions, he is clearly a liar and a cheat, yes she may have been a bit lax i suppose in not seeing through the removal of her name, but anyone can clearly see that she has had no active part in this debt...I just wish there was some way to help her with this issue...I feel awful saying to her that she is going to be liable after all and there's nothing you can do about it...

 

Thanks again

 

mrbrooks

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Hi

 

The Tenants Handbook as previously stated would have the termination procedure but more inportantly the Tenancy Agreement you signed would also have a clause on the Termination Procedure.

 

If you have failed to follow the Termination Procedure then they can as previously stated hold you as jointly liable for the term of the Tenancy of that property.

 

What you need to do is write to the Housing association and request the folowwing documents:

 

1. Copy of original Tenancy Agreement. (look at termination procedure)

2. Complaints Procedure.

3. Rent Arrears Policy and Procedure. (you may need this because you are unaware if they have followed correct procedure)

4. Customer Care Charter.

5. Full Rent Account statement from 2006 - 2012.

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I cannot give any advice by PM - If you provide a link to your Thread then I will be happy to offer advice there.

I advise to the best of my ability, but I am not a qualified professional, benefits lawyer nor Welfare Rights Adviser.

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Hiya Stu, thanks for the input, I will add this to the list, I am going to chat to my friends about it all this evening and hope fully get them on the right track...will let you know what i come back with as soon as I have something...

 

Just out of interest, will we get nos 1 & 5 if we do SAR?

 

mrbrooks

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SAR may be of little benefit as it will only relate to her, not partner.

Stu007 approach is prob better as it relates to the T.

It is no good just asking to be taken off the TA. it has to be formally terminated by T NTQ. LL is under no obligation to comply during fixed term and formal NTQ by 1 T after fixed term had ended would have terminated T for all, on expiry. Hence my request for dates not yet provided. It may be unfair to her but due process is for benefit of Ts & LL alike. Many Ts abuse the system and unfairly get away with it with private LLs.

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Hi mariner, I figure SAR will at least get her everything they have on her. She is going to ask the housing officer for the stuff Stu mentioned first though to see what is forthcoming.

 

Re the info you requested yourself:

Date Tenancy Commence: Still unconfirmed

Rent due frequency: Monthly

Fixed term length: No it was open ended as long as no breach of agreement

What date did wife move out in 2005: Need to check

Date HA regained legal possession: 10 Nov 2009

Was wife name as a joint T eg Mr & Mrs Smith or just husband as T ie Mr John Smith: Joint, Mr & Mrs Tenant (need to confirm with housing officer)

Did HA serve Notice of intended repo on all joint Ts or just husband Mr Smith.: Unknown (I was hoping maybe a SAR would provide these letter???) However we do know he had at least 17 letters, 2 personal visits from the HO and 3 court summons prior to being evicted in 2009 none of which came to her.

 

I understand what you are saying re termination, but she did tell them, and they told her it was sorted out, that they would remove her and issue a new TA to the husband (trouble is, no proof), and 10 Dec 2010 she spoke to them again after they contacted her (at her NEW address, so they were fully aware she had moved, supporting her claim she contacted them re moving and the tenancy) regarding the liability and the fact they could not find the husband, so she gave them his mothers address and the known current address he had at the time, and they also requested proof she has not been living there since 2005 (we have a copy of this email/letter), she provided them with documents from council tax and benefits and also current tenancy agreement going back to 2005. She assumed, quite reasonably, that they were satisfied by this because they have not contacted her for almost 2 years now and now this letter from Empress demanding full payment within 7 days.

 

hope that helps shed some light on the matter...

 

again all thanks for the input thus far...its very much appreciated...

 

mrbrooks

Edited by mrbrooks
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Hi

 

What I would also advise is looking at the housing associations website as some documents may be available for download that could assist you.

How to Upload Documents/Images on CAG - **INSTRUCTIONS CLICK HERE**

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I cannot give any advice by PM - If you provide a link to your Thread then I will be happy to offer advice there.

I advise to the best of my ability, but I am not a qualified professional, benefits lawyer nor Welfare Rights Adviser.

Please Donate button to the Consumer Action Group

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