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I need some advice,

My landlord is taking me to court for rent arrears etc. my story is such, I receive housing benefit of £500 toward rent of £1150 my part is £650 I have been in the property for almost 10 years, I must admit I have on occasion been short on the rent but have caught up, the court case is for rent going back to 2008 the amounts the landlord claims the council has contributed each month is £139 resulting in an outstanding amount of £9000 this is what she is sueing for. I have obtained a complete record of the correct amounts paid by the council which bring the amount down to 2030 owed.

the landlord told me not to do anything with the documents from the court for 14 days as amendments need to be made. I read the court documents when they arrived and leaving it for 14 days would mean I agree with the landlord's claim and am liable.

 

I need to know whether I have grounds for a counterclaim and what my legal standing is

for 6 years the property has been in disrepair where a room (washroom) was unusable and the conservatory was sinking for two years making this unusable. if I divided the property up into sections the house making up 8 rooms a garage and garden would make that 10, divide this into the rent and it would be £115 per section, as I have not been able to use two of these sections (rooms) can I counteclaim for a refund in rent for these two rooms.

where do I stand with the landlords failure to produce gas safety certificate in the last 10 years bar one in 2010 and another a day after placing the court claim.

 

If anyone is wondering why I stayed in the property it is because there is no deposit on this rent and I would need to find the deposit for another property. Right now I have decided that enough is enough and need to get out of here. this landlord has several other properties of which the landlord informs me of their circumstances.

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Ok so you have been sent a claim form and your Landlord has told you not to do anytthing with the Paperwork which would leave you open to a default judgment ?

 

I am sure others will be along to advise but can you just confirm the date of issue on the claim form and was it issued from a Local court or from Northampton ?

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PLEASE DO NOT ASK ME TO GIVE ADVICE BY PM - IF YOU PROVIDE A LINK TO YOUR THREAD THEN I WILL BE HAPPY TO OFFER ADVICE THERE:D

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Ok, right well you have to adhere to the following time line.

 

Issue date - 30.01.2013 + 5 days for service = 4 February + 14 days to acknowledge the claim (confirm that it has been received and what your intentions are) = 18 February - if you are going to defend then you wll have a further 14 days = 4th March.

 

Can you please let us know exactly what it says on the claim form - what the LL is saying (s)he is claiming for and why. This will enable us to advise if you need to request any information from LL in order to aid your defence.

 

If you are able to, can you scan the claim form - edit personal information using Microsoft pain or other editing feature on your computer and post it on the forum ? Follow instructions below to do this.

 

Dx100 – Instructions on uploading pdfs

scan the required letters/agreements/sheets

as a picture file

remove all pers info inc barcodes etc using paint

but leave all figures and dates.

goto one of the many free online pdf converter websites

convert the image to pdf format.

or ir you have PDF as an installed printer drive use that

open a new msg box here

hit go advanced below the msg box

hit manage attachments below that box

hit the add files button on the top right

hit select files, navigate to your file on your pc

hit upload files

NB:you can set where it goes in the post by hitting insert inline.

the hit reply button

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Advice & opinions given by citizenb are personal, are not endorsed by Consumer Action Group or Bank Action Group, and are offered informally, without prejudice & without liability. Your decisions and actions are your own, and should you be in any doubt, you are advised to seek the opinion of a qualified professional.

PLEASE DO NOT ASK ME TO GIVE ADVICE BY PM - IF YOU PROVIDE A LINK TO YOUR THREAD THEN I WILL BE HAPPY TO OFFER ADVICE THERE:D

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You need to acknowledge the claim. Your LL is lying to you and, as CB rightly said, looks to be after an easy judgement by default.

Any advice i give is my own and is based solely on personal experience. If in any doubt about a situation , please contact a certified legal representative or debt counsellor..

 

 

If my advice helps you, click the star icon at the bottom of my post and feel free to say thanks

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You need to acknowledge the claim. Your LL is lying to you and, as CB rightly said, looks to be after an easy judgement by default.

I went online and started the 7 step process but stopped when deciding on my grounds for a counterclaim, We have been listening to this landlord's advice from the beginning especially since she knows or claims to know half the council housing staff, she even advised us that increasing the rent from 950 pm to 1150 would not affect our rent contribution as as the council will pay the difference no matter what it is. in my mind this is defrauding the council

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[ATTACH=CONFIG]41199[/ATTACH]

Attached is the claim form issued from the court

The landlord says this is the first claim she is submitting. I assume this is because there is a limit on how much you can claim at a time

 

 

Oh dear, oh dear.. well perhaps you had best not let on that if she brings this claim, then she will not be able to bring a further claim for the same issue !.

 

The court will have expected the entire claim to have been brought in one ! Plus it is an abuse of process to only issue a part claim.

 

Is that all she has put on the claim, were there any attachments - such as details of these "persistent" rent arrears !

 

I think you should send a CPR31.14 request for a complete breakdown of the claim. I will sort something out for you.

 

When you finally get around to sbumitting your defence you should mention within it that the LL has attempted to persuade you not to submit anything and the reason why. Plus you should also mention that she has asserted that she will be issuing another claim in order to keep it in the small claims court !

 

This is, I would suspect a way of trying to avoid costs should she lose - what she doesnt realise is that if she loses then you could infer that the claim was malicious and vexatious in which case the court/judge has the power to award higher damages to you.

 

If you wish to make a counter claim (part 20 claim) then you will need to to be able to substantiate your figures and it will cost you a fee. You may find that you need to post your defence rather than submit online because there is a limited amount of space for you to defend/counterclaim - 8,000 characters I believe.

 

You should however ensure you do your Acknowledgment of Service on time.

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3: Feel Bullied by Creditors or Debt Collectors? Read Here

4: Staying Calm About Debt  Read Here

5: Forum rules - These have been updated - Please Read

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1: How can BCOBS protect you from your Banks unfair treatment

2: Does your Bank play fair - You can force your Bank to play Fair with you

3: Banking Conduct of Business Regulations - The Hidden Rules

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5: Fair Treatment for Credit Card Holders and Borrowers - COBS

Advice & opinions given by citizenb are personal, are not endorsed by Consumer Action Group or Bank Action Group, and are offered informally, without prejudice & without liability. Your decisions and actions are your own, and should you be in any doubt, you are advised to seek the opinion of a qualified professional.

PLEASE DO NOT ASK ME TO GIVE ADVICE BY PM - IF YOU PROVIDE A LINK TO YOUR THREAD THEN I WILL BE HAPPY TO OFFER ADVICE THERE:D

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I will try and find someone who is better able to advise on how best you should go about requesting the breakdown of arrears - I think you will be wanting to have a full accounting showing the portion of rent you pay and the portion that she recieves from the Council.

 

You will be able to prove that the Council have been contributing and the value of those contributions and she must realise that you will be able to do so. So why, I wonder is she telling an untruth by claiming they are only contributing £139.00 per month rather than the £500.00 you say they are and can prove ?

 

The council are paying her direct, yes ?

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3: Feel Bullied by Creditors or Debt Collectors? Read Here

4: Staying Calm About Debt  Read Here

5: Forum rules - These have been updated - Please Read

BCOBS

1: How can BCOBS protect you from your Banks unfair treatment

2: Does your Bank play fair - You can force your Bank to play Fair with you

3: Banking Conduct of Business Regulations - The Hidden Rules

4: BCOBS and Unfair Treatment - Common Examples of Banks Behaving Badly

5: Fair Treatment for Credit Card Holders and Borrowers - COBS

Advice & opinions given by citizenb are personal, are not endorsed by Consumer Action Group or Bank Action Group, and are offered informally, without prejudice & without liability. Your decisions and actions are your own, and should you be in any doubt, you are advised to seek the opinion of a qualified professional.

PLEASE DO NOT ASK ME TO GIVE ADVICE BY PM - IF YOU PROVIDE A LINK TO YOUR THREAD THEN I WILL BE HAPPY TO OFFER ADVICE THERE:D

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Can I just ask the following:

 

  • Has your landlord issued you any type of notice to quit - a Section 8 notice for example?
  • You mention that you believed your Housing Benefit was £500, the landlord was saying it was £139 and you have since found out that (presumably) due to it falling short of the £500 there is £2030 outstanding. How did this discrepancy between what was paid and what you believed was being paid come about, and when and who made you aware of it?

 

This may not be relevant to the action at this moment in time, but it beggars belief to me that a landlord would allow £9000 (or even £2030!) of arrears to build up without taking action to remove the tenant from the property long before now. I can't imagine a Judge taking this seriously.

"Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak for me". Martin Niemöller

 

"A vital ingredient of success is not knowing that what you're attempting can't be done. A person ignorant of the possibility of failure can be a half-brick in the path of the bicycle of history". - Terry Pratchett

 

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It could be that the LL is getting the 500, but only saying they are getting 139. Notice how the LL told the OP not to do anything with the claim, hoping to get a Judgement by default.

Edited by citizenB

Any advice i give is my own and is based solely on personal experience. If in any doubt about a situation , please contact a certified legal representative or debt counsellor..

 

 

If my advice helps you, click the star icon at the bottom of my post and feel free to say thanks

:D

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And after that, she gets to keep the housing benefit payment, the rent payment AND the county court payment because she hasn't evicted the OP. If that's what's really happening here, it's a very desperate move IMO.

"Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak for me". Martin Niemöller

 

"A vital ingredient of success is not knowing that what you're attempting can't be done. A person ignorant of the possibility of failure can be a half-brick in the path of the bicycle of history". - Terry Pratchett

 

If I've been helpful, please click my star. :oops:

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And she still hasnt shown any kind of proof that you owe £9000.

Any advice i give is my own and is based solely on personal experience. If in any doubt about a situation , please contact a certified legal representative or debt counsellor..

 

 

If my advice helps you, click the star icon at the bottom of my post and feel free to say thanks

:D

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none except her account in a spreadsheet of my payments to her bank and the council payments this I assume she has already submitted this to the courts, My payments seem to tally up with hers but the council payments are way out, she claims that as she has a few other houses and the council pay all her tenants in one payment to her account.

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Get in touch with the council and get statements for the amounts they have paid.

Any advice i give is my own and is based solely on personal experience. If in any doubt about a situation , please contact a certified legal representative or debt counsellor..

 

 

If my advice helps you, click the star icon at the bottom of my post and feel free to say thanks

:D

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this landlord has several houses all of which have tenants who are getting council assistance from partial to full rent paid. she claims another tenant owes her up to £20K and because of the way the council pays her she cannot keep track of the payments by council, she bases her amounts on letters received from council and not from actual statements, after this was filed with the courts she paid us a visit and informed of her intentions and revealed that she has now got the payment records from the council, I assume she now she is aware of the true amounts the council paid. The reason she also wants us to stay in the property is that she gets rent on the property and it is kept in good condition unlike her other properties according to her.

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You should however ensure you do your Acknowledgment of Service on time.

do I do this online and if so do I complete the defence part, I don't want to complete this online version only to find it is too late for the counterclaim and need to add additional info to the defence. I also don't want to be caught unprepared when this goes to court an not have all my ducks in a row

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Can I just ask the following:

 

  • Has your landlord issued you any type of notice to quit - a Section 8 notice for example?
  • You mention that you believed your Housing Benefit was £500, the landlord was saying it was £139 and you have since found out that (presumably) due to it falling short of the £500 there is £2030 outstanding. How did this discrepancy between what was paid and what you believed was being paid come about, and when and who made you aware of it?

.

she has issued a section 21,

I only found out about the outstanding amount when the LL dropped her statement of figures through to post box. the outstanding amount would have come about when the council included a carers allowance in their assessment, one which was cancelled over a year ago, they have rectified it since

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I will try and find someone who is better able to advise on how best you should go about requesting the breakdown of arrears - I think you will be wanting to have a full accounting showing the portion of rent you pay and the portion that she recieves from the Council.

 

You will be able to prove that the Council have been contributing and the value of those contributions and she must realise that you will be able to do so. So why, I wonder is she telling an untruth by claiming they are only contributing £139.00 per month rather than the £500.00 you say they are and can prove ?

 

The council are paying her direct, yes ?

Thanks

she is being paid direct. She dropped her calculations in the post box in my door, she called me on the phone later that evening and asked us to leave as the amount was £9000 I told her I will go see the council as the amounts didn't seem right and true to word the council verified this with a printout of all payments for the full period she is claiming for. she then visited a day after submitting the court claim indicating she has a copy of the council payments with the amounts the council has paid, she also has on her list of calculations 59 months of 1150 totalling 69000 already there is an error as 59 months will be 67850.

she is of the belief that she has full access to the council, and if she drops a few names here and there no one will question her she does this with my wife. My wife is very timid and does not like confrontation and fears my son and her (including me) will be out on the street if we oppose the LL, The LL plays on this and comes to my house only when I am at work so that she can deal with my wife.

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I would prefer full details of T arrangements in #1 rather than tit-bits. Only much later were we told there is a wife involved and the fact a s21 had been served. I am yet trying to determine how carer cost dispute led to loss of HB? I surmise OP did not declare this add income or failed to respond to HB requests for further info, so HB was stopped and re-instated from some future date, leaving a void in HB payments to LL.

The key document is the MCOL claim form where the LL is claiming

AFAIK this is permissable for a specified rent period, provided this period is not included in future claims ie claims can be divided into bite sized pieces.

For current MCOL claim OP should acknowlege receipt and provide evidence of rebuttal ie direct HB payments made to LL (avail from Council) and personal bank statements to show top-up payments. No counterclaim fees should apply for this.

 

It is not defrauding the Council to increase rent as Council should only pay HB claimant's entitlement based on rules for current & future financial years.

OP has access to most of this info before agreeing a rent increase, but LL could still use a s13.

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I would prefer full details of T arrangements in #1 rather than tit-bits. Only much later were we told there is a wife involved and the fact a s21 had been served. I am yet trying to determine how carer cost dispute led to loss of HB? I surmise OP did not declare this add income or failed to respond to HB requests for further info, so HB was stopped and re-instated from some future date, leaving a void in HB payments to LL.

.

the tit bits are answers to questions posted, I did not realise the amount if information needed on this site. My wife is mentioned as she is on the Tenancy agreement and to give an idea as to the nature of the LL The S21 was issued although the LL says she will not follow through with it, I don't believe her, but that will be another matter as this court case is about the outstanding amounts. Regarding the Carer Allowance, My wife was registered as a carer to my son until the Gov changed the rules on disabilities at which point my son's condition was deemed not a disability and therefor the allowance stopped, the council were notified of the change of circumstances yet did not remove it from their calculations when determining their contribution. As soon as we received this document and noticed the discrepancy we asked the council to rectify it have a new reassessment done during this time they had already paid a reduced amount to the LL

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You can acknowledge online and tick the box to say that you will submit the defence later.

 

If you are unsure - then telephone the court - their number is on the claim form and ask them to talk you through the process of acknowledging only. I have put your timeline in an earlier post.

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4: Staying Calm About Debt  Read Here

5: Forum rules - These have been updated - Please Read

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1: How can BCOBS protect you from your Banks unfair treatment

2: Does your Bank play fair - You can force your Bank to play Fair with you

3: Banking Conduct of Business Regulations - The Hidden Rules

4: BCOBS and Unfair Treatment - Common Examples of Banks Behaving Badly

5: Fair Treatment for Credit Card Holders and Borrowers - COBS

Advice & opinions given by citizenb are personal, are not endorsed by Consumer Action Group or Bank Action Group, and are offered informally, without prejudice & without liability. Your decisions and actions are your own, and should you be in any doubt, you are advised to seek the opinion of a qualified professional.

PLEASE DO NOT ASK ME TO GIVE ADVICE BY PM - IF YOU PROVIDE A LINK TO YOUR THREAD THEN I WILL BE HAPPY TO OFFER ADVICE THERE:D

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Ok,

 

First stop....as already suggested is to confirm payments made by the Council direct from 2008 and to establish any shortfall.

 

The claim must be defended and the DWP must be also informed of the LL summons.

 

CPR 18 should be used to verify any information required with view to substantiate the claim and defence.

 

 

This is how you would request information by way of CPR Part 18.

 

 

xx

 

Your Name

Your Address

 

DATE

 

IN THE XXXXXXXXX County Court

 

CLAIM NO: 12345678

BETWEEN:

 

Landlord Name

 

Claimant

 

and

 

Tenant Name

 

Defendant

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PART 18 REQUEST FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To: XXXXXXXXXX (claimant)

 

Please answer the following questions:

 

1. You are claiming arrears from 2008 - could you please advise why you have permitted this to accumulate and this has not been brought to my attention before.

 

2. Do you have in your possession, copies of any pre action protocol letters:

 

a) Letters advising arrears and in what sums - please provide copies, with proof of posting.

 

b) Letter before Action advising that you were starting Litigation - please provide copy, with proof of posting.

 

3. Do you have a complete breakdown of the payments of both the Council and my contributions to the monthly rent payments for the period you are claiming for. Please provide a copy with your response to this request.

 

4.  ???

 

TAKE NOTICE THAT YOU ARE REQUIRED TO ANSWER THE ABOVE REQUEST

WITHIN 14 DAYS OF SERVICE OF THE SAME UPON YOU

 

 

 

 

 

These are just some of the questions you require answers to - you must send this request by either recorded or if you can afford it by Special Delivery in that you require a signature that is has been received.

 

The Landlord is required to respond to this request within the period stated and sign it with a Statement of Truth.

I hope others can chip in with some questions for you to include.

 

Some more information that we require from you.

What are the terms of the lease with regards to amounts and rises?

What are the terms of the LLs visits without notification? and

If the LL has sent you any previous warnings / pre action protocol letters, have you saved these in order to have a paper trail.

 

If you want to hold off sending this request until say Tuesday, then we can make sure that all the "T's" are crossed and the "I's" dotted.

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Uploading documents to CAG ** Instructions **

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Dealing with Customer Service Departments? - read the CAG Guide first

1: Making a PPI claim ? - Q & A's and spreadsheets for single premium policy - HERE

2: Take back control of your finances - Debt Diaries

3: Feel Bullied by Creditors or Debt Collectors? Read Here

4: Staying Calm About Debt  Read Here

5: Forum rules - These have been updated - Please Read

BCOBS

1: How can BCOBS protect you from your Banks unfair treatment

2: Does your Bank play fair - You can force your Bank to play Fair with you

3: Banking Conduct of Business Regulations - The Hidden Rules

4: BCOBS and Unfair Treatment - Common Examples of Banks Behaving Badly

5: Fair Treatment for Credit Card Holders and Borrowers - COBS

Advice & opinions given by citizenb are personal, are not endorsed by Consumer Action Group or Bank Action Group, and are offered informally, without prejudice & without liability. Your decisions and actions are your own, and should you be in any doubt, you are advised to seek the opinion of a qualified professional.

PLEASE DO NOT ASK ME TO GIVE ADVICE BY PM - IF YOU PROVIDE A LINK TO YOUR THREAD THEN I WILL BE HAPPY TO OFFER ADVICE THERE:D

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Ok,

 

First stop....

Some more information that we require from you.

What are the terms of the lease with regards to amounts and rises?

What are the terms of the LLs visits without notification? and

If the LL has sent you any previous warnings / pre action protocol letters, have you saved these in order to have a paper trail.

 

If you want to hold off sending this request until say Tuesday, then we can make sure that all the "T's" are crossed and the "I's" dotted.

Thank you for this

I have just read through the tenancy agreement and can't find any mention of increases.

regarding the visits the only entries I found were the landlord must give 24 written notice for any inspection and 24 hr notice within the last 28 days for viewing purposes for new tenants.

no pre action letter sent.

I must add she did pay us a visit today and gave me a list of new calculations this time with the correct figures from the council, although the figure dropped to what looks close to what I have worked out as being correct she added a further 1700 according to her this is what the council is claiming from her yet they are already deducting an overpayment from my contribution, my wife is going to the council tomorrow to see if there is any and all outstanding overpayments. she given me in writing that she will compensate £500 for the hot water/boiler problems, there was no mention of the two rooms conservatory and washing/boiler room being unsafe for up to 6 years.

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