landlord Threat and harassment

[mosaic01]

I received this email from my landlord " I will issue a writ at the studio where your

where you have not given notice.

 

when I get judgement I will make application for bankruptcy and then see if you think it’s amusing"

 

The landlord terminated my assured tenancy agreement on the 12 th August 2013 which gave me 2 months to move out, which I did on the 1 October 2013. His claim is that I didn't give him notice that I was moving out. The guy is crazy that is for sure.

 

He is also holding my deposit which he did not lodge with any of the organisations that you have to.I owe him nothing.

 

His plan is painfully clear, he threatens to issue a writ against me in full knowledge that I no longer live at the address, in fact I moved back to Holland on the 6th October and is where I live, my only reason for being and in the UK and renting a property was that it was I had a 6 months contract in the UK.

 

My concern is that I want to know if he goes ahead with his threat, there is no way that I will know, and the process will go on without my knowledge and he will proceed with a claim against me. It could be said that as I live in Holland I shouldn't care about it, but I still travel to and from the UK on business.

 

My question is can he do this, and is their a public database where claims are filed that I can access online.

[steampowered]

I would give him your new address. Also inform him that service on an address where you are known to no longer reside is not good service under the Civil Procedure Rules, and you will claim costs for a set aside if he proceeds. He would then have no excuse for serving proceedings on the old address.

 

I think bankruptcy is an empty threat. He would have to pay a deposit of £750 to proceed, as well as the court costs before he gets to that stage. However it still must be resisted since bankruptcy in the UK would also be a valid bankruptcy in Holland under the EU cross-border insolvency regulations (although legally any bankruptcy application should be brought in Holland not the UK).

 

Do you have written evidence that your AST was terminated on 12 August 2013?

 

If he was required to protect your deposit and did not do so, then bring a claim against him in small claims track for return of the deposit. I believe the penalty can be up to 3x the deposit. I doubt he will find that amusing and it would be worth a budget flight back to the UK for the hearing (and you could have a go at claiming the costs of that flight).

[mosaic01]

Thank you Steampowered for responding so quickly to my question.

 

In answer to your question re the termination of the Assured Tenancy Agreement, the answer is yes I have an email from him stating the fact.My address in Holland he also has as it was on the agreement.

 

Events have taken a new route today, as I responded to his threatening letter re the writ and bankruptcy, by pointing our to him the fact he would be wasting his time and money with legal action.I told him that I had documented proof of the termination email from and it seems to have stopped him in his tracks, as his response made no reference to it and he just continued to threaten me with how he was going to ruin me should I return to the UK etc etc.

 

As you said I doubt very much if he will do anything, it's just BS and bravado.

 

The other information you provided me with was extremely useful and appreciated, I still cannot understand a legal system that does not give you the ability to see if in my case not living in the UK, legal action can be taken and there is no way of finding out about it online.It seems wide open for abuse, someone claims against you, you live abroad, you have no idea about it, it goes through the courts and then a judgement is given and all the time you are oblivious of the fact. In my case, what would happen if I decided to return to live in the UK, I have lived in Holland for 40 years, and I needed credit, the judgement would be on record and that's when I would find out about it. Actually that is unlikely for me as I have no residence or domicile in the UK, but for others returning after 5 years say working abroad it could cause them problems and then they would haver to go through the hassle of getting the judgement set aside.

 

As for the bankruptcy threat, your right legally he would have to go after it in Holland which in itself would be long and laboriously costly process. In the Uk as I have discovered, a statutory demand has to be served in person in the UK.

 

Thanks again and I think this will disappear.

 

Regards

[ashmk]

Go after the idiot for your deposit. The judge may well award you 3x the amount paid. That will teach him.

[mosaic01]

Your right and I can do it online as well, he can jump through a few hoops now.

[steampowered]

The other information you provided me with was extremely useful and appreciated, I still cannot understand a legal system that does not give you the ability to see if in my case not living in the UK, legal action can be taken and there is no way of finding out about it online.It seems wide open for abuse, someone claims against you, you live abroad, you have no idea about it, it goes through the courts and then a judgement is given and all the time you are oblivious of the fact. In my case, what would happen if I decided to return to live in the UK, I have lived in Holland for 40 years, and I needed credit, the judgement would be on record and that's when I would find out about it. Actually that is unlikely for me as I have no residence or domicile in the UK, but for others returning after 5 years say working abroad it could cause them problems and then they would haver to go through the hassle of getting the judgement set aside.

 

Indeed. This problem is not just to do with people who move abroad. People in the UK face exactly the same issue if proceedings are issued against an old address or the wrong address. You would also face the same issue if someone sued you in Holland while you are living in the UK. The remedy would be to apply for the judgment to be set aside, accompanied by a costs order if the person who issued proceedings knew it was the wrong address. No way of avoiding hassle when you are in the court system I'm afraid.

 

Good luck with getting the deposit back ... and if he won't repay it then go ahead and sue him (though remember you'd have to come back to the UK for the hearing).