Rent Repayment Order Tribunal Advice Needed

[adridude]

Hi,

 

I'm currently engaged with a previous landlord as I applied for a RRO. I've already put my statement of case in, but when she responded to it with her "response" ad PDF bundle it literally:

 

1) Didnt address one issue in my statement of case. It literally moaned about all sorts of non related issues which were not listed in the statement of case I presented.

2) There's allegations in her response that i "made advances on her to make her my girlfriend", which quite frankly, there's more chance of elvis returning from the dead. Non of these so called advances have any evidence, there's no emails, texts, calls, voicemails... So I have no idea how to address this if at all.

3) There's allegations that my guarantor contacted her on a number of occasions, and I've confirmed that this isn't true. She literally mixed up me and my guarantor as well as the tenancy reference agency and blamed the guarantor. I have no idea how to address this.

 

Despite most of the above being outside of scope of what I listed in my Statement of Case, and all of her points in her "explanation" being moot as they also dont address any of the points in my Statement of Case, how do I respond to that?

 

Do I literaly list my statement of case items and so something like::

Quote

My Case Item 1: Issue not addressed

My Case Item 2: Issue not addressed

My Case item X: Addressed and my response here

 

The applicant would like to make it known to the Tribunal that all other points listed in the respondents Explanation Document are not valid, unapplicable and have no relevance to the items which have been listed in the applicants statement of case.

 

 

etc... Or do I activly need to respond to her points in her case? As much as I feel that would be the right thing to do, surely she needs to address my items listed in my statement of case. Otherwise we might as well pick and choose what we address lol

 

Anyway any help woul dbe really appreciated.

 

Cheers

 

Ade

Edited July 3, 2022 by adridude

[stu007]

Hi

 

Difficult one to advise on with little information to go on.

 

Could you give us a brief summary of events and the specific Breaches that led to you going for RRO?

 

IMO you need to list what you have stated in you case for the breaches and also that the landlord has failed to provide evidence to the contrary then with landlords response you state each of these and why they are negated in your case i.e. the allegation of advances to her no evidence provide to back up claim which you refute etc.

( I do hope the landlord realises making statements like that opens them up as the First Tier Tribunal are part of the Courts Service)

 

Couple of links:

 

Rent repayment orders under the Housing and Planning Act 2016 - GOV.UK

WWW.GOV.UK

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Statutory guidance for local housing authorities on the extension of rent repayment orders.

 

Shelter Legal England - Rent repayment orders - Shelter England

ENGLAND.SHELTER.ORG.UK

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Orders requiring landlords or agents who has committed relevant offences to repay rent or housing benefit/universal credit.

 

 

[adridude]

It wont let me edit the OP but here's the statement of case. all statements are backed up with evidence in teh bundle as either email messages, text messages, police reports, etc....

 

Quote

1.    The Applicant brings a claim for harassment under Part 1 - Section 1(3A) of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977.

2.    The Applicant originally moved into the property on 1 November 2019, which after expiry was renewed as per 1 November 2020.

3.    At all relevant times The Applicant was the tenant of The Property under Part 1 – Section 1(1) of the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 by virtue of being the named Tenant on the Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement between himself and the Respondent.

4.    The named Financial Guarantor of the Applicant on the Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement is the Applicants father, Mr. XXX who at the time was 73 years of age.

5.    The Applicant was in a support bubble with is parents during the COVID-19 lockdowns as he lived on his own.

6.    The applicant was diagnosed and treated for ADHD and comorbid Depression and anxiety from an age of around 12.

7.    The Respondent lives in Basingstoke and has 5 properties let on the OpenRent website, including the property that the case is in reference to.

 

 

 

BACKGROUND

8.    I sent the respondent 10 Digital Photographs via email as a form of Digital Viewing of the property for inspection purposes on the 25^th February 2021.

9.    The Respondent accepted the digital photographs via email, explained to me that she needed them for her insurance and mortgage on the 26^th February 2021.

10. The Respondent stated in her email dated 26^th February 2021 that after the COVID-19 lockdown, inspections will be done regularly giving sufficient notice.

11. The Responded stated in her email dated 26^th February 2021 that she would also be sending electricity bills monthly after being constantly late (up to 6 months).

12. I explained to The Respondent on 27^th March 2021 via email that is late, again with electricity bills despite (11) above.

13. I explained to the Respondent that she is passing charges on to me shown as “Total Capacity Charge” which is not allowed as per the “The resale of gas and electricity guidance for resellers” guidance by OfGem nor is covered by the OfGem Maximum Resale Price. Over the 26 months I was there, the Respondent issued me with a number of charges similar to this such as Meter Reading Fees and New Connection Fees.

14. I contacted the Respondent and notified her of all the OfGem guides and rules around reselling electricity.

15. Whilst the overall amount was in dispute, the Respondent was constantly chasing and pushing for payment of the electricity which I paid as an attempt to keep the peace until it was resolved.

16.  On 09^th May 2021, in response to an email exchange regarding the above issues, the Respondent asked for my availability for a June inspection, which I was under the impression was for an electricity and heating annual inspection.

17. As it was mid-COVID lockdown I asked that the electricians supply proof of vaccination and have the appropriate protective equipment for COVID-19. I made it clear that I was in a support bubble with my family.

18. On 17^th May the Respondent Replied that someone would be inspecting the property in general and that they should have PPE and hand sanitizer but she cannot ask them for proof of vaccination. In the next paragraph she then changes focus and states that she would be attending.

19. On 22^nd May 2021 as COVID-19 cases were rising and as I was still shielding and social distancing, I asked the Respondent to have the NHS App handy as I need proof of Vaccines, proof that she hasn’t been told to self-isolate by the NHS as well as PPE.

20. On the 22^nd May 2021, The Respondent replied via email and refused to supply any proof that she wasn’t told to self-isolate or of vaccinations and will only use PPE.

21. On the 22^nd May 2021, I contacted The Respondent with a formal email explaining that she can have unrestricted access to the property to view it, but only if she complies to what I feel are reasonable measures. I explained in the same email that unless my reasonable health and safety conditions were met that I do not consent to her or anyone else accessing the property at all.

22. In the email in (21) above, I asked The Respondent to stop contacting me via social media, Email and all other digital means of communication and asked her to only contact me in writing. I explained that all digital communications channels had her blocked from the sheer quantity of messages and emails she was sending me.

23. On 22^nd May 2021, The Respondent stated that she would get The Financial Guarantor involved in the matter bother over the phone voicemail and via email. She also stated that the photos sent in (8) above were not adequate despite already having accepted them in (9) above.

24. On or around the 22^nd May 2021 is when I contacted Kent Police to report the situation. The case reference for this is XX/xxXXxx/XX and is/was handled by Michael Baksh. Every attempt The Respondent made to contact, harass and/or intimidate or unnecessarily overwhelm myself or my guarantor was reported to the police under the same Case Reference number. PC Michael Baksh contacted me after several reports to find out the facts, explained that he would speak to the Respondent to ask her to leave me alone and only contact me via royal mail. Mr. Baksh contacted me back and confirmed that he asked her to do this and wasn’t going to take further action as the Respondent lived too far away to pose a threat. He explained that this would be revised if the Respondent had lived closer.

25. On the 22^nd May 2021, The Respondent contacts my Guarantor, forwards my email messages to him, and in the same email tells him that she has decided to sell the property.

26. On 23^rd May 2021, my Guarantor forwarded the message sent in (25) above to me. I explained to my Guarantor that he must not respond to her and just forward messages to me to keep as evidence.

27. On the 24^th May 2021, the Respondent states that she will send an agent to perform a “Safety Inspection”. This agent was called Mr. Dave, and the only contact details I had was an anonymous email address: [email protected].

28. On the 24^th May 2021, the Respondent sends myself and my Guarantor a check for immigration status for Right to Rent. This was done at the beginning of the tenancy by OpenRent as they asked for my passport details, furthermore my Guarantor has a British and Dutch Passport so this is not required.

29. On the 24^th May 2021, I promptly responded with the Share Code which was supplied by the Home Office as proof being an EU citizen with settled status and indefinite leave to remain.

30. On the 24^th May 2021, The Respondent only uploaded and made the EPC and EICR via the OpenRent website.

31. On 1^st June 2021 the agent in (27) above emailed me stating that he was a freelance real-estate agent and wanted me to confirm a date.

32. On 4^th June 2021, I responded to (31) above and asked for Proof of Identity, Their Address and Telephone Number to pass on to the police. I asserted that they are to contact me in writing only, which never happened.

33.  On 1^st June 2021, I received another email from an agent at a company called Hunters to do a Market appraisal.

34. I completely ignored the email in (33) above and never responded.

35. On 11^th June 2021, I received two separate Section 21 notices which were incorrectly formatted as they did not include the correct notices for the COVID-19 period.

36. On 13^th July 2021, I sent the Respondent a Letter Before Action because she was threatening to come into my property via Royal Mail Recorded/Signed-For Delivery.

37. On the 13^th July 2021, I sent the Respondent as Subject Access Request for my personal data via Royal Mail Recorded/Signed-For Delivery.

38. On or around the 29^th July 2021, I received another two Section 21 eviction notices, this time corrected using an acceptable format.

39. Between the 2^nd and 16^th August 2021, I was signed off sick by the doctor due to not being able to handle this constant harassment.

40. After returning to work, my mental state began to decline as I was constantly worried about my home being entered without my permission, the eviction, finding a new house, dealing with probation at my job at the time.

41. I lost my job at the company as my ADHD and comorbid conditions were kept in a state of constant stress. I wasn’t able to unwind at home as I was constantly worried about The Respondent continuing her steady flow of harassment via any/all possible communication channels.

42.  My guarantor told me that he no longer wants to be my guarantor as he cannot handle the stress that he was receiving.

43. On the 29^th May 2022, the guarantor sent me a witness statement stating how he was affected by these events.

44. The Respondent has contacted the guarantor unnecessarily on a total 5 occasions.

In short, as I wouldn't allow her in the property because she refused to adhere to covid safety measures, she went off on a harassment mission and started to contact my guarantor. She told my guarantor that she was going to sell the property. She got multiple agents to contact me (even dubious ones with iffy email addresses @live.com for example), the police warned her off but she ignored this and carried on. She even lied about the police and stated that they told her that I didnt have a case, which the police report from the Public Disclosure documents confirms.

Literally shes backed into a corner and throwing totally ficticions allegations around with no evidence.

Not only that, but her respones to my statement of case literally addressed none of my allegations in the statement of case. SO can I regard her answers as "out of scope" as they have nothing to do with the case I've brought before the tribunal.

I dont care if the courts catch her out lying, infact I'd be pleased if she gets in trouble as he's been skating a thin line which literally buoycots actuallly getting into trouble.

 

Edited July 4, 2022 by adridude

[adridude]

Oh and forgot to mention that 3 of the directives which were issues by the tribuunal service were blatantly ignored by her and not addressed:

 

1) Stated that she had to provide evidence of benefits/rent received in relation to the property

2) Stated that she had to provide evidence of expenditure in relation to the property such as utility bills

3) Stated that she had to justify whether the RRO amount should be reduced

 

None of these directions were addressed.

 

The PDF bundle she sent the tribunal servuce was 163 pages and is literally indexed by the "email subjects". She literally printed off ALL comms between her and I over 2 years and basically stated "here is the evidence" without any references to particular parts of the evidence. Literally a "do it yourself" when it comes to understanding her evidence.

 

Finally the english in her response is apauling and in multiple occasions she refers to people by the wrong names, he called me "she" (whereas I'm a he) on a number of occasions, spelling errors galore and the grammar is horrendous. Dates are incorrect, etc...

None the less, everything she stated in her response has nothing to do with any of the items in my statement of case? does that mean I can literally just state that the repsondent hasn't denied any ofmy allegations nor has she addressed them.

Edited July 4, 2022 by adridude

[stu007]

Hi

 

From @Andyorch

 

In preparation for hearing's both parties must follow and comply with the courts directions in serving statement's evidence and finally court bundles. If for whatever reason either party has failed to comply or failed to follow precisely then that offers the other party chance to either submit an application asking to strike out a claim/defence or alternatively a party may submit a further Supplemental Statement addressing the lack of compliance or evidence and ask the court considering striking out.

[adridude]

Ah cool. 

 

I thought I'd show some compassion first and applied for an Order One requesting 14 days extension to my deadline to give me time to unravel this mess, but in the same breath, my reasoning outlined all of the issues such as non adhesion to directions, non adhesion to bundles etc...

 

I didnt want to come across as a heartless money-grabbing tenant but on the other hand I did want to show that I did notice her complete lack of respect for the system.

 

Could go either way, but looking at her complete insanity in her "defence" which I since noticed had TWO statements of case, but they were called "explanation of eviddence" and in some random format, so it'll be interesting to see what the outcome is.