Failed bankruptcy petition

[majorclanger100]

I wonder if anyone could give me a bit of advice about whether I've got a case against my ex-landlord and/or their DCA over a failed bankruptcy petition? They were warned it was misconceived on a number of occasions, but ignored my letters. The whole issue has caused massive stress to myself and my family at an already difficult time for us.

 

To cut a long story short we moved out of a rented property in Jan 2006 at the end of the AST, and an agreed inventory was made with the agent. We owed two months' rent due to my serious illness but agreed direct with the landlord that they could retain the deposit to pay off some of it, and we'd settle the remainder (£750). A month later we got a bill for £3,200 (:o) including charges for items not on the inventory and massive DCA charges and interest! This was from a DCA and threatened bankruptcy - it was the first time we'd seen this bill or heard from the DCA. Over the next four months we argued the toss, with the landlord and the DCA constantly threatening bankruptcy in writing and the landlord eventually agreed (in writing) that we actually only owed £540 (we had paid some of the £750 off in the meantime). We couldn't pay this off in one go, so sent them a copy of our financial spreadsheet and offered instalments. They rejected this offer in writing and said they'd go to the county court for a CCJ.

 

A month later we received a statutory demand for £1,143.00 (), which included the £540 we did owe and more charges and interest. I didn't apply to get this struck out, but waited until the bankruptcy petition was issued and then issued a defence. The DCA's solicitor didn't respond to this and when we got to court in November 2006 the judge was not a happy bunny. He adjourned the case until Jan 2007 for the petitioner to submit a response and invited both of us to submit a skeleton argument.

 

I submitted my argument, using the penalty charge defence and stating that a bankruptcy petition should never have been issued as the amount I owed was under £750. I argued the petitioner was well aware of this, as I had informed them I would be using this as a defence before the bankruptcy petition was issued. A week before the hearing I received a letter saying that the petitioner would be prepared to withdraw the bankruptcy application if each side agreed to pay their own legal costs (I didn't have any). I replied I could not agree, as they had proved themselves untrustworthy and I sought the protection of the court.

 

I submitted a bundle for the judge's attention just before the hearing, but the petitioner did not show up. The judge was spitting feathers and struck out the bankruptcy petition. He also said to me that he enjoyed reading my skeleton argument and that the court certainly would have had the issues raised in it 'very much in mind' when considering the case ().

 

We still owe £540 and there is stalemate here - we haven't heard a peep from the landlord. I have been reading about malicious prosecution, which seems to cover misconceived bankruptcy action, but this seems a very difficult path to tread! We do have some costs (time and effort) but I really am wondering whether there is any action we can take to reflect the extreme stress their unlawful actions have caused?

 

Sorry for writing 'War & Peace' - I was meant to be cutting a long story short!

[diskmandave]

Excellent, very well done! :)

[djdave]

If they've gone quiet then in my humble opinion I'd leave it at that.

 

You, quite reasonably, want some compensation but also recognise that you still owe £540. You might be best just letting the matter drop.

 

My personal opinion, nothing more. But kudos for taking them on in the first place!

[majorclanger100]

Thanks guys. It was very stressful but also (admittedly!) quite enjoyable too....the Court bit was very interesting and both judges were fantastic.

 

I reckon that's sound advice djdave. However I'll check my credit rating to see if they've screwed that up (not that it's not screwed up already ) - might take a different view if they have!