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In Need of Help
Michasm
Posts: 27 Forumite
To cut a long story short, i left a property owing two months rent.I have never denied owing this money.However, when i left, the LL contacted the Police and said i had damged the property, this was found to be untrue by the Police who filed it as fair wear and tear.The landlord decided he was keeping my deposit of £950 to pay for the so called "damages".Due to the stance he was taking my wife became a bit scared of him and i left some property in the house consisting of furniture and appliances up to the value of around £400.He then informed me he was taking me to court for the outstandin rent.I wrote to him and arranged to pay the outstanding rent in instalments to which he agreed and i said i would make the first instalment as soon as possible.However, he has proceeded with Court Action and i have been now issued with A CCJ to pay the outstaning rent in exactly the same instalment arrangement as i had privately agreed with him anyway.The thing is, it was done in my absence.They sent the claim form to my works head office as i didnt want to give the LL my new address due to being intimidated by him.Head Office sent the claim form to my address but i never got it.I remember getting a leaflet from the postman saying that he was trying to deliver a letter but the postage hadnt been paid properly so it was undeliverable.I never went to collect it from the Post Office as i didnt know what it was so hence i never received the form and was unable to give my side.It was my works head office at fault, they had placed the original letter in another envelope and hadnt paid the postage on it.The CCJ was issued in my absence.My questions are as follows.Can i do anything about the CCJ?Can i do anything with regards to the property i couldnt remove from the house Can i do anything about the deposit which he kept despite the Police report stating it was not criminal damage?(i accept paying for carpet cleaning and a broken mirror)How do i go about all of this?
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Comments
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I can only be of limited help, but wanted to bump your post so it didn't just disappear at this busy time. If I were you, I would contact Shelter who are excellent as regards all housing matters, for informed legal advice.
Regards x0 -
Michasm, try posting on the Debtfree Wanabee section. I believe that it is possible to get a judgement set aside and reheard if you did not get a hearing, but they will know more over there.After the uprising of the 17th June The Secretary of the Writers Union
Had leaflets distributed in the Stalinallee Stating that the people
Had forfeited the confidence of the government And could win it back only
By redoubled efforts. Would it not be easier In that case for the government
To dissolve the people
And elect another?0 -
Yeah, I agree with the above. Was your deposit protected by the DPS? If so, the landlord would need to provide evidence to them of the damage caused, and the police report would of course contradict this so you would be entitled to that back. However, if not, would the Landlord not be willing to take the £950 in lieu of the rent?DFW #414, MoneySaver, Income Booster
It Always Seems Impossible Until It Is Done.
£2,022 in 2022 #39 - Current total £2.900 -
You could pay it within 28 days and then it won't be recorded on your credit file...Can i do anything about the CCJ?...
With regards the police declaring the damage was only fair wear & tear, I somehow doubt this. It's not the role of the police to be judge & jury. The county court judge decided at the hearing you failed to attend. As this was for outstanding rent and the tenancy had ended, the court would probably have considered the fact that the LL was holding a deposit and deducted this less the value of any dilapidations from the outstanding amount.
The police role is to uphold the law. The reason the police weren't interested is as you later state in your post, that there was no evidence of criminal damage caused. That is not the same as the damage being fear wear & tear. You could have caused damage without committing a criminal act and as such it is not a police matter."Now to trolling as a concept. .... Personally, I've always found it a little sad that people choose to spend such a large proportion of their lives in this way but they do, and we have to deal with it." - MSE Forum Manager 6th July 20100 -
Michansm
This vindictive little troll of a landlord set out to cause gratuitous harm to you. It is often the case that people who behave like this have large planks in their eyes. I wonder if he has declared all his property income to the tax man?
Sorry I cannot be of more constructive help (but a little unconstructive help can be good for the soul). Good luck
Macaque0 -
I perhaps should have mentioned the fact that i am a Police Officer and i believe the only reason he reported the matter to the Police was purely to try to land me in hot water with my supervisors.What they actually said was that it was a civi matter as the post above is quite right it is not down to the Police to say what is fair wear and tear.I also forgot to mention that he made countless calls to the Police, demanding my home address and badmouthing me.It was a joint tenancy, he never contacted my wife's employers asking for her details and i would ask the question that if i was in a different jobm would he have behaved the same way?I have now got a form to send to the court to ask for a hearing and for the CCJ to be set aside until the hearing has taken place.I believe i have a case for some if not all of the deposit to be deducted from the outstanding rent.I believe i have a case for the property left at the house which i was never given the opportunity to collect.My worry is this: If at the hearing , regardless of the decision, will the Judges decision still be a Judgement?
He has chaged me for complete redecoration of two bedrooms for the simple reason that the wallpaper was torn.It was torn already when i moved in and it is detailed in the tenancy agreement.It was just that my two very young children were naturally attracted to torn wallpaper and made it alot worse.Surely if wallpaper was to be pristine on exit, it should have been provided in that state upon our entrance? I also believe that according to Tenancy Law, the landlord should not end up in a materialistic better position at the end of the tenancy than at the start?
Do you think i should go ahead and challenge the judgement or is there a chance that the original judgement will stand and i am faced with 6 years of Credit blacklisting anyway?0 -
I also believe that according to Tenancy Law, the landlord should not end up in a materialistic better position at the end of the tenancy than at the start?
Yes this is true. I have done a lot of research online about this recently as I also have a landlord withholding my deposit for no good reason whatsoever. I am starting court proceedings next week if I do not get a cheque for my full deposit by Monday - 7 days from the date of a recorded delivery letter I sent to him (although he has not taken delivery of that letter).
My ex-landlord is also very intimidating and I refused to give him my new address. I gave him my work address but he implied that he could find out my new home address.. Sure enough, a letter arrived a week ago to my home address. I have no idea how he got it.
There must be plenty of these types of landlord about who intimidate people and try to keep their deposit but I am will carry on with my court case and I will win it.0 -
Is it not the case that a serving police officer is not allowed to have a CCJ entered against their name, or if so they are in extremely hot water.If you are querying your Council Tax band would you please state whether you are in England, Scotland or Wales0
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Can't help feeling you brought this upon yourself - you owed him 2 months rent, why didn't you pay that before leaving the property?0
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To a certain extent, Yes You are right.What i didnt explain was that the reason i didnt pay one month was because i was buying a new house and it all came through quicker than expected and was uninhabitable to start with.
I had to pay the mortgage on that and was planning on using the deposit to pay the outstanding rent.The reason i then didnt pay the second month is as follows:
The reason i had to look for a new home was, at the start of the tenancy the landlord assured me it would be long term, although he could only offer 6 months lease at a time it would be renewed as often as we wished,we had just lost our last rented house after 6 months due to the LL selling and i didnt want to put my wife and 2 young children through that again,But Lightning struck twice and the LL informed me after the first 6 months that the house was going up for sale.But....as compensation he would knock 2 weeks off the rent in return for us showing prospective buyers around which we duly did including me taking time off work to do so and my wife rushing home on dinner breaks to do it but the reduction never materialised so i refused to pay until a proper amount was decided upon including the promised reduction.This was promised verbally over the telephone and he now says that he only promised the reduction if the House sold which it didnt.Also with regards to the previous post, Yes it is true that i may find myself in the proverbial if i have a CCJ registered against me due to my job.But it has now become a matter of principal and standing up for my family and i against the intimidation.My neighbnour approached me the other day to say that she had a phone call asking if i lived next door to her, i cant think of anyone else apart from the LL who could have done this!
All i want to know is what people think my chances are of gaining a reduction in the costs,if i am succesful i will pay the outstanding amount on the day and escape the CCJ.If the judge says the judgement sticks then i could lose everything, what do i do?0
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