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Taking ll to court for deposit
BASSETT
Posts: 146 Forumite
My story, signed 6 month ast beginning June 2008. First night of tenancy had visit from tv licence officers for ll who had been living in property but actually moved out as they couldn`t afford it. Massive NR interest only mortgage bought at peak time. This should have been a warning sign I suppose.
In Scotland so we do not have TDS but do have registration scheme, which up to now LL still not registered, so renting illegally for starters. I discovered this Oct 2008 so contacted council enforcement officer who adv he would contact ll for registration.
July 2008, letter addressed to occupier (me) from company who deal in repossessions, advising of some kind of order on house as secured loan on property had not been paid for months, as had the mortgage. LL assured they would remedy this and no need for us to worry.
Same week, we had two visits from local police looking for ll`s ex, visit from sheriff officers looking for ll and visit from aforementioned company taking photo of outside of house.
Having only been in property for 2 months and being seasoned renters, understand we signed ast etc etc, thought we would stick it out and see what happened. By this time ll still not redirected mail so we were forwarding on.
Boiler broke few months later which she got repaired albeit dragging her heels.
October ll asked if we wanted to sign 1 yr ast, rent increase of £50 pcm, we loved the house and as we had a few months quiet enjoyment thought why not (I know...) plus I had been ill, it was just before Christmas, usual "it`ll be ok" attitude. Stupid stupid stupid.
Jan 2009, said boiler died having celebrated it`s 20th birthday, ll took a week to authorise repairs, we had no heating and shower was only source of hot water, we were baltic to say the least. Minimal repairs were carried out to get boiler working again, during this time we had to buy two convector heaters, ll did not offer to refund cost.
Gas and electric in house were key meters, whilst waiting on repairs electric was costing £10 every 24 hours, I phoned Hydro and questioned this, and discovered ll had left debt on the meter, electric at £657 and gas at £1353, add on £400 which we had already unknowingly paid off. Hydro adv ll had phoned them Mar 2008 to ask for meter debt repayment plan and had not adv them of change of address, I did that of course. This was just too much so asked for mutual surrender of tenancy, she got very uppity, refused and adv she would proceed with litigation. Found her another tenant, house was only empty one day, this at her request to remove goods. She assured we would get deposit back if we found replacement tenant. Moved out, cleaned house and 2 days later asked ll when we were getting deposit back. She said we were not entitled as we had broke the lease and our ll/tenant relationship was now terminated. I have not taken kindly to this, especially not from jumped up little mortgage adviser 12 yrs younger than me who couldn`t even afford her own house so took advice from solicitor, who adv me to take her to small claims court, as this would only cost £65.
What do you think?
In Scotland so we do not have TDS but do have registration scheme, which up to now LL still not registered, so renting illegally for starters. I discovered this Oct 2008 so contacted council enforcement officer who adv he would contact ll for registration.
July 2008, letter addressed to occupier (me) from company who deal in repossessions, advising of some kind of order on house as secured loan on property had not been paid for months, as had the mortgage. LL assured they would remedy this and no need for us to worry.
Same week, we had two visits from local police looking for ll`s ex, visit from sheriff officers looking for ll and visit from aforementioned company taking photo of outside of house.
Having only been in property for 2 months and being seasoned renters, understand we signed ast etc etc, thought we would stick it out and see what happened. By this time ll still not redirected mail so we were forwarding on.
Boiler broke few months later which she got repaired albeit dragging her heels.
October ll asked if we wanted to sign 1 yr ast, rent increase of £50 pcm, we loved the house and as we had a few months quiet enjoyment thought why not (I know...) plus I had been ill, it was just before Christmas, usual "it`ll be ok" attitude. Stupid stupid stupid.
Jan 2009, said boiler died having celebrated it`s 20th birthday, ll took a week to authorise repairs, we had no heating and shower was only source of hot water, we were baltic to say the least. Minimal repairs were carried out to get boiler working again, during this time we had to buy two convector heaters, ll did not offer to refund cost.
Gas and electric in house were key meters, whilst waiting on repairs electric was costing £10 every 24 hours, I phoned Hydro and questioned this, and discovered ll had left debt on the meter, electric at £657 and gas at £1353, add on £400 which we had already unknowingly paid off. Hydro adv ll had phoned them Mar 2008 to ask for meter debt repayment plan and had not adv them of change of address, I did that of course. This was just too much so asked for mutual surrender of tenancy, she got very uppity, refused and adv she would proceed with litigation. Found her another tenant, house was only empty one day, this at her request to remove goods. She assured we would get deposit back if we found replacement tenant. Moved out, cleaned house and 2 days later asked ll when we were getting deposit back. She said we were not entitled as we had broke the lease and our ll/tenant relationship was now terminated. I have not taken kindly to this, especially not from jumped up little mortgage adviser 12 yrs younger than me who couldn`t even afford her own house so took advice from solicitor, who adv me to take her to small claims court, as this would only cost £65.
What do you think?
0
Comments
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The stunt that the LL appears to have pulled on the gas/elec is reprehensible, however, you describe yourselves as “seasoned renters” and yet didn’t check your meters /utility tariffs when you first moved in? She should have cleared her own bill prior to you moving in but if you are responsible for payment of the bills during your tenancy then it really is up to you as the T to safeguard your own position..
You say the LL did not cover the costs of buying convector heaters for when you had a week without heating in January - I would agree that she should have either hired a heater or lent you one but (a) did you ask her to provide them first and (b) have you specifically asked her to meet the costs of the ones you bought?
Did you notify the LL of the boiler problems in writing & if yes, have you kept a copy? Ditto, the arrangements re terminating the SAT early?
Had you been provided with a gas safety certificate for the property?
Have you pursued the LLs non-registration with the local Council? She should have been given a deadline by which to register, and if she still hasn’t complied she can be prosecuted (max 5k fine) plus slapped with a rent penalty notice. If you haven’t already done so you should highlight the issue over the utilities, as acting fraudulently (if that’s what she has done) should be a bar to her being allowed to register.
You mention that she works as a mortgage adviser -perhaps a brief letter to the FSA (Financial Services Authority )? My view is that anyone who lets a property but can’t comply with Scotland's reg requirements,fails to keep up loan repayments for funds raised against the property, runs up debts on their utilities & tries to deprive Ts of their tenancy deposit is not a fit and proper person to be advising others on anything to do with money.
And, yes, you should pursue her through the Sheriff court for your deposit, plus utilities overpayment if necessary, but get your paper trail in order before you start, and send off a Letter Before Action by recorded delivery. Govan law centre in Glasgow have a good reputation on LL&T issues and may know of suitable advisers local to you if you need support with it.
There are a couple of Scottish LLs who post on here so they may have some specific suggestions for you.0 -
Thanks for reply tbs. I agree we should have checked fuel meters, but first time we had key meters. Have kept all emails regarding my highlighting problems to her and finding other tenants etc and her quite rude replies. Have been in constant contact with council enforcement officer since October who has tried to contact her re registration. She has not responded to 3 letters and is about to get rent penalty notice. Spoke to him this morning and as of yesterday she had not responded to him, despite him having her add, email add plus phone number.
He also has all copies of emails btwn her and myself and agrees she is "weird and wonderful" although his opinion will not get my deposit returned. One of her emails stated that she would take great pleasure in taking me to court. I found this quite amusing.
Did not ask her to provide heaters as it took that long to get a response from her when the boiler broke but have the receipt and will put that in my letter of support to the court. Today have sent off letter before action asking for positive response within 7 days or will proceed with court action, if she has not replied to council officer she will probably not reply to me, but I believe this may work in my favour?
Have sent a letter to her mortgage company plus HMRC and was just thinking about FSA. Did get a gas safety certificate, indeed before the boiler broke! Will def contact Govan law centre for possible local advisors. Still have the order from the repossession agent too.
Thanks again0 -
what an utter witch - take her to court - but - has she got any money ?0
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Probably not, but I`ll squeeze what I can out of her :rotfl:0
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Bassett states
Quite right! The only way this sort ever learn...Probably not, but I`ll squeeze what I can out of her
TBS made a few points which might be worth more comment and a couple more...
Re. Landlord Registration - if property ain't registered there may be a criminal offence (that might make being a financial adviser difficult as I think criminal conviction bars someone from such a profession: Not that you'd know from the way some FSA's advise punters,,,...)
Check up here.. look up your property & see what it says...
https://www.landlordregistrationscotland.gov.uk/Pages/Home.aspx
- however just because the property ain't on here may not mean she ain't applied. The landlord registration process here in bonnie Scotland had been a complete f*** up and most councils are months/years behind with the workload: (Pause for falling about by readers south of the border..). But if she ain't on there then perhaps a 'phone call to tell her you'll grass her up unless she coughs up?? (Put more subtly.. ). Perhaps even if she paid someone else might grass her anyway..
Of course if she does work as a Financial Adviser she must work somewhere so perhaps she would welcome a conversation at her office to save her coming to meet you anywhere else.. I'm sure she'd be happy to explain in front of her colleagues her devious crooked approach to business.
But, chances are it'll be the Sheriff Court. It really is quite simple, my Sheriff Court staff are friendly and helpful with the forms/process (once they realised I wasnae the other sort of client..). See forms etc. here..
http://www.scotcourts.gov.uk/sheriff/small_claims/forms.asp
You probably want form 1a.
Might be worth drafting the claim, don't take it yet to the SC but show her (?email?) a copy and say you will pursue her whatever it costs & takes.. See if that prompts her..
The Scottish legal system has several advantages over others.. 2 key ones for this are..
a) Once you have the decree the debt stays valid for 20 years unlike 6 years for English CCJs..... and
b) Then increases by 8%pa...
Where else can you get that sort of financial return these days!
Good luck & keep us posted. Shame we don't know who she is.. Which part of God's ain' country is she in (I'm in Highland) - PM me if you'd rather not post publicly.
Disgrace!
Cheers!
Lodger (A Landlord)0 -
Just a wee update, currently taking ll to small claims, but thanks to the wonderful internet have found out that in the past 3 weeks she has been taken to court 3, yes, 3 times by a solicitor, a car finance company and a flooring company........me next me me me me.
And ll still not registered!!
Huge thanks to Artfullodger.....0 -
Just a wee update, currently taking ll to small claims, but thanks to the wonderful internet have found out that in the past 3 weeks she has been taken to court 3, yes, 3 times by a solicitor, a car finance company and a flooring company........me next me me me me.
And ll still not registered!!
Huge thanks to Artfullodger.....
Hopefully you get in before the mortgage company bankrupt her.0 -
Contact your local council regarding the LL registration scheme because they can effectively bar a landlord from letting in the future for not being 'fit and proper' to do so, such as breaching housing law. They can issue a rent penalty notice to the current tenants obliging them to stop paying rent to her for being unregistered - hitting her in the wallet.
As an aside, we had problems with property developers in our tenement in Glasgow who moved in after the refurb. They refused to pay the factoring fees and lived like dirty noisy teenagers rather than adults in their 40s, smashing windows during domestic disputes, having barbecues in communal areas, exercising their dogs by chucking them through the window to defecate in the back court, and so forth.
This was accompanied by lots of bragging about how successful they were and how unprofessional the self-factoring was. Result now is that we've got thousands of pounds in the tenement fund while their business properties were repossessed and their personal properties mortgaged up to the eyeballs.
They met their match when they didn't pay local suppliers on their new development because according to the insolvency report, somebody sabotaged the drains and made it uninhabitable - perhaps it was the hairy knucked builders they'd ticked off that also led them to flee to Thailand. Sorry to go off thread but sometimes you have to leave it to Karma.0 -
how did you find out that she has been taken to court????Just incase i ever need to do the same..good luck with getting everything back which you are owed...i hate these less than amatuerish/cowboy landlords with a passion ....0
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Hi Jowo, I contacted the council back in October and kept in touch with them, last conversation was in May when she was about to get a rent penalty notice. Big believer in the karma too, great stuff.......
Ladybird, I just searched the daily business section of our sherriff courts, the rolls are published 5 days in advance, just type in sherriff courts and what area you are in.0
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