Claiming compensation from a landlord

kaoticturtle

Hi

I am in the middle of a dispute with my ex-landlord and it is looking ever increasingly likely that I will have to take him to the small claims court. The dispute has cost me a lot of time when I should either be working or studying as I have some of my final professional exams in April. I am about to write him a letter explaining that if he doesn't pay the amount I am owed within the next 14 days then I will be starting proceedings to take him to the small claims court. What I am unsure about is if I can include in that claim compensation for stress and time lost at a time when I really cannot afford it. If I can, how can I go about working out an amout that is suitable?


As some background, I moved into the flat in February 2007 and re-signed the lease this January to stay for a third 12 month term. The day before the new lease started the boiler was declared unsafe for use and the whole gas heating system was no longer operating (this was just as the whole of London ground to a halt because of snow so it was very cold in the flat). The landlord claimed that he couldn't afford to fix it so agreed with us that if we left quickly he would refund our deposit to us plus outstanding rent for the month. He claimed that he wanted to move back into the flat asap anyway and so this was a good arrangement for him (he has recently split up with his partner and was living in a rented bedsit). We emailed him at an address that he gave to us during this conversation to detail the agreement that we had with him. In that email we said that we would be out of the flat within the week however he is now claiming that he does not have regular access to that account.


Since we moved out, everytime we speak to him he changes his story. Firstly he demanded that we pay him for 6 months rent since we left early. He realised that was not going down well so is now claiming that he only owes us our deposit back as we left too quickly. He is also now saying that he would have fixed the boiler eventually although the estate agent can confirm that this is not what he said at the time. I have stopped trying to call the landlord on the phone as I can never get a straight reply from him and get a stream of excuses, delaying tactics and things that other people have said to him. Instead, I have written him two letters and posted these through his door. I have offered to reduce the amount of rent owed on the basis that the issue is finalised and I am paid within a set amount of time but he has rejected this offer.


In all this, I have incurred significant expense as I have had to pay two lots of rent, an extra deposit and two sets of estate agents fees within only a few weeks. I have also lost a significant amount of time when I should have been studying and had to use paid study leave from work to move in order to get out so quickly. I got very stressed during the time when he was claiming that I owed him 6 months rent as there would not have been a way for me to pay it without borrowing money - I had already had to borrow money from my parents to meet the other costs. I hadn't been planning on claiming extra costs such as referencing fees from the landlord as I wanted it sorted out quickly and with as little animosity as possible. However, he is no longer honouring our agreement so if I have to take it to court I will be claiming those costs as well.


He still hasn't returned our deposit although the date he should have paid it was Monday - however he has promised to get it through this week so the issue is with him refusing to pay money above this amount.


I have kept track of the time I have spent on the issue and am planning to claim that in terms of the amount I get paid. However, would a court accept a claim for compensation due to stress caused? How would they determine what is reasonable? I feel that I am owed something especially as I should be concentrating on my exams and should not have had to move flats in the run up to them. I don't however want to claim an unreasonable amount as I assume this would look bad to the court.

Does anyone have any advice?
Thanks
KT

Troubled_Joe

Unless you are prepared to incorporate a personal injury claim and get a medical report outlining the stress you've been caused and its effects on your life then you won't be able to claim for that.

Your wasted time can also not be claimed. Otherwise the courts would be overrun with claims from utility customers etc everytime an incorrect bill was sent etc etc.

Best of luck with the claim though.

pinkshoes

kaoticturtle wrote: »

The landlord claimed that he couldn't afford to fix it so agreed with us that if we left quickly he would refund our deposit to us plus outstanding rent for the month.

Do you have this in writing? If yes, was he specific with the dates, i.e. did he define "quickly"? Did he sign a document agreeing that you could leave? Did you send a signed document to him stating that as per his proposal, you are moving out on <insert date> and that he would owe you <£amount>?

The trouble being, that you signed a legally binding rental agreement, so his arguement in court could be that you left the property without notice, and thus owe him a minimum of 6 months rent. If he won, you would then have to pay all his court costs etc...

Claiming for stress and time spent is assuming you'll win!! From what I read above, the information is too vague, so you'll need to be more specific.

I know you FEEL you were in the right, but unless you have a written agreement to leave, then he's the one with the signed tenancy agreement!

kaoticturtle

Thanks for the replies - they've been quite helpful for making me think about a few things.

We have the email that we sent to him detaling our agreement and dates (sent about an hour after he gave us the email address to send it to), together with texts from him clearly not disagreeing with us leaving and promising to get our money back to us asap - those are from before we moved out. The estate agents who let the property can also confirm that he wanted to move into the flat as quickly as possible.

He is not disputing that we had the agreement however even if he was, according to our contract we would only be liable for rent if he couldn't find another tenant. As he wanted back into the flat that meant that we did not need to find a new tenant and so are not liable for the rent.

That is our view anyway and from reading the contract that is the conclusion we have come to. The total rent owed to us is just over £600 so it would probably go through the small claims track and then we would not be liable for his legal costs. It is enough however that we don't want to just give up on it - we think that is what he is gambling on and that he is trying to call our bluff.

KT