Tenant taking me to court - TDS - will I be ok?

ConfusedLandl0rd09

tbs624 wrote: »

Our MPs have returned the money .......................................;)

I see your points, but I firmly believe that the wording of the Act is such that a landlord can return the tenant in full deposit, and not fact the 3x fine. The wording states that if the Landlord returns the deposit, the judge cant rule the return or protection, and therefore cant rule the 3x penalty.

But the tenant has returned part of the deposit to me. Surely he cant do this? The amount has been paid! On what basis should I argue against this in court? What will a judge think of this?

ILW

I think the judge will probably think you should have complied with the law in the first place and make you pay the fine. Alternatively you could get a top solicitor onto it and end up paying 10 times as much in legal costs. I would admit you mucked up and take the medicine.

angrypirate

ConfusedLandl0rd09 wrote: »

I see your points, but I firmly believe that the wording of the Act is such that a landlord can return the tenant in full deposit, and not fact the 3x fine. The wording states that if the Landlord returns the deposit, the judge cant rule the return or protection, and therefore cant rule the 3x penalty.

But the tenant has returned part of the deposit to me. Surely he cant do this? The amount has been paid! On what basis should I argue against this in court? What will a judge think of this?

If you want to avoid court action offer your former tenant double the deposit back. It will save you the full 3 times plus court fees and it will save the tenant the hassle of going to court - you may find him willing to accept it and if he does you'll save yourself some money.

Otherwise you may as well bend over and lube up.

Emma1973

There have been cases where the judge has ruled in the LL's favour because the deposit has been returned, and that is what the deposit scheme is supposed to protect. The judge ruled the deposit had been returned prior to going to court, there was therefore no reason to fine him the 3X.
But there has also been cases where the deposit has been returned in full before the court date and the judge has ruled for the tenant!
It is at the moment impossible to say what will happen, so dont look on going to court as a bad thing, it may just depend on what kind of day the judge is having!

barnaby-bear

ConfusedLandl0rd09 wrote: »

I see your points, but I firmly believe that the wording of the Act is such that a landlord can return the tenant in full deposit, and not fact the 3x fine. The wording states that if the Landlord returns the deposit, the judge cant rule the return or protection, and therefore cant rule the 3x penalty.

But the tenant has returned part of the deposit to me. Surely he cant do this? The amount has been paid! On what basis should I argue against this in court? What will a judge think of this?

It seems a bit of an odd defense to focus on the interpretation of the act when this all came about because you disregarded the law. It could be argued you withheld part of the deposit and then offered a settlement that was refused. The deposit had already been witheld - either it was or it wasn't.

Emmzi

!!!!!! stop wriggling! you stuffed up. now go to court and front up and see what happens, you have no choice, and tryoing to outsmart the judge will not help your case one bit.

I would nod, and be very apologetic.

charliee_3

Im just glad the OP isnt my landlord... they sound like they have a whole wardrobe of teflon coated clothing.. if they are trying to weasel out of this, instead of admitting they made a mistake and taking the punishment and learning from it, what other responsibilites have they tried to get out of?? we already know about the possible missing gas safety certificate.. and if one of their tenants, maybe a child, had died of carbon monoxide poisoning would they have pleaded ignorance on the matter to tried and get off the punishment for that too??

TTMCMschine

Emmzi wrote: »

!!!!!! stop wriggling! you stuffed up. now go to court and front up and see what happens, you have no choice, and tryoing to outsmart the judge will not help your case one bit.

I would nod, and be very apologetic.

Agreed. OP - The reason the tennant has returned the deposit now is because he will have been advised to, he's following legal advice given to him, otherwise he would not have accepted it in the first place. The reason he's done this is because he's got a strong case against you. He's doing it because he can and he's entitled to do so. Sadly this is just going to be a lesson learnt, which you should always look in a positive light, because you will never forget. Lets face it - it could have been a manslaughter charge, but it appears now you have had the gas checked.

Being neglectful to people can have serious, or time consuming or expensive consequences for all - as the latter two you've found out. I say neglectful - not in the sense you couldn't care less (i believe you thought you were fair and had the best intentions), but because you haven't really researched what you've needed to do and you could have done better.
Now, i will admit i have made many mistakes through not being careful enough and hindsight is a wonderful thing. If you know the law, that will make you a better LL, and who knows maybe some other LL may have learnt from your experience.

Trollfever

Will the Court case be listed as:

Professional Tenant v Amateur Landlord.

AWT19

I didnt know you could do this? I'm in a similar situation where the landlord returned the deposit after my claim was made to court after he didnt protect it. I hadnt thought of it, but it sounds like it would make my position stronger?
Can you really not accept the landlords payment and just send it back? Would there be a timeframe for me to do this in? Would I have to let the court know as well? I'm intrigued! I have a useless landlord too (much like this one!) so I'd be greatful for any help here.