Tenancy help needed

shehasredhair

hi guys/girls
I really need your help regarding this-I had a tenancy from 2001-2006 in a flat with 3 others, from 2002-2003 we incurred firstly a mis payment of £200, a tenant paid £200 into the mangement/landlords account, lost the receipt and they refused to allocate it to our account, plus another tenant on the contract ran off and owed £400. I treid to take htis tenant to court but with no success. At the end of the tenancy they took all the deposit (£800) -saying they had to redecorate and clear unwanted furniture. Now I have recntly got a letter from DMS saying I owe £900!!! On behalf of their clients-I don't know what to do-I certainly don't have this amount! And giving me 7 days to answer otherwise they will take legal proceedings.

Jowo_2

Did you have a signed inventory and do you dispute the deductions made for damage and cleaning? Was it a joint tenancy? Why were you unsuccessful taking the tenant to court who owed rent? Are DMS a solicitors or debt collecting agency?

princeofpounds

Firstly, going to court is not the end of the world. It will be a fair and open forum for the problems, and if you do lose and get a CCJ if you can pay it quickly it will not go on your record.

Now you need to provide much more info in a structured way.

Was it the same tenants throughout the 5 years?
Were you all jointly and severally liable?
Was there are signed inventory on the way in and the way out?
Do you have any documentation from this period?
Did they communicate anything immediately after the tenancy, or is this out of the blue?
How did they track you down?
Are you in contact with the other tenants?
Why did you lose at court with the errant tenant?
etc etc

shehasredhair

hi
It was different tenants throughout the years-I was the constant tenant through the 6 years.
We were all jointly and severally liable
Was there are signed inventory on the way in and the way out?
No there was not.
Do you have any documentation from this period?
Yes I have all the letters i wrote and i am asking from my bank fro all my statements to proof I paid the rent
Did they communicate anything immediately after the tenancy, or is this out of the blue?
They sent a letter last year - I ignored it, and recently received three letters
How did they track you down?
I am not sure how they tracked me...!
Are you in contact with the other tenants?
the errant tenant is in Australia!!! the others are around! I am friends with them.
Why did you lose at court with the errant tenant?
he ignored all letters and went to australia!

shehasredhair

I haven't been in touch with the landlord-really scared too and haven't disputed anything!

Jowo_2

Remember that joint and several liability makes it irrelevant that you paid your share of rent why the others did not - your bank statements aren't going to be effective. The landlord does not require to take action against the specific person that defaulted and will obviously go for the easiest to take action against. Another way of describing this is that while from your perspective there were multiple tenants, from the point of view of the law there is merely a single tenant.

Don't ignore the letter like the last ones - it's easy to track down people for a small fee. You may think that not going on the electoral register prevents this but people tracing companies can access address details for mobile phone and bank accounts.

I wonder whether the best strategy might be to pay the outstanding sum, get a whip round from the others if you can or check if they will allow a repayment schedule. Or like the Prince of Pounds, wait until they take you to court if you think you can successfully defend it (but get advice from Shelter or the Citizens Advice Bureau) as I wonder whether the costs could escalate.

Then separately take the landlord to court to dispute the deductions. The Shelter website provides advice on how to do this with unprotected deposits (those paid before the tenancy deposit scheme comes in).

What is the £900 owed for? Rent arrears, damage?

shehasredhair

The amount is for rent arrears-so you think the best option would be to get in touch with DMS (Debt Management Systems) and arrange a payment plan?
What about statute barred as it occured in 2003? Although I was there until 2006-07

Jowo_2

Think the statute is for 6 years. In an earlier post, you said the tenancy ended in 2006 and now say 2007. Did you have any contracts signed after April 2007 when the Tenancy Deposit Scheme started (this doesn't apply retrospective).

Jowo_2

shehasredhair wrote: »

The amount is for rent arrears-so you think the best option would be to get in touch with DMS (Debt Management Systems) and arrange a payment plan?
What about statute barred as it occured in 2003? Although I was there until 2006-07

Are you saying all the arrears are solely from 2003 and do you have documentary evidence for this? I find this a bit baffling that the landlord allowed the tenancy to continue for a further 3 or 4 years.

Does this sum include any fees by DMS? One of my friends had a modest sum owed by a mobile phone company that was subsequently inflated the longer she ignored it and the more action the agency took to persue her for it.

shehasredhair

sorry-I think it's 2006-no contracts were signed after April 2007

shehasredhair

Yes it is strange that they let the tenancy continue-I think it is for approx this much-don't htink that DMS have inflated it