Tenancy help needed

princeofpounds

Ok. The LL will be claiming for a bunch of things. They are slightly separate issues. One relates to rent not being paid, and one relates to condition of the house and deposits.

Regarding the latter, given there is no inventory and never has been, that there was a variety of tenancies issued to different groups of people, and that deposits have been taken for things like 'redecoration' (which is nor permitted as betterment is not a valid reason, only fixing of damage minus fair wear and tear), then you are not likely to be charged. The LL has to prove the condition on entry and exit and justify their costs to win a judgment, and three years after the event and with no administrative trail I don't see how they are going to do that.

Regarding the former, that may still be more easy to demonstrate, but it is also something you should be able to disprove easily.

To be honest, I'm not sure how practical it is to just ignore it. They may well not even be sure that they are mailing the right address. But the other strategy is to be pro-active and write to the LL:

- state that you believe that the tenancy was finished, with full and final settlement achieved, and that you are surprised these demands have popped up three years on.
- ask for a breakdown of precisely what they are charging for and why
- offer mediation (if they refuse, looks bad in court)
- suggest that if they aren't interested, they take you (and your co-tenants) to the small claims court for the matter to be settled.
- that otherwise, you are not interested in further communication as you consider the matter settled.

Personally I'd prefer to let it go to court, get your old friends together, be very systematic and get a final judgment.

You might have to be a bit careful in case there was as judgment in your absence and this is a debt owed by court order that has been sold to a debt management company. In that case you would need to apply to the court to have it set aside on the basis you never knew about the case. Do read up on your rights concerning bailiffs in case they turn up, but I think that's unlikely.

shehasredhair

unfortunately-I can't find all the paper work-only from approx 2005 - so it could have been 2003/04 that the debt was incurred, can't find the agreements either...

princeofpounds

By the way, if the arrears are from 2003, and there was a succession of tenancies (each combination of people is a *new* tenancy), it may be that the tenancy concerned was over too long ago for the LL to claim anyway and pointing that out to the court would cause it to be chucked out.

(I am thinking here of the LL complaining and then you asking them which tenancy they are referring to 03 with X, Y and Z, 04 with X, Y and A, 05 with X, A and B, and where is the inventory for each of these, and where is the tenancy paperwork etc etc?!)

shehasredhair

Thanks thats really interesting-I will write a letter to the landlord or Hamways mangement place whatever the hell they are called, and try and clear this up

shehasredhair

Do you think that i should mention this in my letter?
By the way, if the arrears are from 2003, and there was a succession of tenancies (each combination of people is a *new* tenancy), it may be that the tenancy concerned was over too long ago for the LL to claim anyway and pointing that out to the court would cause it to be chucked out.

(I am thinking here of the LL complaining and then you asking them which tenancy they are referring to 03 with X, Y and Z, 04 with X, Y and A, 05 with X, A and B, and where is the inventory for each of these, and where is the tenancy paperwork etc etc?!)

princeofpounds

No. For now just ask them to specify what the money they are claiming is supposed to be for, as you were not aware of any outstanding amounts.

Stuff like that can be used in mediation or in court to make them look slightly ridiculous.

By the way, I suggest you also post this up on landlordzone forums. They are a bit more specialist on this type of stuff than we are.