Please help re flat deposit

Melissa177

I had my desposit difficulties before I had seen this thread. Just like your LA, my LA refused to give the address of the LL (exactly the same situation, LL was disputing that we hadn't cleaned the property even though we scrubbed it clean, that sofa was worn too much), so we said "Right, you leave us with no option than to serve the court order on your company".

I checked Companies House for the name of the LA Director and Secretary, and rang to tell the LA that I would be serving papers on Friday if I didn't have the deposit back in full (it was Tuesday). The manager went ballistic, as she knew she would be trouble with her bosses if they ended up with a court case, and I had a check the next morning.

My situation makes yours look like a bungee jump into hell, compared with my "walk in the park".

Don't let the witch spoil Mr EL's birthday!

John_Pierpoint

Do you think there might be something in the water in Sussex, that manifests itself in the attitude of landlords?

Could this tenants' friend be Brighton's most famous son ?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,365743,00.html

This link is a bit out of date but tries to introduce him as a person ?
There is loads more factual stuff that Google turns up, though he seems not to have hit the headlines yet this year.

EagerLearner

Hi John, yes he is infamous down here - nasty piece of work and owns a rotting building on the seafront as well which is not only an eyesore but a real safety concern for those that live there. He's been involved in some pretty murky dealings too but nothing has ever been proven I don't think...

EagerLearner

Hi all just dropping in to say hi... been quiet on the western front lately, but work is reasonable and I have an appointment with a prospective client this coming Monday at 09:30am. Please keep fingers crossed for me as I desperately need this 3rd client.

In terms of the new flat, we are seeing it again tomorrow evening, measuring up etc and seeign what she wants to leave / take with her. Most of it she wants to leave so I am ebaying like crazy at the mo and Freecycling too.

Life is good at the mo not having to stress, 8 weeks till the dreaded day, but we are glad to not think about it for a while.

As court date is on 31st May, it's strange to think that it was on 4th June 2006 that we moved out, it will nearly be a year that we have been chasing this deposit.

I hope you are all well ;o)

hjb123

Good to hear from you! Hope everything continues to go well, keep checking back to this thread to check for updates

Good Luck!

EagerLearner

Hi all,

Just a nice update from me!

As of today I have secured my third client - yay me! Now fully fledged self-employed at least 3-4 days per week on average... very chuffed and seeing as I had a No Spend Day on top of that, feel very proud indeed. However, small bag of M&M's have been devoured, and a glass of white wine...

No news from the ARLA lot re rubbish letting agents.

Saw our new flat last night again and very happy still, ebaying like crazy. put on washing machine and it went within a few hours - not bad as it went for £35 and we only paid £25 for it. Same for washer dryer - we paid £25 and it went for £45. So a good week overall in those terms!

Trying to forget about Evil Landlady and do positive stuff. At the end of the day, we will squeeze all we can out of that £80 court fee and be there to see her explain away those dodgy deposit deductions (DDD ). the court date on 31st May is 4 days away from the FULL YEAR we have been chasing this deposit. Amazing how time flies - yet not having fun!

Booked secret trip for OH 35th next month, has no idea, totally free 4* hotel thanks to Barcelona Loopy deal thread and cheap flight with sparrow-fart-wake-up-time-but-hell-if-we-care! :T

Hope everyone is ok - do let me know what is going on with all of you!

clutton_2

Hi - EL !! still as cheerful as ever !!! congrats on new clients !! tomorrow i am going to a mediation session with the other party who i am suing - in the hope that the matter can be resolved out side of court. will report back .........

am very clear as to what my bottom line is ............

EagerLearner

Hiya C - well done on your 4th star! :T :beer:

Hope the mediation session goes ok today and let me know how you get on - tricky other party, but they sure deserve their commeuppance on more than 1 count!

John_Pierpoint

Hi Eagerlearner,

I had to go to a CIVIL court for the first time in my life, this week. So I hope you don't mind me adding my experience and a few resulting thoughts to your thread, in the lull before your case comes up.
It might be entertaining if not useful for you and your army of fans, and a sort of education for anyone about to fall out with their "awful" neighbours.

The case I appeared at as a witness was a bigger more formal "show" than yours will be, but the concept will be the same. With the benefit of hindsight you are likely to have a much better ratio of outcome to total costs.

First, the story, very simplified, goes like this: Picture the scene, it is the 1980's and you are looking down from your hot air balloon. There is a busy road with a short length of track leading off it. At he end of this short cul-de-sac there is a shed in a plot on the right and an old barn directly ahead, behind a gate in an arable field. The edge of the field wraps round the cul de sac and the plot with the shed. As it is arable, the fences are broken posts & barbed wire. There is low level commercial activity taking place in the shed. By the way, nobody knows who owns the track, it is not a public right of way.

Roll forward in time 10 years to the mid 90’s. The man with the shed has prospered. This time you are looking down on a rebuilt shed in a plot with a new security fence and gates. Outside the track has been widened to make room for parking and passing and on the other side of the track (the left) there is more secure new fencing. If it was after hours and you had night vision goggles you would notice that there is a “flagpole barrier” that is lowered at night to stop people turning in off the busy road, to do what people do after dark (fly-tipping being the most annoying). The farmer does not bother to come and get his crop through his gate, because that is not the most convenient access from his farmstead.

Now in the mid naughties, someone approaches the farmer and offers to renovate the barn and pay him rent for its use, planning to use it as a store for business; BUT in the meantime the flagpole barrier has turned into big solid gates and when the farmer tells the man in the shed about his new tenant the conversation seems to have been “Go forth and multiply, you’re not getting a key! What makes you think we are going to let someone else share our access and parking”.

What happens now ? Perhaps a law student would like to tell us ?
I can’t tell you, the judge is still thinking about his judgment.
If you are an amateur like me and would like to take a guess, or you are thinking of having a dispute with your neighbour, have a look at this:

http://www.boundary-problems.co.uk/

When the judge gives his judgment, I will update this story with the result.

I live nearby, and just might find myself in a similar situation as I live in a modest home up a track surrounded by farm land. My contribution was to make a “witness statement of truth” from my knowledge backed up by copies of correspondence, diary entries and family photos; which luckily we as a family have kept, dating back years.

Then I had to go to court to be cross examined by both barristers. The one side, seeking to demonstrate that I was truthful and spot on with dates & facts; the other side trying to trick me into contradicting myself. This would demonstrate that at best I was a silly old fool who was loosing the plot or at worst a lying toad who might have taken a bung.

The odds are slightly stacked against the side that brings the action in that they have to go first. The witnesses are not allowed to hear other witnesses evidence before giving their own. Fortunately I was the first independent witness to be called, so I could sit in on the rest of the case and watch some other people squirm under cross examination.

I had to swear to tell the truth……..etc. and confirm that I am me, then I had to sit down in front of a huge ring binder, which included my modest few sheets of evidence. One side asked me to agree I had written it and signed it? How come I knew the spot so well and visited it so often [walking the dog and using a short cut across the field] and noticed so much and even written about events in my diary & correspondence and accidentally photographed some of it in the background.
Then the other barrister had a go, he did not get very far BUT for being asked to turn to page 999 and tell the court what I saw. Page 999 was two photos. The bottom one was a picture of the new gates blocking the track. They were not a problem as I had noted in my diary a “disagreement” over them when my short cut was blocked. [I was in the wrong as I had no right of access to the field see link above!] However I was completely nonplussed by the other photo. It showed the shed owner’s son proudly standing next to what might have been his first car and in the background I could see the flagpole; my problem was the claimed date.
It was a photo where the camera had added the date & time in pinky orange in the bottom corner and it said 1985. I was left spluttering that it was definitely not as I remembered it at that time and it was at least dated 6 years too early [If I had been clever at thinking on my feet, I would have noticed the date letter on the registration (but it was a secondhand car) and I should have asked for the boy’s date of birth and then made some smart Alec remark like “he has changed out of his school uniform I see”. Could you buy those time recording cameras in the early 80’s ? and would you use one for a family snapshot if you did not have an ulterior motive ? ].

Congratulations if you are still with me.
===============================================================

So what have we learned:

1. Law is expensive, I think I watched 50,000 GBP being flushed down a legal toilet. How much has the Eagerlearner deposit claim cost so far?. [If every one who reads this thread chips in just one penny, you would be quids in BUT if you paid the time of everyone who has become involved at say 50 pence per hour, you would be bankrupt ! Never mind experience is usually worth the cost no matter how expensive. Adversity grows you as a human being. As they say “I hear I forget, I see I remember but if I do then I understand”].
2. Who is paying the costs of this. Is it a situation where each side must pay their own ?
3. Keep all your correspondence, diaries, photos etc. you just never know which item will prove relevant over a period of more than 20 years. [“If you built this car park, can’t you produce your invoice for the work ?” “Oh here it is on my tax return,” would be a real giant killer]
4. Organise you evidence carefully and know it backwards, do the same with the opposition’s. The sequence and date of events is particularly important.
5. Make a summary sheet of complicated evidence to help the judge [The judge was almost embarrassingly nice and said how much he liked reading my evidence as it was almost like reading someone’s blog. It made me wonder if you could submit this Eagerlearner thread or part of it as evidence? If nothing else it will help you prepare a summary table of events in the correct order, with their correct dates].
6. Don’t over egg the pudding, if you cannot be sure about a detail say so, rather than risk being portrayed as a fantasist.
7. Stay cool calm and collected, you are telling the truth, their solicitor will have to try and trick you and will be trying to defend forged documents – so let us hope in both cases that the judge can see right through any dodgy evidence.


Watch this space there may be a judgment before Easter on the shed versus the barn !!.

clutton_2

i have been advised (by a friend who is a solicitor,) that my 200 page internet-blog written prior to my court dispute will not be accepted by a judge in a county court as it will be too long to submit. The other side have tried to "cherry pick" bits of it to use against me, and again my friend has said a judge will allow either all of it, or none of it