Please help re flat deposit

irishjohn

I am really pleased - not posted since back in my electoral register suggestion days last October - but been looking in regularly.

One final suggestion from me - once the money is in your hands spend a few pence on a nice cheap and tacky thank you card to send to the Evil One. Send it to the address she gave you via the court, second class post of course and inside it - no signature - just the URL for this thread - time to show her just how big the cavalry was!!

Well maybe not!!

Great news though

John

chaddy7604

teatine wrote: »

http://www.pink-martini.org/missions/liens/link.php?m=1&l=1&u=7&k=1q5I0e5licY2VpbrMeOJ7Lhf6Vu5L

:spam:

Already reported this today, removed by mods!

Now posting as some body else

Lady_K

Goog on you EL CONGRATULATIONS

rach29

Well Done

:T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T :T

Kinnairdy

:beer: EL, Just want to add my sincerest Congratulations.
Although it would seem that our Justice system is 'not fit for purpose' at least you can put it all behind you now and enjoy every new day without the shade of the LL from Hell hovering over you.
It is, as has been said by others, a Moral victory and you can sleep well knowing your efforts and regular updates on here have been, and will continue to be, of immense benefit to others who are facing similar difficulties.
You have my respect and admiration too.
I wish you all success in your future ventures :j

Sharpie

Hi EL,

Have not posted recently, but did give you a massive thought yesterday at 2pm...had to explain to everyone why I kept looking at the clock!!

Well done on such a great victory- we are all very proud of you, and you have kept us inspired for such a long time..Don't feel bad about buying your DVD- I think you've earned a few nights off paperwork don't you?!!

EagerLearner

Thanks everyone, I didn't sleep too well last night due to so much stuff in my head, lavender and Dr Bach didn't work this time so feel slightly groggy this morning. I felt like my brain was a giant gobstopper and when I thought I had finished each layer, a new colourful one would pop up and last for ages.

Anyway we had a lovely £60 meal last night, with king prawns starter and beef steak main for Mr EL, and delicious parmesan/mushroom & sauce starter for me, followed by delicious lobster and king prawn rissotto, with bottle of zesty white wine. We unwound, talked about all sorts, mainly about what we have learnt and why the 'forces that be' threw this our way at this time in our lives, and it has to be to learn lessons, which we have. Everyone needs to reach 80 and have gone through a small claims proceeding, if not for the process(!), then to understand that you CAN fight back against people who mislead or take from you what you can prove is wrong. We could have let her get away with it, but this way she has had a feeling of being 'chased' for a long time and now had to get that cheque book out and sign agreement to defeat on the original amounts deducted.

Interesting to note that it was the decorators daughter that wrote the cheque? Evil LL wouldn't even present us with anything showing HER real name, or lower herself to sign something. Not only that, it took the 3 of them around 5 minutes to organise the damn cheque -they were like headless chickens, why all 3 needed to be involved who knows - I felt like we were standing in front of a coven of wiches! We now believe Evil LL and decorator MAY be sisters as Mr EL reckoned he saw a resemblance between decorators' daughter and Evil LL.

Important also to note a hilarious comment by Evil LL ref cleaning the bathroom every day when work was being carried out:

'After all, let's not forget that one of the people installing the bathroom was a girl!" - Well, we nearly chocked with laughter at that point. If you need a visual of decorator, she is like GI Joe and Mr EL said she has a better jawline than he does! Evil LL visual: She is llike the older cleaning woman from Aggie & Kim on telly, except older, uglier and with delusions of being Mrs Bucket (Bouquet) from tv.

Overall we do also agree the money awarded should have been more, for the runaround we have had, but the judge said she was there to discuss the deductions only, although she could see we had done everything possible to get hold of LL. At one point nearing the end I was tempted to say 'So we have paid roughly £440 for some unintentional stains and dust?' but knew it wouldn't get us anywhere really. Plus I have worked out the following as a more positive victory:

COSTS INCURRED BY EVIL LL TO IGNORE US

£470.00 Letting Agent legal fees
£50.00 to counter the judgement
£80 to file her court counter-claim
£187.46 back to us
£80 court fee back to us

TOTAL: £867.46

That's what she paid, to keep our £625 deposit!


WHAT WE HAVE LEARNT

It's nice to see faces old and new drop by to celebrate the victory - we certainly have learnt alot ffrom this which I would summarise as:

- Landlords can be nice as pie throughout tennancy, and completely change as soon as you move out and they see your deposit money glistening within reach
- You should never assume that because the flat was obviously clean that you shouldn't take photos. We did not even think of taking them as we had cleaned so well, and later in court that bit us on the bum as the judge only had some very poorly lit photos of badly magnified 'stains' to make judgement on.
- A landlord can present 'estimates' and internet printouts as 'proof' that work was carried out, even if it wasn't, to get some of your cash.
- Always do a detailed check-in inventory.
- Write to the letting agent or landlord every time you have a query, or just to confirm appointments or things you have agreed during tennancy so you have a paper trail.
- Always try to be present at check-out.
- Make sure the letting agent is registered with ARLA and if so, check whether they have had complaints logged against them, I believe Arla are obliged to tell you this. However keep in mind that ultimately letting agents pay ARLA's wages.
- Again, take photos when you move in AND when you move out.
- If the deposit is withheld and you don't agree with it, follow the 3 letter stages we followed, this showed we didn't just jump the gun with the court process and that the landlord was given ample opportunity to stop the court proceedings had they wished to.
- Base your court speech on fact and don't get angry or let emotions take over. The judge is there to do a job and can't make the decision easily if things get personal or tit for tat.


Nice to be able to now use MSE for 'normal' money saving! My next project is the DVD player, can't believe our luck - the one Martin recommends sounds good although we'd go for the model that has no freeview as we're on Virgin now and Freeview is free (by the way, moving from BT for landline and Madasafish for Broadband, to Virgin for both for £20 a month, has saved us £10 a month = £120 a year!).

xxx

fbrj

Really glad you finally got the judgement in your favour. Some money back and a great moral victory! Have been following this thread (mostly silently) since it started.

One of the best things I should think is that you can now draw a line under this whole dreadful business (which must have been gnawing away at you both most days) and look back on the related experiences as all being part of the rich tapestry of life......

RabbitMad

EagerLearner wrote: »

COSTS INCURRED BY EVIL LL TO IGNORE US

£470.00 Letting Agent legal fees
£50.00 to counter the judgement
£80 to file her court counter-claim
£187.46 back to us
£80 court fee back to us

TOTAL: £867.46

That's what she paid, to keep our £625 deposit!

I was disappointed with the amount you recovered but now that you put it like that this is a fantastic victory.

All you need to do now is tip of HMRC (If you haven't already) but not just about the evil LL but about her decoraters earning money and not declaring it. You have a written receipt after all!!!!!

Well done

rafraf03

Well Done EL,

Something is better than nothing!