Please help re flat deposit

EagerLearner

liz545 wrote:

The court deems them to be served I think 5 working days after you file your papers - i.e. you file on the 1st Sept and they're deemed to be served by the 8th allowing for the weekend. They then have 10 working days to respond, if they haven't filed an acknowledgement or a defence by this time they default. However, the onus is on you to ask for a default - if the deadline was the 8th, but they file on the 12th they're still ok if you haven't asked for a default IYSWIM.

You can still negotiate after this period - basically, all the way to the courthouse door, and drop your case if you reach a settlement.
Our LL tried to stave off the action by giving us a 'settlement' cheque (against our expressed wishes) for 1/2 the sum; but then screwed up by telling us not to cash it, as he was countersuing! If you do reach a settlement, don't withdraw your suit until you've actually cashed the cheque.
HTH!

Hmmm - we filed on 29th so is the deadline 7th September?

How will we know if she has answered within 10 days and when we should ask for a default?

Mrs_pbradley936

You will be notified by the court if she asks for an extention or files a defence or a counter-claim.

Mrs_pbradley936

If you do not hear, DO NOTHING just wait and see.

EagerLearner

Hi Pbradley - Liz said earlier:

"They then have 10 working days to respond, if they haven't filed an acknowledgement or a defence by this time they default. However, the onus is on you to ask for a default - if the deadline was the 8th, but they file on the 12th they're still ok if you haven't asked for a default IYSWIM. "

This goes against what you said about doing nothing, I think...?

Mrs_pbradley936

No, no, you have misunderstood - I mean you do nothing for a few days. We want her to ignore the court really because then you win without having to do anything else. I meant do nothing to jog her memory if the deadline come and goes then you ask the court for a default judgement.

EagerLearner

pbradley936 wrote:

No, no, you have misunderstood - I mean you do nothing for a few days. We want her to ignore the court really because then you win without having to do anything else. I meant do nothing to jog her memory if the deadline come and goes then you ask the court for a default judgement.

Aaaah - makes more sense now... well the letter from the court came today when we got in from work saying it's been served (unless she gets up to he tricks and refuses it or something).

She has until 14th September to reply anyway, so we will see how it goes...

xxx

redmandarin

Firstly, I just want to say that I have been reading this thread all day at work (when I should have been working)!
Well done, EagerLearner, I'm so proud of you for being strong and hanging in there and well done on the recent excellent news in finding the real address of your former landlord and for serving the court papers! :T
I'm also proud of all those who've given such great advice on this thread! Well done, you lot! :beer:

clutton wrote:

AM I GLAD you have found the b*ggar !!!!!!!!!
PLEASE DON'T FOREWARN HER - you are still playing the "nice guy" here - just give the court her actual address, let them do what they have to do. Don't give her the chance to be "gone away" again. IF she tries this "gone away" number again by returning court documents to a court, and you can categorically prove she lives there, she will have landed herself in even more doo-doo.
Have a great weekend !!!

Secondly, what a nice landlord you are clutton - got any flats to rent at the moment?

clutton wrote:

there is a website called https://www.lunaticlandlords.co.uk on which some less than perfect landlords names and addresses are published to warn other tenants NOT to go there

i shall say NO more !!!

And finally, Eagerlearner, I think clutton meant that you should PUT HER ON IT! (please forgive me clutton, if I'm incorrect in my assumption here!) So go on EL, whatya waiting for?
Good luck and keep us posted - we're all thinking of you!

Ps. I was once advised (unofficially) by a housing advisor at my local council, to keep the last month's rent in lieu of my deposit, as the council has to deal with so many complaints about landlords who refuse to pay back deposits! I'm looking for a new flat at the moment - guess what I'm going to do?

redmandarin

Whoohoo, I've just been awarded two stars!! A glass of celebratory wine is in order, me thinks! Cheers! :beer:

EagerLearner

redmandarin wrote:

Ps. I was once advised (unofficially) by a housing advisor at my local council, to keep the last month's rent in lieu of my deposit, as the council has to deal with so many complaints about landlords who refuse to pay back deposits! I'm looking for a new flat at the moment - guess what I'm going to do?

Thanks for sticking with me and reading the post through - a long way we've all come together, and hopefully in the next 2 weeks we will see where the remainder of this unfortunate segment of time is going!

Re: retaining the rent, we would only do that if we had been letting privately AND had a really hard time with the landlord. In our case having used a letting agent, we would have breached our contract by not paying the agent the last month's rent and we did not want to mess up our good payment record... plus we NEVER imagined the landlady would try on such ludicrous costs, especially when she asked US to leave so that she could avoid paying agency fees. And we then allowed her to install a bathroom for 3 weeks when she should have done that after we left! We did everything we could and yet she is trying to fleece us - just goes to show being nice doesn't always work.:rolleyes:

Mind you, I don't know how else we could have handled things - she wouldn't have returned our money anyway.

Well done on your 2nd star!!!

liz545

redmandarin wrote:

Ps. I was once advised (unofficially) by a housing advisor at my local council, to keep the last month's rent in lieu of my deposit, as the council has to deal with so many complaints about landlords who refuse to pay back deposits! I'm looking for a new flat at the moment - guess what I'm going to do?

See, I still wouldn't've done that. I didn't expect our ex LL to make such outrageous claims, but if I'd witheld the last month's rent I would have been in breach of contract, and I had to provide references to my new LL. Acting illegally in this way only makes LL's more likely to treat tenants badly. Or am I just too honest?