DPS single claim arbitration problem

SurreyChris

Sorry, this is a bit of a weird question but my brother's having problems with DPS arbitration and hopefully someone on here might know what to do. I'm afraid it's a bit of a long story.

My brother rented a flat on an AST with two others. The landlord was rather strange and after 18 months they moved out last October. Due to threatening behaviour from the landlord they wouldn't give a new home address to the landlord (but did to the DPS) and offered the letting agent and a solicitor (with their agreement) as a forwarding address. I assume this is as reasonable as a landlord giving an address for service.

The landlord protected the £1350 deposit after they moved out (and after they had instructed a solicitor) so trying to claim three times the deposit using the court with the solicitor looked risky and my brother won't go through with it.

The landlord initially claimed there was about £2300 damage and used a mass of contradictory receipts. From what my brother's said and looking at the receipts maybe £300-400 of this could be genuine and say £250 for professional cleaning on top of that. Much of the rest was highly dubious. Examples include £314 for cleaning finger marks from a blind, no allowance for wear and tear, receipts from companies that aren't registered with Companies House and with VAT registration numbers that appear to be fake.

The landlord has now followed the single claim route (despite having two forwarding addresses) and according to the letter from the DPS the basis of the claim is “Dilapidations.” There aren't any more details of what the landlord is claiming and no copy of his Statutory Declaration. .

According to this letter and a couple of phone calls, if my brother wants to challenge this claim and use the Adjudicator he only had 14 days to reply (7 now) and has to send any reasons and supporting documentary evidence with the form.

I don't see how we can put up any defence in if the DPS won't tell us what damage has been caused (beyond dilapidation) or show us the 'evidence' the landlord has submitted. For all we know the landlord could be claiming that my brother kept a herd of zebras in the flat and he would have no reason to deny it in the form! We'd also like the chance to see if any of the receipts are obviously faked.

If this was settled in a civil court we'd get to see the evidence against him so surely the adjudicator should allow this.

Any advice?

Chris

clutton_2

arbitration is a very different process to a county court..... the aribiters go on the evidence presented to them and so each party must present their own evidence and the arbiters assess it all.

however.... deposit protection schemes work on the basis that the deposit belongs to the tenant and that it is up to the LL to prove that he has legitimate deductions, rather than the tenant having to prove they did not cause damage or rent arrears.....

if you are in any way scared that you will lose the case, you have the option to refuse to enter into the ARbitration process and then you must take the LL to court... but ... getting a judgement successfully and then getting money out of a determined individual are two VERY different things...

i suggest you read Eagerlearners thread on here re getting a deposit back from a really akward landlord... you will learn how tricky it is

at least with arbitration the decision is made and funds are released...

it is a long time since i challenged a DPS arbiter.. but i think i recall seeing the tenants defence... why not phone them and find out

SurreyChris

Thanks Clutton,

I agree it would be better settled through arbitration. I'm just amazed that if the landlord claims he can't contact the tenant and goes the single claim route then the tenant doesn't get to see the details of the landlord's accusations or the evidence he submits.

I'm just after any advice on how to respond as 'dilapidations' is impossibly vague to defend against. I understood that if you went the normal route they told you the reasons behind the deductions. It seems incredible that a statutory declaration can be withheld from the person it is accusing.

If it was me I'd take it to court and try to get the copy of the landlord's SD through the data protection act or the civil procedure rules but my brother has too much going on in his life to do that.

clutton_2

the crux of any successful case is being able to prove condition on move-in... if tenants did not sign a move-in inventory then the LL will find it very difficult to prove condition on move in (he could use receipts from workmen to show works done) - and if no condition is proved on move-in then how will a LL prove that the tenant did the alleged damage during the tenancy?

most inventories are signed on move in by LL and tenant.. do you have this ? do you have photographs ? altho some arbiters pay little heed to photos...

SurreyChris

In the paperwork there's an inventory by the landlord that claims every single thing in the flat is brand new on moving in. Someone's name is crossed out with my brother's name above it and a signature on the same line as the original. I'll check in the morning but it doesn't look like his signature.

The landlord has sent plenty of tradesmen's receipts to argue his case in the past. Some of the receipts we saw before it went to the DPS are clearly dubious. Some are from a company the LL's son owns, some are from companies that don't exist (not registered with companies house and the vat registration number on the receipt doesn't link to any company currently or recently trading)

SurreyChris

I should add that some of the receipts are for damage that my brother is aware that existed and they check out fine.

clutton_2

i would take this to small claims court if it was me....

N79

clutton wrote: »

i would take this to small claims court if it was me....

I agree - arbitrtation is a paperwork exercise and will not effectively deal with a downright fraudulant LL - the process just can't test claims of truth / falsehood.

If you present your case to a judge then they are very likely to see through your LL.

Let the DPS know that you are going to court and they will keep the deposit on hold until the court decides what will happen to it. This means you avoid the problem of enforcing a judgement against the LL as the DPS will just release the money to you if you have a judgement in your favour.

SurreyChris

Thanks guys, I'll advise him to do that.