Help - Landlord threating us

Annisele

kitty_and_gucci_2008 wrote: »

We have never been in this situation before so i have a number of questions......
We did not provide her with a forwarding address so wonder how she go it?

At this stage I don't think that really matters.

If we successfully defend the case or lose does the ccj stay on our credit file?

If you win, then nothing goes on your credit file. If you lose, *and* you don't pay damages within the time specified by the court, then the CCJ will go onto your credit record. (I think you normally get 28 days, but I'm not certain about that).

What will happen at court?, as I will be defending us as we cant afford to pay for legal advice and we have all the evidence.

CAB publishes some information about the small claims track here.

In essence, the judge will look at your evidence and hers, and decide who he believes. She says you are lying, you say she is lying - so he'll look at the documentary evidence, and listen to what you both say.

I'm afraid that on the face of it it doesn't sound as though you did yourself any favours. You left mid-contract, without obtaining your landlord's written consent to end the tenancy, and without leaving your landlord a forwarding address. On balance - that sounds to me like you did a flit.

I appreciate that you might not have actually done a flit, but when you are preparing your defence you will need to think about what your actions might look like to an unrelated third party who wasn't there at the time (i.e. the judge). For example, given that you knew your landlord wasn't the most reliable person, it does sound odd that you didn't insist on all dealings being in writing.

Will we have to pay the full amount even if she rents out the property before June 2011 when the tenancy ends?

Possibly - depends on what the judge decides.

kitty_and_gucci_2008

Hi All,

Further update - we went to court and the judge favoured the landlord. We had until the end of July to pay the ccj £3k, however we tried to appeal but it was rejected. Today a letter addressed to ourselves from the landlord was hand posted through the door this afternoon (with a totally incorrect address) stating full payment within 7 days to the landlord or else failure to do so will result in further enforcement action been taken. When I got back there was a chap (potentially the landlords husband as we had bother with him also) outside of our flat in his car watching me get into our flat. My wife also seen him post the letter through the door and waited couple of hours until my husband came back from work.

What I want to know is what further enforcement may she take.

We are in the process of saving up for our bankruptcy fees and will be going bankrupt in september, thanks

patman99

If you go b/r that will scupper them. They won't get a penny.

paddyrg

Further enforcement action would presumably be asking the court to appoint bailiffs to enforce the debt from your belongings. You could always advise the LL that you are filing for bankruptcy and so she may as well save her time and money, but it may mean she tries to accelerate things.

N79

kitty_and_gucci_2008 wrote: »

We are in the process of saving up for our bankruptcy fees and will be going bankrupt in september, thanks

If you're really lucky the LL will force you into bankruptcy and you will save the fees. Their other options are:

1. A deduction of earnings order where the court will order your and / or your partners employer to pay a fixed amount to the LL each month until the debt is cleared. This will be deducted by your employer "at source".

2. They may request the court to seize and sell any belongings (eg cars, furniture, toys etc) belonging to you our your partner. These will be sold at action. If there is any debt remaining then the LL can pursue further action. If this option is used then you can ask the court to exempt any "tools of your trade" which are used by either you or your partner in the course of their job (eg if you were a plumber then you could ask the courts to exempt your tools).

3. The court may order you to pay a fixed amount each month, if you tell the court you are unable to pay the full amount in one go.

4. If you own any property (flats, houses, land etc) then the court can award a charging order against it, meaning that when you sell the property your LL would be paid from the proceeds of the sale before you receive any money. It is even possible for your LL to apply to have such property sold immediately to cover the debts, but this is very unlikely for the small amount here.

Ideally, your first move should be to discuss a reasonable payment plan with the LL. You will need to look at your income and outgoings, prioritising your housing, food and utilities and then making a reasonable offer to your LL in line with any offers you make to other creditors. If you can not do this, then you should inform the court that you are unable to pay due and you should request the court create an affordable payment plan (this could be as low as GBP5 per week if that is all you can afford). The court will then look at your income and outgoings and will decide on a reasonable amount to repay.

donnap83

Out of curiousity, on what grounds did you lose? Did you have written evidence etc of all the problems?

vincentt

kitty_and_gucci_2008 wrote: »

Hi All,

Further update - we went to court and the judge favoured the landlord. We had until the end of July to pay the ccj £3k, however we tried to appeal but it was rejected. Today a letter addressed to ourselves from the landlord was hand posted through the door this afternoon (with a totally incorrect address) stating full payment within 7 days to the landlord or else failure to do so will result in further enforcement action been taken. When I got back there was a chap (potentially the landlords husband as we had bother with him also) outside of our flat in his car watching me get into our flat. My wife also seen him post the letter through the door and waited couple of hours until my husband came back from work.

What I want to know is what further enforcement may she take.

We are in the process of saving up for our bankruptcy fees and will be going bankrupt in september, thanks

I have just read a little about your story and i really feel for you and your family. its disgusting how some landlords treat their tenants. i am potentially going to become a land lord and i am going to do it right!

kitty_and_gucci_2008

vincentt wrote: »

I have just read a little about your story and i really feel for you and your family. its disgusting how some landlords treat their tenants. i am potentially going to become a land lord and i am going to do it right!

thank you, times are really stressfull at the moment but were confident we can get through this, thanks.

patman99

Out of interest, did the LL ever pay you for fixing the leaking bath?.

As the LL put you and your family's life in danger with the shower, I wonder what the response would be if you started actions against HER for failing to comply with safety legislation in relation to a rented property. I am assuming that such a property has to have some kind of certification in respect of gas and electrical installations.
If so, then the point could be argued that as said shower was deemed by a competent person (the sparky who turned-up to fix it) to be dangerous due to the fact that the shower unit was too powerful for the wiring and had no RCD. This in turn would put anyone using it at risk from electric shock and the house itself at risk from fire caused by over-loaded electrical circuitry.

Might be worth getting a free half-hour with a solicitor. I bet if he agreed, the £3k the LL is claiming off you would pale into insugnificance compared to the damages you would be awarded.
Could be a useful tool to get the lying c0w to drop her claim.

real1314

This is a classic exaample of people who have a complaint and think they can just make up their own rules on how to deal with it findding out that the law does not often side with them.

It doesn't matter if it's a tenant or a landlord, if you don't act within the law it will probably cost you money.

The OP defaulted on a contract. They clearly did not follow shelter'ss or anyone else's advice, despite it being given on here.

It would be a useful case to use as an example of what not to do. :cool: