County Court Claim against unreasonable deposit charges

N79

anyarella wrote: »

Would I have to be personally present for the hearing?
What do you mean by 'virtual' as the amount in my case will be less that £5000.

Virtual as in it will just happen without the need for a hearing.

anyarella wrote: »

I have two addresses for LL,business address as LL has a company which rents out properties and a personal one. Would then the claim be addressed against the legal entity or LL as a private person, or it doesn't play into this?

Which in your opinion is better? Would it affect the manner of my claim? Could I also e-mail LL the lba, as well as sending it?

You need to sue whoever is your LL, the person or the company. It should say which is your LL on your tenancy agreement. Get it wrong and you wont have a case.

You can email the LBA, so long as you respect the "as well as"!

anyarella

The Company is the LL. From what I gather it doesn't make a difference to my claim. Still the same N1 form applies?

anyarella

What effect if any does a county court claim awarded in the tenants favor, has on LL and their business, if they are portfolio LL's for examples?

neverdespairgirl

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Aha! Is there any particular reason for going down the County Court route rather than the Small Claims?

One County Court, different tracks. So there's small claims, fast track, and multi-track. Different size & complexity of claims, different costs rules, etc

N79

anyarella wrote: »

The Company is the LL. From what I gather it doesn't make a difference to my claim. Still the same N1 form applies?

Yes

anyarella wrote: »

What effect if any does a county court claim awarded in the tenants favor, has on LL and their business, if they are portfolio LL's for examples?

None at all really beyond the cost of paying whatever the court awards.

anyarella

I wanted to write to the landlord first, to show and explain my disagreement about the deduction charges. Is it worth doing that, or should I include those reasons in the letter before action?

Can anyone help with regards to what reasons I cite for:

a) deducting admin charge for dealing with my utility companies at £100 per company x3
b) dented armrest (fair wear and tear/the fact it is clearly repairable, the sofa works perfectly fine and a little foam in the armrest is all it would take to fix) or the fact that the inventory which I signed does not state the condition of the sofa.

sequence

A dent in a sofa is not fair wear.

anyarella

sequence wrote: »

A dent in a sofa is not fair wear.

The sofa arm had a slight dent when moved in but can't prove it, nor can LL prove sofa's perfect condition. several apartment have been fitted with same sofa, 3 years before tenancy begun, and all sofas have had same arm rest problems. Couldn't that be argued as 'wear and tear' due to items condition and age?

If I can't use this argument, do you have other suggestions?

BitterAndTwisted

In your "Letter Before Action" I would dispute the deductions of £100 each for the utility companies as "unreasonable". No-one's time is that precious for making a five-minute phone-call, save high-class hookers or a barrister.

Claim that the alleged damage to the sofa arm was "fair wear and tear" in your opinion, especially as the thing was showing some damage when you started your tenancy. I would say that the onus of proof is on the LL, with either a fully-accurate inventory or dated photographs.

AnnaV

sequence wrote: »

A dent in a sofa is not fair wear.

i *think* from reading the post that the OP means the arm rest is a bit sunken, rather than dented, which would be fair wear and tear, as it arises from the intended use of the sofa arm (resting one's arm on).