fraudulent money claim...

NCFC

It has come to light that the previous owner of my flat has been renting out my designated parking space to a shared car ownership company for the last 4 years, since I moved in. As people on my street use each others spaces, and I didn't previously have a car, I hadn't been aware of it before. Since discovering this I have contacted the company and told them the space belongs to me. They have now de-registered the space but I want to recoup the money which should have been paid to me (several thousand pounds). They say they paid the monthly rental in good faith to the previous owner and there's nothing they can do. I don't have any contact details for the previous owner, and for data protection purposes they won't release them to me. I've asked them to ask him to contact me, but (surprise, surprise) he hasn't. What's my next move?

BitterAndTwisted

Contact him via his conveyancing solicitor? I have a feeling that you may get nowhere with this but it's always worth speaking to your own solicitor. If you can prove it, he may have committed an offence of misrepresentation or something.

taxsaver

You could also try tracing agents, he won't be hard to find, then you can go at him via small claims in the county court.

MissMoneypenny

Try facebook.

tbs624

See S35(2) of the 1998 DPA, which exempts data from the non-disclosure provisions in those cases where disclosure is necessary:

"for the purpose of, or in connection with, legal proceedings…..or for the purpose of obtaining legal advice, or is otherwise necessary for the purposes of establishing, exercising or defending legal rights".

Get a solicitor's letter sent to the car firm if you think the matter is worth pursuing, suggesting that a Court Order for disclosure will be sought.You may also find it helpful to talk to a your conveyancing solicitor, as B&T has suggested[FONT=&quot]
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It's clearly fraudulent of the previous occupant to represent himself as the ongoing owner of the car parking space but I'm not really sure what "loss" you have personally suffered as for 4 years you seem to have accepted that *someone* was using your space. [FONT=&quot]
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DVardysShadow

tbs624 wrote: »

... It's clearly fraudulent of the previous occupant to represent himself as the ongoing owner of the car parking space but I'm not really sure what "loss" you have personally suffered as for 4 years you seem to have accepted that *someone* was using your space. [FONT=&quot]
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Perhaps I am taking the simple view, the loss is the amount the fraudster made away with.

may_fair

tbs624 wrote: »

It's clearly fraudulent of the previous occupant to represent himself as the ongoing owner of the car parking space but I'm not really sure what "loss" you have personally suffered as for 4 years you seem to have accepted that *someone* was using your space. [FONT=&quot]
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OP says he didn't know about it till recently - perhaps didn't realize he owned a parking space, so I don't think he'd be estopped from claiming against the previous leaseholder.

I agree with DVardysShadow that the loss OP has suffered is the rent the previous, dishonest, leaseholder has been receiving for four years and which would have been paid to OP if the previous leaseholder had told the shared car company that he no longer owned the parking space.

may_fair

taxsaver wrote: »

...then you can go at him via small claims in the county court.

Yes, if the claim is for £5,000 or less. Otherwise, the claim may not be allocated to the small claims track.