Disrepair in Rental

BlueBlond

Can an ex-tenant sue for the length of time it took for repairs to be carried out back when she was a tenant? What is a reasonable length of time?

She is threatening us with court action over repairs unless we drop our claim on her desposit for a lot of damage.

arcon5

A tenant can claim for an abatement of rent if you took unreasonable time to perform repairs.

Reasonable is a very ambiguous term though and it would also depend highly on the particular repair in question. If for example you took 8 weeks to repair a boiler therefore leaving the tenants withotut essential utilities they would have a case.

If you can prove to a court you acted reasonably and within a reasonable time frame they wouldn't have much of a case. As said before though, it would highly depend on the repair in question.


If you post more information the quality of responses may be much better..

Also... somebody may correct me here, don't take my word for it.. but I THINK this type of claim would have to be put on a fast track claim, much riskier than a small claims action as if the claimant looses you can counter sue for your expenses, solicitors fees for example. So unless your tenant had a solid case you should remind them of this.

I assume the deposit is protected yes? If you feel your deductions are reasonable then simply submit your evidence to the alternate resolution service and let them decide.

fluffnutter

You could also try the house buying, renting and selling board. They're pretty good there, although arcon5 seems to know what he's talking about. I don't! Not a clue, me!

BlueBlond

Thanks, fluffnutter, I hadn't found that thread.

And thanks acron for that comprehensive reply. Can she claim for an abatement of rent six months after the repair was done and when she's no longer paying any rent to abate?

It sounds as though a reasonable length of time would have to be determined by the court. She considerably delayed the time it took by not responding to phone messages, emails and even a house call as we tried to arrange a time to complete the work but we do have evidence of that (and so does our letting agent which was responsible for maintenance).

Yes, the deposit is protected and neither of us can touch it at the moment, it has gone to arbitration. We were told if we didn't accept an offer of about a fifth of the damages, she'd sue over the repair. I think this might constitute a vexatious claim but I'm also not sure she'd go through with it.

arcon5

If you have evidence that you made repeated attempts to perform the work then I don't see how they could possibly win a case.

Do you know how she stands financially? She could file a claim for your failing to carry out maintenance/repair work in accordance with Landlord & Tenants Act. I believe this would be put on the fast track which costs about £150 to file + legal costs.

It may well be that she knows the DPS scheme will side with you so she is using scare tactics to get you to pull her claim. Particularly if she is court short after moving house (which isn't cheap).

My advise would be to simply ignore her and allow the DRS to decide if your being fair or not. But you haven't mentioned what the repair is yet? Although I can't imagine it being that severe if she didn't allow you access.

BlueBlond

I haven't wanted to say what the repair is because I don't want to be identifiable but I appreciate that makes your task harder! The repair was to her bedroom, but she did have another (spare) bedroom which she was choosing not to use so I can't think we were making her life that unbearable.

It did take time for us/the letting agent to get quotes for the work, the tradesmen didn't seem all that keen or organised. It was after we'd given the go-head that she was preventing it going forwards herself. Oddly we were chasing her up to find out what stage it was at, rather than the other way round and she didn't seem very bothered. Except that apparently she did take photos to use against us later. If she brings a fast-track case, what might her legal costs be?

I honestly think she'd have been better off accepting our offer for the damage than letting it go to adjudication... but her choice.

arcon5

A rent abatement can usually only be persued where the failure to repair has caused disruption or they've not had access to some facilities, which is why I used the boiler example. If the tenant had "spare" facilities they could use then I can't imagine them having a case.
If however the bedroom wasn't "spare" and somebody was living in it, they could argue your failure to repair was disruptive and they shouldn't be liable to the full rent.

How much are solicitors fees? How longs a piece of string? If the defendant end up having to pay the fees, they will be much more than if their client was paying them.

I really don't think you have anything to worry about.

BlueBlond

Thanks, arcon 7, you have really helped put my mind at rest. No-one was living in the spare bedroom.

BlueBlond

I found this on the Shelter website:

There is a special procedure, which must be followed in all disrepair cases, called the pre-action protocol. You must serve a legal notice on your landlord. The notice must:

• explain what the disrepair problem is
• give the landlord 21 days to put the problem right
• state that if the landlord doesn't put the problem right within that time, you intend to take them to court.

If, after the 21 days are up, your landlord still hasn't put the problem right, you can apply to the magistrate's court.

It seems to suggest that you can't take the legal action once the repairs are done and you're no longer a tenant.

arcon5

They can still sue under section 11 of Landlords & Tenants Act or (I think) section 4 of Defective Premises Act 1972

It also states the following, which would act in your favour:

it shall be a defence for the lessor to prove that he used all reasonable endeavours to obtain, but was unable to obtain, such rights as would be adequate to enable him to carry out the works or repairs.

DVardysShadow

BlueBlond wrote: »

I found this on the Shelter website:

There is a special procedure, which must be followed in all disrepair cases, called the pre-action protocol. You must serve a legal notice on your landlord. The notice must:

• explain what the disrepair problem is
• give the landlord 21 days to put the problem right
• state that if the landlord doesn't put the problem right within that time, you intend to take them to court.

If, after the 21 days are up, your landlord still hasn't put the problem right, you can apply to the magistrate's court.

It seems to suggest that you can't take the legal action once the repairs are done and you're no longer a tenant.

This looks like a procedure to force LL to do repairs. It does not preclude suing LL for damages after the tenancy is finished.