Court claim form (renting)

Olympic08

I had dispute with my ex-lodger. As agreed all my lodgersneed to give me one month’ notice. However one of my lodger found her own flatand wanted to move out immediately (one week’s notice) and get her depositback. I didn’t agree initially, however at last we agreed I gave her depositback and deducted her bills. She moved out with her deposit. Three days later Ireceived her Court Claim Form and requested her money (more than her deposit)back. We didn’t have any agreement and I didn’t ask a receipt when I gave hermoney back. She spelled my name wrongly in the Claim Form. I want to defendmyself however it is not under my name how should I defend somebody else. Can Iignore it or send the form back saying ‘ it is undelivered’.
Thanks in advance.

G_M

No - do not ignore. It may well go to court whether you respond or not.

More info needed:

* who owns the property? Who is the landlord? Whose name is on the lodger agreement? Whose name " is it under" (I'm not clear what this means - the court documents?)
* why on earth did you hand over cash (deposit) without getting a receipt?! Was there a witness? Or was it a (traceable) cheque?
* What is she claiming exactly? You say it is more than the deposit? Why and what?

My guess is that you can
* counter-claim for the difference in rent between the week's notice she gave and the month that was required (I assume that is written into the lodger agreement/contract?)
* defend the claim for other deductions you made ie bills (you'll need evidence ie bills themselves and the Lodger agreement that specifies what bills are payable by the lodger)
* defend the claim for whatever else she is apparantly claiming but which you have not told us

BitterAndTwisted

DO NOT IGNORE! If you don't issue a counter-claim of your own or don't attend court you could find a judgement made against you in your absence.

If you paid this ex-lodger the balance of the deposit in cash do you have an ATM slip showing the money being withdrawn if you don't have a witness to confirm you handed the cash over?

It's not easy to enforce a month's notice from a lodger if they didn't sign a formal lodger's agreement with you. If you wanted to get shot of them I daresay you wouldn't want them in your home being objectionable while they served out the notice.

rentergirl

Don't ignore and get some proper legal advice. Small claims courts are not half as scary as they sound: organise and bring along your documents and any emails printed out.

Emmzi

the fact she has spelled your name wrong is a trivial error and will not be grounds for the court to strike out the claim.

Olympic08

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

DO NOT IGNORE! If you don't issue a counter-claim of your own or don't attend court you could find a judgement made against you in your absence.

If you paid this ex-lodger the balance of the deposit in cash do you have an ATM slip showing the money being withdrawn if you don't have a witness to confirm you handed the cash over?

It's not easy to enforce a month's notice from a lodger if they didn't sign a formal lodger's agreement with you. If you wanted to get shot of them I daresay you wouldn't want them in your home being objectionable while they served out the notice.

Yes, I have ATM slips showing the money being withdrawn. We didn't have any problem till she wanted to move out immediately and I reminded her that she needed to give me one month notice.

BitterAndTwisted

Of course you didn't have a problem until they thought they were getting all of their money back and you wouldn't return it. It's entirely possible that your ex-lodger is just flying a kite in order to scare you. Don't be scared and definitely do not be intimidated by a-holes. Especially aggrieved a-holes with an axe to grind. Protect that ATM slip with your life. Was there any discussion about you retaining part of their deposit in lieu of notice by email or in writing at any point?

Olympic08

G_M wrote: »

No - do not ignore. It may well go to court whether you respond or not.

More info needed:

* who owns the property? Who is the landlord? Whose name is on the lodger agreement? Whose name " is it under" (I'm not clear what this means - the court documents?)
* why on earth did you hand over cash (deposit) without getting a receipt?! Was there a witness? Or was it a (traceable) cheque?
* What is she claiming exactly? You say it is more than the deposit? Why and what?

My guess is that you can
* counter-claim for the difference in rent between the week's notice she gave and the month that was required (I assume that is written into the lodger agreement/contract?)
* defend the claim for other deductions you made ie bills (you'll need evidence ie bills themselves and the Lodger agreement that specifies what bills are payable by the lodger)
* defend the claim for whatever else she is apparantly claiming but which you have not told us

I own the property and I'm the landlord. The problem is we didn't have any written agreement.
All of my lodgers pay me one month deposit and one month rent and need to give me one month notice. She paid £368 deposit. Now she claims £400 deposit. I paid her £330 (deducted bills she agreed) when she moved out. I have ATM slips show the amount I withdrawed.

DVardysShadow

Olympic08 wrote: »

I own the property and I'm the landlord. The problem is we didn't have any written agreement.
All of my lodgers pay me one month deposit and one month rent and need to give me one month notice. She paid £368 deposit. Now she claims £400 deposit. I paid her £330 (deducted bills she agreed) when she moved out. I have ATM slips show the amount I withdrawed.

Does she even have a reciept for the deposit???????

As you took £368, you would not be stoopid enough to issue a receipt for £400 - you would only give a reciept for £368. I hope. Although you were daft enough to give the deposit back as cash and not take a reciept - learn that lesson for the future ....

This false claim as to the amount of the deposit says to me that she is bluffing. And if you let it go to court, she will not be able to produce a receipt.

BitterAndTwisted

Did you have any proof of what the deposit amount was that you received from her?

In the first instance, before you issue your counter-claim, I would write a nice letter to her. A nice letter which you would be happy to have the court see as part of your defence. Something along the lines of:

"When I advertised the room to rent I made it quite clear that a deposit of £368 (equivalent to x week's of rent) was payable and that I would require one month's notice for you to leave. When you viewed the room I reiterated those conditions so I quite reasonably believed that you were aware that I would need a month's notice and did not disagree with that condition. When you later signified your intention to leave you only gave me one week's notice so I felt it was perfectly reasonable to retain the equivalent of three week's rent in lieu from your deposit. You appeared to be content with that solution when I returned the balance of the deposit minus monies for the utility bills to you in cash on your last day. I am dismayed to find that you now appear to feel that I have acted unfairly and unreasonably and without further contact have issued a court summons. Which I fully intend to contest when I am given the opportunity to in court."

I suspect after a letter like that you will not hear another word from her. It doesn't cost much to issue a summons and she obviously feels that you can be intimidated or beaten into submission.. Do not comply.

Olympic08

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Of course you didn't have a problem until they thought they were getting all of their money back and you wouldn't return it. It's entirely possible that your ex-lodger is just flying a kite in order to scare you. Don't be scared and definitely do not be intimidated by a-holes. Especially aggrieved a-holes with an axe to grind. Protect that ATM slip with your life. Was there any discussion about you retaining part of their deposit in lieu of notice by email or in writing at any point?

No. Unfortunately we don't have any written document. We had discussion about retaining part of deposit for bills. She agreed to deduct the amount for bills rather than paying exactly bills later.