Halls fine

Rumman

Massive problems on my hand.

My flat mates have, particular is one has done some damage to the communal area breaking chairs etc, amounting to 1800 quid in fines, about 400 quid each between us. I haven't done any of this damage, and infact hardly used the kitchen. We all signed a form blaming it on the guy who did it, but as he !!!!!!ed off to where he came from and apparently the people who manage the halls say.."he can't defend himself" so we all have to pay the fine, even tho we all agreed to blame it on him.

I'm agrieved by this and not happy at all, the management say its in our contract to pay the fines, but i don't think it covers if someone is not there to defend himself claim the BS there trying to make up.

Any ideas what i can do?

avfc4life

If other more people than just the one you blamed caused the damage then that is unfair. The people who did it should own up and pay. You odviously know who has done the damage and if some of those people are still there then say to them they you arnt paying a penny as you did nothing wrong. Say im not going to tell the management as long as you just pay my payment between you as it was you who did the damage.

I dont know where you stand on this in the eyes of the law but if i were you i wouldnt pay. Its £400 for something you didnt do. Surely they can contact the other bloke who everyone blamed?

Rumman

The problem is the guy has disappeared to where he came from being a foreign student, and apparently the management cant contact him, neither can we, so we have to pay the fine, i think is against the law and the contract.

globalds

Unfortunately it seems what your paying for now is ,not being a very good judge of character.
Be very carefull who you sign joint agreements with .
I think my sympathy has to be with the landlord ...
Maybe you or your mates should have stopped the other guy from doing the damage at the time it was happening.

Rumman

The thing is covered by insurance isnt it? The pricing for breaking of chairs is ridiculos. But how can someone look over someone for breaking something? I didnt choose to live with the guy. Everyone has signed the forms blaming it on the guy. I just don't think its legit by the landlords to do this, they gave forms to blame damage on the people who have done, it is not our problem if they can't contact him as they can't get his money

there must be a loophole somewhere?

Broke_Student

Rumman wrote: »

there must be a loophole somewhere?

There is. You have already seen it in action. Think - how did the student who 'really' done the damage get out of paying? :rotfl:

Broke_Student

The above post wasn't supposed to be a personal attack on you btw lol...

A few questions:
- Can you confirm that you are in halls and not a private house?
- Are they uni run halls or private halls?
- How does the hall actually work? Is there an actual landlord or an office running the complex?

It sounds like the landlord could argue that you all done the damage yourselves and are just blaming this foreign guy as he is now out of contact.

You would get a much bigger response posting on the Uni Accomodation section of thestudentroom.co.uk. People there can give you all sorts of stories and situations they have been in and how things got sorted out.

Rumman

Cheers for that,
Living in halls, private, a complex run it. I see your point over the landlord thing, bah..if i dont pay will they take me to court? or just get blacklisted?

melancholly

I guess the problem is that the company could view it as very convenient that all of you are blaming the one person who has left for the damage....

you said in your original post that 'apparently' the company has said you have to pay for whatever reason - do you have anything in writing from them and have they communicated directly with you?

Blacksheep1979

your contract will probably make you all jointly and severably liable which basically boils down to whoever the landlord can find he can take to court for it. Did you rent the property together or were you all allocated randomly? Also have a look at your tennancy agreement if its not joint with the other tennants and if it doesn't state jointly and severably liable for rent/damages I'd try persuade everyone to tell the landlord/management company to take a running jump.

They may threaten you with legal action, but if they can't prove you did the damage then you stand some chance. The upshot if you lose is you will have to pay court fees - about 10% more ontop of whats being claimed. If you pay it within a couple of weeks you won't get a ccj or any 'black mark' on your credit record.

Ytaya

What does your contract say about liability for damage to the flat? Are you classed as being 'jointly and severally' liable for damage to communal areas? If so, I'm afraid they're within their rights to get the money off any of the people living in the flat.