Withholding Rent

jamie11

BigAunty wrote: »

By whom?.....

The bloke down the pub, who else?

DaftyDuck

Thomas3 wrote: »

An adviser at my local Citizen Advice Bureau.

They were wrong or, more likely, you misunderstood...

Even with my limited legal knowledge I am sure you are going to lose on all counts, and lose fast, painfully, and heavily. Take the advice of those on here who DO know their legal ar5e from their elbow, and you might just save yourself from a CCJ. I doubt you'll save much more.

ihatemyhouse

so let me get this straight,

the LL had work done in flat, something got damaged, you claimed for damages and with held £500 in case you won, so now you owe £825 so he Is evicting you

what will happen if the first case you lose, can you pay him his money

Thomas3

BigAunty wrote: »

Did you know this before this solicitor quoted his huge initial and extended fee?

No, and he wanted further £200 but I refused since he did not want to provide a receipt for the paid £300.

moneyistooshorttomention

hmmm...adviser at local CAB....places like that lost all credibility with me the day (many years back now) where an "adviser" breached my confidentiality about an issue..

...or was it the time subsequently where they didn't know as much as I did about just how much Dole Money I was due for one of the times I was unemployed?

:think: and, ever since then, I haven't bothered with asking CAB's for advice EVER about ANYTHING....just in case of two more advisors like that.

Boils down to...do NOT bother to take anything an "advisor" there says seriously about anything just in case they haven't improved since then...:cool:

BigAunty

Thomas3 wrote: »

An adviser at my local Citizen Advice Bureau.

Did they give you any written evidence to support this claim? As far as I am concerned, they are talking out of their butthole and their poor advice has helped get you evicted. I bet nowhere on the CAB website does it recommend witholding rent.

Shelter provide expert advice to housing tenants and they make it clear that the practice of witholding rent is a total no-no, except for a specific instance with a set procedure relating to a landlord's failure to address repairs. They are at pains to stress that a tenant must always continue to pay their rent or they face eviction.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repairs_and_bad_conditions/disrepair_in_rented_accommodation/dealing_with_disrepair#take_action_if_repairs_are_not_done

Do not withhold rent – if you fall into rent arrears, you may be evicted.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repairs_and_bad_conditions/disrepair_in_rented_accommodation/repairs_in_private_lets/tenants_doing_repairs

Tenants do not have the right to withhold rent, and most tenants can be evicted if rent arrears build up, regardless of why the rent arrears exist.

Thomas3

ihatemyhouse wrote: »

so let me get this straight,

the LL had work done in flat, something got damaged, you claimed for damages and with held £500 in case you won, so now you owe £825 so he Is evicting you

No, I have have not won the case but I do not understand why the court prefer to proceed in priority with the landlord claim for possession while I made my claim at least a month before.

ihatemyhouse wrote: »

what will happen if the first case you lose, can you pay him his money

I strongly believe that I could find an income in the next two months.

Kynthia

If the amount of money you have withheld is less than 2 months rent then the S8 is discretionary and the judge will make a choice whether the situation is bad enough to end your tenancy. I very much doubt that the judge will here a counterclaim on what the withheld monies is for and award it to you as it's a possession hearing and the only decision the judge will make is whether to grant the landlord possession and end your tenancy.

Unless the landlord made a mistake in the paperwork of the S21 it will be successful and you will need to move out. So you should start finding somewhere else to live.

The landlord will be able to claim the unpaid rent from your deposit and you will not successfully defend this as the deposit protection scheme it is with is not there to decide if the landlord owes you money for other reasons.

If you feel the landlord owes you money then sue him. You are living at the property and therefore legally owe rent. By withholding rent you have caused yourself to be in arrears and now will be forced to move out. Whoever you say gave you that advice gave you bad advice. The issue is completely separate from your rent. I cant believe that a court hadn't even decided you were correct, the landlord did owe you for damage, and decide that the amount awarded was £500 before you decided to help yourself to money that was owed to the landlord.

G_M

Thomas3 wrote: »

.... I do not understand why the court prefer to proceed in priority with the landlord claim for possession while I made my claim at least a month before.

The two cases are entirely separate, may be held in different courts or Chambers, by different judges, and will progress at different speeds.

As explained above, you may be evicted via the S21 orS8, and later you may win/ or lose, you damages claim which is unrelated.

But what will be the case if the section 8 is not valid?

You have still not explained which S8 ground(8?10? 11?) is being used, commenting on its validity is impossible.

Overall,you are digging yourself into a hole- and it is getting deeper.

Thomas3

G_M wrote: »

You have still not explained which S8 ground(8?10? 11?) is being used, commenting on its validity is impossible.

Overall,you are digging yourself into a hole- and it is getting deeper.

On the possession claim it said section 8 upon grounds 8, 10 and 11.

However, on the notice sent by landlord, it is just Section 21. Is it right to send a section 21 only but later to add section 8 on the claim for possession?