Advice / help neede for Small Claims Court claim / counterclaim

Carlos0371

Hi all, looking for some "expert" advice here.

I paid £800 into an incorrect bank account April last year. The recipient was on my previous payee list as I had made a payment or 2 to him in the past (he was my partner's ex-Landlord).

I went through my Bank to get my money back to no avail (he refused to refund). I made a claim through the small claims Court using MoneyClaim Online.

Defendant refuted the claim, making a counterclaim saying I (and my partner) owed him back rent (from way before my partner and I even met) and additional fees for cleaning / redecorating when we left the old house.

Important to note, the previous tenancy was between him and my partner, I was not on the tenancy agreement.

Although he filed a defence and counterclaim, he did not pay the fee, and neither did he return his Directions Questionnaire in time, even after being given an additional 14 days after the expiration of the initial 14 days to do so (don't ask me why he was given extra time).

In November his defence was struck out and I applied to have the Judgement made in my favour. Judgement was made in December 2014.

Defendant has now employed a solicitor and has had the Judgement "set aside". His solicitor has mailed me and included a "Draft Order" which is a massively protracted period of time for statements, disclosures etc., culminating in requesting a trial date after 15th September 2015.

Now I have tried to get legal advice, but no-one wants to help me. I cannot afford a solicitor, but neither do I qualify for Legal Aid. I understand that legal costs cannot be claimed back anyway.

My questions are:
a) Is there anyone that will take a case like this on where I will still come out of it with at least some of my money back,
b) If legal costs cannot be claimed, why doesn't he just pay the money back and move on (i.e. can he claim legal costs for defending the claim?).
c) I am at the end of my tether with this, obviously we had to pay our current Landlord the rent we owed after this mistake, and he was extremely understanding, allowing us to pay him back over 6 months (I know I am very lucky with this), but this is really putting a strain on me with worrying about it, especially now solicitors are involved.

Thanks for any help / advice.

bris

No one will take this on for free, there is simply nothing in it for them so if you cant pay a solicitor you will have to do it yourself.
If you lose certain expenses can be claimed from you but again not normally any legal costs they pay out have a read http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/small-claims-court#what


The problem you may have is that your partner was owe money to the LL, all be it before you were with her but she would still be owe it after you got together and he could easily say you agreed to pay this for her.


You can write to the courts to have the case held sooner and don't worry to much about legal help, the judge knows solicitors are not usual in the small claims court and make allowances for this. The judge is classed as a reasonable person and will look at all the evidence presented.


He will then take this into consideration but as it's the small claims he or she has a certain amount of discretion based on probability if the evidence presented isn't cast iron.


In this case if you can show that your current rent is £800 pm and it's paid around the same time as the mistake then there is a god chance the judge will see it as exactly that a mistake. Good luck.

Carlos0371

bris wrote: »

In this case if you can show that your current rent is £800 pm and it's paid around the same time as the mistake then there is a god chance the judge will see it as exactly that a mistake. Good luck.

Hi, and thanks for the reply.

There is clear evidence that I paid it, in his defence paperwork he has included an email from his "Business Manager" at his bank to him asking about the payment, and his reply stating that he has "no intention of returning it".

I believe that in law he cannot enforce a third party contract that does not exist (i.e. tenancy agreement), so even if my partner did owe him money (which she doesn't), then the contract is between him and her, and he cannot enforce it with me?

Marktheshark

Has he applied to have set aside or have they automatic just done it and ordered a new hearing ?

bris

No, he can't enforce it with you which is why I said he could say you agreed to pay it.


His reply to his business manager sounds to me like a smoking gun so you shouldn't have a problem.

unholyangel

When you moved out of there, was a check carried out by the landlord/agency? Did they give you a copy of it to say everything was in good order/keys had been returned/deposit was refunded?

Carlos0371

The judgement was made in December, then he applied to have it set aside, and it was.

When we moved out, he gave us notice by text message originally, then eventually followed up properly in writing.

We moved out by the agreed date and handed keys into the estate agents who were selling the house.

No inventory check carried out, there was no deposit to sort out.

Here's where it gets a bit confusing........

My partner used to own the house with her ex-husband, and the Landlord (who used to be married to my partner's ex-husband's sister) bought the house from them when they got into difficulty with the mortgage. They then rented the property back to my partner and her (ex) husband, by way of a bog standard Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement (from the lawpack website, copyrighted 2008).

There was no inventory carried out, no inspection, no deposit paid.

We handed keys back to estate agents and that as far as we were concerned, was that.

Carlos0371

I can't understand either how he has managed to get it set aside. What's the point of having time limits imposed if you can ignore them and have the judgement set aside after the time limit has expired anyway?

I did all the paperwork, completed the Directions Questionnaire and sent everything in correctly and well within time limits. He did not, and even went as far as me receiving notification that he had to respond within 7 days after failing to file his directions questionnaire within the required 14 days, but didn't.

Marktheshark

What have you received directly from the court, not his solicitor the court.

Carlos0371

Today I've received a "Notice of Transfer of Proceedings" which states:
"......the defendant has now paid the counterclaim fee, therefore the response you have previously sent will now be treated as a defence and counterclaim. The claim has now been transferred to the County Court Hearing Centre listed below."

I have to complete an enclosed "Response pack" to dispute the defendant's counterclaim.

Carlos0371

There is an "Admission (specified amount)" form, and a "Defence and Counterclaim" form.