Do I have a counterclaim for rent arrears?

45012168

Hi I'm hoping to get some serious advice in regards to a counterclaim I would possibly like to make soon.

To cut the long story short, we have been without heating/hot water since April and until enforcement action was taken against my landlord nothing was sorted until 13th of this month. So that's 5 months later we eventually had our boiler replaced. I decided to withhold 2 months rent between May and June as I felt this would pressurise the landlord to get the repairs done. During the 5 months without the heating/hot water we suffered a lot of inconvenience and financial loss. I was advised my CAB and Shelter that we may possibly have a claim to have the arrears offset. We tried to get our landlord to come to an agreement however he refused and said its not der problem.
Furthermore, we were served with a section 21 which will expire on the 8th September. The landlord is now threatening if I don't pay full outstanding rent, they will enforce action through the court and also sue me with possible effect of a CCJ.

What I wanted to know is it possible for them to do this causing me to have to pay back the entire rent plus court charges/fees. Will this affect my credit aswell?

We had our homeless interview yesterday and the lady called the landlady n asked if she would accept a payment plan to clear the arrears. However, it was refused.

What I was trying to achieve is to pay half the rent only and the rest should be waved due to the inconvenience we were caused. The property was also uninhabited for atleast a month during that period.

I'm not sure what to do as I really don't want things to affect me even more financially n neither do I want it to affect my credit as I've been trying hard to build my credit for the last year +.

Should I just send her money towards the rent anyway every week or should I just let her take it to court n then challenge it.

Please some urgent advice is needed.

Thank you.

G_M

45012168 wrote: »

...we have been without heating/hot water since April and until enforcement action was taken against my landlord nothing was sorted until 13th of this month.
Wht 'enforcement action'? Was this via the council? Or did you use the courts? Or....?

So that's 5 months later we eventually had our boiler replaced. I decided to withhold 2 months rent between May and June as I felt this would pressurise the landlord to get the repairs done.
You are now in rent arrears. You owe 2 months rent.
During the 5 months without the heating/hot water we suffered a lot of inconvenience and financial loss.
Can you specify the exact amount, and cause, of the financial loss?
I was advised my CAB and Shelter that we may possibly have a claim to have the arrears offset.
See question above
We tried to get our landlord to come to an agreement however he refused and said its not der problem.
Furthermore, we were served with a section 21 which will expire on the 8th September.
1) when did your tenancy start? Before or after 1/10/15?
2) Was the council involved in the repairs enforcement?
The landlord is now threatening if I don't pay full outstanding rent, they will enforce action through the court
Assuming the S21 is valid(see my earlier questions) the court will grant possession
and also sue me
for the rent arrears? You could counter-claim assuming you can specify and justify the 'financial loss' you incurred

with possible effect of a CCJ.
Only if
a) the court orders you to pay AND
b) you then still refuse to pay the court-ordered amount

What I wanted to know is it possible for them to do this causing me to have to pay back the entire rent plus court charges/fees.
Yes - probobly, but see counter-claim
Will this affect my credit aswell?
Only if you refuse to pay what a court orders you to pay.

...

What I was trying to achieve is to pay half the rent only and the rest should be waved due to the inconvenience we were caused. The property was also uninhabited for atleast a month during that period.
Entirely dependant on the LL agreeing, which seems they haven't

I'm not sure what to do as I really don't want things to affect me even more financially n neither do I want it to affect my credit as I've been trying hard to build my credit for the last year +.
So if/when a court orders you to pay, make sure you pay!

Should I just send her money towards the rent anyway every week or should I just let her take it to court n then challenge it.
.

Your choice whether to pay or fight.

45012168

G_M wrote: »

Your choice whether to pay or fight.

The enforcement action was through the council. It was only until the landlord was threatened with fines that he got the job done.
The financial loss we incurred during that period includes a significant increase in electric consumption in comparison to previous months/years, significant drop in gas consumption (as we had no heating/hot water) - I have proof of this from our energy provider. We spent X amount on purchasing electric heaters. I stayed at my parents for one month approx when kids fell ill - so I had to spend extra on petrol costs to get my daughter to and from school everyday. The trip distance in total was approx. 20 miles there and back twice a day, every 5 days. Usually her school is about 2 miles from our house. and other general inconveniences caused within the house when there is no heating/hot water.
I have proof that's the main thing n receipts/bills.
Would I qualify to any extent? If I felt my case is weak I would probably just sort the arrears out. But I WANT to challenge it however I fear having to pay extra court costs if I lose.

Kynthia

You can't just not pay rent. If you have losses and the landlord refuses to recompense you then you take them to court. As you've not paid rent the landlord can take you to court for the money. You can counterclaim but you'll need to provide evidence of how long the landlord took to respond from when advised of the problem and of your losses.

45012168

Kynthia wrote: »

You can't just not pay rent. If you have losses and the landlord refuses to recompense you then you take them to court. As you've not paid rent the landlord can take you to court for the money. You can counterclaim but you'll need to provide evidence of how long the landlord took to respond from when advised of the problem and of your losses.

I understand that but I just didn't know what to do to get him to sort the disrepair out. The council took 2-3 months, kept sending him notices which he ignored until they enforced action. It was a struggle as I have 3 kids under 5 and it was really cold around April/may still. This happened before aswell with a seperate disrepair issue. He didn't do nothing until our ceiling collapsed through to the downstairs toilet. This time I just wanted to do something that I felt would pressurise him to get the job done. Instead he served us with a s.21.
I have asked the landlord if we can set up a payment plan but they refused. I have been advised to start sending payments anyway. Can I do this?

45012168

I've also been told that a s.21 is not valid if it is served when the council has authorised repairs to be carried out?

G_M

45012168 wrote: »

I've also been told that a s.21 is not valid if it is served when the council has authorised repairs to be carried out?

which is why I asked in post 2 above:
1) when did your tenancy start? Before or after 1/10/15?
I did not ask out of noseyness but for this specific reason. Had you answered, we'd be able to respond to your Q about the S21!

anselld

45012168 wrote: »

I understand that but I just didn't know what to do to get him to sort the disrepair out.

On the rare occasions when it is acceptable to withhold rent you save the rent until the repair is done, or if you have paid for the repair yourself you deduct from the rent due. You do not go and spend the rent on something else!

So in this case the repair has been done (belatedly), so pay back the rent you have withheld.

dancingfairy

Unfortunately for you you can only withold rent in very specific circumstances. My understanding is that you withold rent in order to use the money to make the repairs yourself (assuming the correct process is followed) and that withholding rent is not to encourage a landlord to do repairs or some sort of fine/ money towards your extra costs.
I can completely understand why you did what you did though. It sounds horrific.
The only way really to find out what would happen is if it goes to court.
The landlord has threatened court. They may or may not go through with this, who knows. If you loose you have 28 days to pay up and the ccj doesn't become official. In cases such as this it is not expected for either side to have lawyers or solicitors. Each side would represent themself and would be expected to pay their own costs.
It really depends on a) whether the landlord takes you to court and b) whether you actually want to take things s to court.
Are you able to move? If you are unable to find somewhere else to rent and up having to rely on the council for housing then the rent arrears could prove an issue. You aren't being evicted under a rental arrears nitice and you have a legitimate complaint but if you need council housing I would expect the council to bring this up and make life more difficult. This *may* mean you decide to pay the arrears.
It's a horrid situation to be in. Landlords like this should be banned.
Df

45012168

G_M wrote: »

which is why I asked in post 2 above:
1) when did your tenancy start? Before or after 1/10/15?
I did not ask out of noseyness but for this specific reason. Had you answered, we'd be able to respond to your Q about the S21!

It started in 2011

45012168

anselld wrote: »

On the rare occasions when it is acceptable to withhold rent you save the rent until the repair is done, or if you have paid for the repair yourself you deduct from the rent due. You do not go and spend the rent on something else!

So in this case the repair has been done (belatedly), so pay back the rent you have withheld.

Well the repairs have only been done recently this month. But my landlord will not accept a payment plan.