Small Claims court case against landlord is being defended and I am becoming worried

Smallclaimscourtworry

We had a nightmare landlord from our time in University who was aggressive, rude and kept the house in serious disrepair. I only wish at the time I knew we’d had more rights and that we could have done something about the way he treated us.

However, I did learn recently that if a landlord doesn’t protect your deposit that you can successfully claim it back so I wrote to him and asked for evidence that he protected the deposit. He could prove that the deposit was protected but he did not send prescribed information about the deposit and on contacting the deposit protection company they told me that he never informed them when we vacated the property.

I asked him about this and why he didn’t send the proscribed information but after months of non-communication I sent a letter before action and then finally after getting no reply issued small claims court proceedings.

I thought it’d be straightforward as it’s clear that if you don’t serve your tenants prescribed information you might have to pay up to three times the amount.

HOWEVER:

He’s put in an acknowledgment of service saying he’ll defend the whole case to the court but what could he defence possibly be?

It did get me worrying though. Is there a possibility I’ll lose? And then there’s a few other concerns I have:

We all signed individual contracts but there was a lead tenant and I wonder if she was the one who should have made the small claims court case and not me. Also, if this does go to court I am starting to have my doubts that one or two of my fellow tenants will attend. I am asking for the total of all five our combined deposits but what happens if they stop participating?

Thanks for reading this huge post!

agrinnall

Have you had your deposit returned (less any agreed deductions)? If so then given your concerns about the prospect of a court case perhaps you'd be better to just be satisfied with what you have and withdraw your claim.

Smallclaimscourtworry

agrinnall wrote: »

Have you had your deposit returned (less any agreed deductions)? If so then given your concerns about the prospect of a court case perhaps you'd be better to just be satisfied with what you have and withdraw your claim.

I feel perfectly justified in making the claim against this nasty, aggressive man who bullied me and a few international students fresh out of school. I don't want to back down but I would like advice and reassurance.

Bogalot

Smallclaimscourtworry wrote: »

I feel perfectly justified in making the claim against this nasty, aggressive man who bullied me and a few international students fresh out of school. I don't want to back down but I would like advice and reassurance.

We cannot reassure without knowing what his defence is.

You may have been fresh out of school then, you're not now. A good piece of advice is, choose your battles carefully.

DoaM

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=16

Take your query there - you'll get advice from people with specific knowledge of the rental market, and the rights and obligations.

arcon5

Are all tenants named as claimants?

Smallclaimscourtworry

We did not get our deposit back because he claimed it for cleaning expenses despite us having cleaned it very well ourselves. But we were scared of him and three of the other tenants the two Internationale ones and a girl starting an internships wouldn't dispute it.

Smallclaimscourtworry

arcon5 wrote: »

Are all tenants named as claimants?

They all are.

JJ_Egan

>>We did not get our deposit back because he claimed it for cleaning expenses despite us having cleaned it very well ourselves. >>

Do you have photographic evidence of that ??that would help your claim ??

You are asking can you lose and you can always lose .So you weigh up what you gain against what you may lose . You don't go to court to punish a nasty man .

steampowered

It did get me worrying though. Is there a possibility I’ll lose?

Yes, of course there is a possibility you'll lose. There is also a possibility you'll win. If you do lose it isn't the end of the world.

He’s put in an acknowledgment of service saying he’ll defend the whole case to the court but what could he defence possibly be?

You'll just have to wait and see. He might cite a valid reason, he might cite a load of nonsense (in which case his defence may get struck out) or he might fail to file a defence at all (in which case you will win as you'll get a default judgment).

As he acknowledged service he gets 28 days from service of your claim to provide his defence.

We all signed individual contracts but there was a lead tenant and I wonder if she was the one who should have made the small claims court case and not me.

Did you each sign a separate tenancy agreement?

If so, you will all have a separate tenancy. You are entitled to bring a claim in respect of your tenancy. You are not entitled to bring a claim for the other tenants, because it is for them to decide whether they want to participate in the claim or not.

If they do want to participate, they should be formally named as claimants to the claim. Are they named as claimants?

Also, if this does go to court I am starting to have my doubts that one or two of my fellow tenants will attend. I am asking for the total of all five our combined deposits but what happens if they stop participating?

If the other tenants do not attend the hearing, I imagine any claims brought by them would get thrown out at the hearing.

If this does proceed to a hearing all claimants will all need to attend. As you are not legally qualified you do not have standing to represent people who are not physically present at the hearing.

DoaM

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5569070

OP also posted in the House Renting etc. board. (Should really have PMd a board guide to get this thread moved).