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!

walwyn1978

It could be a tactic where he hopes that by saying he'll go to court, he intimidates you into dropping it as you don't want the worry of going to court/hassle. He wants to take you over the jumps in the hope you back down.

Don't give up, if you've got a case and you believe in going all the way, keep going. He may fold and settle just before the court date, but will perhaps try and string it out as long as possible in the hope you fold. Don't.

walwyn1978

Forgot to say:

If you do go to court, there is always a chance that you will lose. That's how the system works - your case vs his and then a decision is made. If you don't want that worry about possibly losing, then going to court perhaps isn't for you...

On paper it seems that you've got a nailed case, but obvs we don't know what his defence and counter would be. As long as you're prepared for the possibility, no matter how small, that you might lose, you'll be mentally fine.

sheramber

Did you get your deposits back?

Are you just wanting compensation because he didn't provide the relevant documentation?

The relevant wording is 'might have to pay' not will have to pay.

Smallclaimscourtworry

sheramber wrote: »

Did you get your deposits back?

Are you just wanting compensation because he didn't provide the relevant documentation?

The relevant wording is 'might have to pay' not will have to pay.

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.

FBaby

Did it go to the ADR then and they ruled in his favour then? Was it one deposit or five?

I'm confused when you say that he never informed them that you were vacating if they awarded him with the deposit, they would have known.

I would say that your risk is if you are confused about the system. Are you sure you didn't get the prescribed information at the same time you got your contract? My old tenants tried to claim they didn't get it, but missed the fact that it was attached with the contract and they had signed it all together.

chris_aaaaa

When LL returned the deposit, did he get you to sign anything, if he had any sense he would have had you sign a waiver?

Rain_Shadow

He may have acknowledged service just to get an extra 14 days to pay. In any case, you've issued proceedings so you may as well go through with it. Small claims track cases are not intimidating. You sit in a room with the defendant and the judge (who isn't in robes) and the judge leads both parties through their evidence in a fairly informal and helpful way and then delivers his/her verdict. Just remember to take any documents you may need to show the court or refer to and keep calm and to the point. Good luck.

DavidF

Smallclaimscourtworry wrote: »

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.

chris_aaaaa wrote: »

When LL returned the deposit, did he get you to sign anything, if he had any sense he would have had you sign a waiver?

Just helping things along here lol.
OP no way I would back down. Worst case scenario you loose but small claims so costs minimal and neither side can load up solicitors costs. End of the day most people would defend until at least the week before and faced with a day off ect may just change their mind....Look at it from LL side if he does not defend then he most certainly looses money...if he does defend he increases his chances of keeping his cash no matter how small a reality that is.

Guest101

Often you cannot claim the penalty via the small claims track.

Mishomeister

OP,
I have recently won x3 deposit + 3% interest + court fees from my previous landlord who have failed to protect my deposit and lied that they did.
I am however surprised why Small claims court here is at all involved as it needs to be County Court dealing with this matter.
https://www.gov.uk/tenancy-deposit-protection/if-your-landlord-doesnt-protect-your-deposit