Awful Housing Association Landlord who're taking me to Court

Guest101

Hard_food_for_midas wrote: »

Oops, something went wrong there - my reply got lost in the body of your quote.

But, their application to the court failed to comply. They will have to resubmit following the correct procedure.

Surely they have to make a fresh claim.

Is this not time for them to reflect?

Great. Mediation may be what is required. But, only after they have correctly issued proceedings, surely.

Their out of court claim may be invalid, though this is debateable as you know you owe the money.


But there doesn't appear to be anything invalid about the court claim, as you haven't seen their bundle there's no basis to think they will fail.

Hard_food_for_midas

Guest101 wrote: »

Their out of court claim may be invalid, though this is debateable as you know you owe the money.


But there doesn't appear to be anything invalid about the court claim, as you haven't seen their bundle there's no basis to think they will fail.

The point is, in the bundle they sent to me they failed to comply with the legislation - the piece missing was the summary of the rights and
obligations of tenants of dwellings in relation to service charges.

Does this mean they have to start over?

(I've tried calling the County Court Business Centre, but they are too busy!)

Guest101

Hard_food_for_midas wrote: »

The point is, in the bundle they sent to me they failed to comply with the legislation - the piece missing was the summary of the rights and
obligations of tenants of dwellings in relation to service charges.

Does this mean they have to start over?

(I've tried calling the County Court Business Centre, but they are too busy!)

Perhaps i'm being dim, but are you saying the initial demand didn't include this, or the latest demand - http://www.lease-advice.org/advice-guide/summaries-of-rights-and-obligations-service-charges-england/


In either case, even assuming that this is applicable, the reality is they will simply re-issue with the correct information.


The county court cant help you, as the case is to be judged in the future. Yes they may have to start over, but eventually they will win.

Hard_food_for_midas

I've heard form CC - it is a legal matter and will have to be decided by the judge as to whether their claim form complied or not. (I thought this was an obvious administration question. You can tell I've had zero involvement with Courts before!)

I have written again to the HA CEO and Housing Director and asked for them to settle with me out of court as I believe it is just wasting their time/money and courts time/money if we go to court only to find they haven't claimed in the correct way (ultimately, it's me that'll pay through service charge...)

What a web of wealth us little spiders are up against..it's all designed to protect those that have the land...

Guest101

Hard_food_for_midas wrote: »

I've heard form CC - it is a legal matter and will have to be decided by the judge as to whether their claim form complied or not. (I thought this was an obvious administration question. You can tell I've had zero involvement with Courts before!)

I have written again to the HA CEO and Housing Director and asked for them to settle with me out of court as I believe it is just wasting their time/money and courts time/money if we go to court only to find they haven't claimed in the correct way (ultimately, it's me that'll pay through service charge...)

What a web of wealth us little spiders are up against..it's all designed to protect those that have the land...

You can settle at anytime simply by paying the claimed amount.


but can we clarify the series of events. You've withheld the money for over a year, at any point were you supplied with the http://www.lease-advice.org/advice-guide/summaries-of-rights-and-obligations-service-charges-england/

Bogalot

This is a mess.

Did the original service charge demand include the statement of rights? If so they have fulfilled their obligation. Since then you have received debt recovery letters (and court correspondence?), they don't need to keep sending it with each of these.

The only thing you have on your side at this point is that the HA does not want to go to court, it's a waste of their time as well as yours. Start communicating properly, stop waffling and hopefully this will not escalate further.

Also, where are your neighbours in all of this, are they not backing you up?

Hard_food_for_midas

Just checked back over paperwork I have and not one of the letters asking me to pay the arrears does.

Bogalot

Hard_food_for_midas wrote: »

Just checked back over paperwork I have and not one of the letters asking me to pay the arrears does.

But what about the original service charge demand? This is the invoice you were sent when the payment was due.

I would be amazed if a HA failed to include it.

Hard_food_for_midas

Bogalot wrote: »

This is a mess.

Did the original service charge demand include the statement of rights? If so they have fulfilled their obligation. Since then you have received debt recovery letters (and court correspondence?), they don't need to keep sending it with each of these.

The only thing you have on your side at this point is that the HA does not want to go to court, it's a waste of their time as well as yours. Start communicating properly, stop waffling and hopefully this will not escalate further.

Also, where are your neighbours in all of this, are they not backing you up?

I am communicating properly with them! Where's the waffle? I am the chair of residents for past two years.

Hard_food_for_midas

Bogalot wrote: »

But what about the original service charge demand? This is the invoice you were sent when the payment was due.

I would be amazed if a HA failed to include it.

You only have to keep paperwork (for tax anyway) for 7 years. There's not one going back that far.