Awful Housing Association Landlord who're taking me to Court

Bogalot

Hard_food_for_midas wrote: »

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

The email you sent to the CEO was complete waffle. You need to stick to facts - you did/ did not do this - this is what I would like to happen etc.

You might be chair of residents but what are the others doing, are they also withholding payment in protest? Are they pushing the HA to act? Or is it just you ...

If you want to settle then ring up and pay your bill. You don't need to speak to the CEO to do that.

Bogalot

Hard_food_for_midas wrote: »

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

You keep paperwork for as long as a dispute is ongoing. I expect the LA will be able to evidence that they do send the statement with all service charge demands.

Hard_food_for_midas

Bogalot wrote: »

The email you sent to the CEO was complete waffle. You need to stick to facts - you did/ did not do this - this is what I would like to happen etc.

Ok, fair enough, though I did make small edits based on advice received.

[/QUOTE]You might be chair of residents but what are the others doing, are they also withholding payment in protest? Are they pushing the HA to act? Or is it just you ...[/QUOTE]

Just me. They're not up for this level of fight and most of them still have a mortgage on the property and/or are part way through buying, so are afraid.

[/QUOTE]
If you want to settle then ring up and pay your bill. You don't need to speak to the CEO to do that.[/QUOTE]

Maybe I will tomorrow. I'm hoping (though you don't fill me with much hope) that Head of Housing will say - 'right, let's draw a line under all this and give them what they want and he'll settle' - which I will, right away...(I hear you say: 'yes, and pigs might fly', right?)

mchale

Hard_food_for_midas wrote: »

What should I do?

Pay what you are contracted to pay, otherwise buy a property without service charges.

Lioness_Twinkletoes

Hard_food_for_midas wrote: »

Ok, fair enough, though I did make small edits based on advice received.

You might be chair of residents but what are the others doing, are they also withholding payment in protest? Are they pushing the HA to act? Or is it just you ...[/QUOTE]

Just me. They're not up for this level of fight and most of them still have a mortgage on the property and/or are part way through buying, so are afraid.

[/QUOTE]
If you want to settle then ring up and pay your bill. You don't need to speak to the CEO to do that.[/QUOTE]

Maybe I will tomorrow. I'm hoping (though you don't fill me with much hope) that Head of Housing will say - 'right, let's draw a line under all this and give them what they want and he'll settle' - which I will, right away...(I hear you say: 'yes, and pigs might fly', right?)[/QUOTE]



I worked in income recovery for an LA in respect of service charges and I can tell you - they won't settle. They don't need to - they have the law on their side.


Pay the service charges and lodge a formal complaint. Go through their complaints process and escalate (or accept the decision made).


You have no legal right to withhold your service charges and if there is an error with their CCJ they will simply make another one.

steampowered

Guest101 wrote: »

Offering mediation from the get go will at least counter any claim from the claimant that the respondent was being 'unreasonable'

Look we are mostly in agreement, im not sure why you wouldn't put in an offer of mediation, I would - so I wont get into an argument about it.

The first reason why I don't think this is appropriate is because that is not what the CPR tells you should go into a defence. https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part16#16.5.

The second reason is that settlement discussions (including offers of mediation) are covered by WP privilege and can't be referred to in statements of case. If you do so, the other side can apply for your defence to be struck out. See for example http://thepropertymediators.co.uk/law/statement-of-case-that-refers-to-a-partys-refusal-to-mediate-struck-out/.

In reality, is someone in a small claim likely to ask for an offer of mediation to be struck out? Unlikely, but they could.

Hard_food_for_midas

I worked in income recovery for an LA in respect of service charges and I can tell you - they won't settle. They don't need to - they have the law on their side.


Pay the service charges and lodge a formal complaint. Go through their complaints process and escalate (or accept the decision made).


You have no legal right to withhold your service charges and if there is an error with their CCJ they will simply make another one.[/QUOTE]

Ok, I hear you all. If I call up and pay now, I'm also going to have to pay the £105 court claim fee, correct? Or shall I offer to pay full amount minus this and minus the £100 they offered me in 'compensation' ?

Gutted. But realistic. Thanks to you all for your hard & kind messages - I know it's all coming from a good place.

Hard_food_for_midas

mchale wrote: »

Pay what you are contracted to pay, otherwise buy a property without service charges.

In London! Are you having a laugh?! This is the land of Feudalism my friend and in turbulent global financial times - where is the land grab happening most? - Yip, you've got it..

Completely unaffordable.

steampowered

Needless to say, I disagree with most of the recent posts and agree with the Op.

I am inclined to take the Op at face value he/she says that the Housing Association is in breach of the lease.

If the HA are in breach of the lease, they can be sued.

Seeking damages for the Housing Association's breach of contract by means of a counterclaim seems to me to be an entirely sensible course of action.

If the Housing Association wants to sue the Op for breach of the lease, there is no reason why the Op shouldn't sue the Housing Association for breach of the lease, with both claims to be dealt with at the same hearing.

If the Op wishes, he/she could pay the service charge and initiate a separate set of legal proceedings against the Housing Association for breach of the lease. That would get the Op to the same place.

I worked in income recovery for an LA in respect of service charges and I can tell you - they won't settle. They don't need to - they have the law on their side.

I agree it is unlikely they'll settle the service charge dispute; but they may well settle the counterclaim for breach of the lease; and both could be part of the same settlement. If the HA doesn't settle that, and they are in breach of the lease, then a judge can do it for them by awarding damage. The HA has legal responsibilities and can be held to account if it fails to meet them.

Hard_food_for_midas

steampowered wrote: »

Needless to say, I disagree with most of the recent posts and agree with the Op.

I am inclined to take the Op at face value he/she says that the Housing Association is in breach of the lease.

If the HA are in breach of the lease, they can be sued.

Seeking damages for the Housing Association's breach of contract by means of a counterclaim seems to me to be an entirely sensible course of action.

If the Housing Association wants to sue the Op for breach of the lease, there is no reason why the Op shouldn't sue the Housing Association for breach of the lease, with both claims to be dealt with at the same hearing.

If the Op wishes, he/she could pay the service charge and initiate a separate set of legal proceedings against the Housing Association for breach of the lease. That would get the Op to the same place.


I agree it is unlikely they'll settle the service charge dispute; but they may well settle the counterclaim for breach of the lease; and both could be part of the same settlement. If the HA doesn't settle that, and they are in breach of the lease, then a judge can do it for them by awarding damage. The HA has legal responsibilities and can be held to account if it fails to meet them.

Ok...I'm going to pause and will not call them to settle until tomorrow. If I wait until next week, I'm on half term with my children and may miss an important Court deadline..