My Witness Statement is due

Matthew87

https://1drv.ms/b/s!AsLbpETb6Et3kTQJvbxdVPZsCrxr

Matthew87

Title absolute (08.08.2002) PROPRIETOR: BENJAMIN SEITLER and SANDRA SEITLER of 4 The Cottages, Deva Centre, Trinity Way, Manchester M3 7BE and MJF SSAS TRUSTEES LIMITED (Co. Regn. No. 04089958) of 4 The Cottages, Deva Centre, Trinity Way, Manchester M3 7BE , the Trustees of The RPI Pension Scheme.

ElParque

So Leonard Seitler though presumably a director of RPI isn't a Trustee of the Pension Fund and one must then ask what his role is in RPI Pension 'Fund' and what gives him the authority to sign the document he has signed.

Seems to me he overstepped the mark there.

Does this demolish the contract Excel claim exists between them and the landlord?

[Deleted User]

Not necessarily. But it appears that the RPI pension fund is unincorporated so only named members personally (and the commercial trustee) can contract. In this case the land is owned by the named parties and Leonard is not named nor is he a director of the commercial trustee.

In theory he could now be a trustee of the pension fund, but I am still unclear as to how he could contract for parking if he was not the trustee who bore responsibility for the property title.

Strictly speaking you'd want to see the trust deed at the time the contract was entered into and at present to confirm who the trustees are and the trust powers/ You also need the contract for the parking rather than a statement. You may have not been provided with the original precisely because these types of technical arguments may arise.

ElParque

My hearing is on Thursday. I'm not going to be able to get the relevant documents in time. Can I ask to see them in court? Would a well-prepared claimant have these documents in court for the judge and me to see? Will it count against them if they don't produce them?

[Deleted User]

It should do, but it may not do. As I understand it, commonly the Claimant adduces statements without witnesses attending too.

However if you have consistently asked for the contract beforehand, I think you're on good ground if they don't produce it.

There is genuine doubt.

The official copy entry provides valuable scope for the argument that the witness cannot have been a party to the contract as he is not a landowner - the ownership of the land is normally the trustees of the trust at the time the property was purchased (not later additions or deletions). However, as I say does not prove that he didn't sign a contract.

The judge can make findings of fact, if able to, even without sight of the contract.

An additional argument to note is that the witness statement has an amendment to the name of the landowner. If the contract contains a similar error as to the name which has not been corrected, that may also be a basis for striking down the contract (wrong legal entity).

[Deleted User]

Looking at the official copy rather than the excerpt in the thread above, there seem to be registered leases on the site. If time permits you should check those for completeness.

ElParque

I spotted those but they are dated after the car parking event in question so that makes me think them irrelevant but I'm getting more and more confused about this whole case!

I've got to do some real work today so I'm thinking that I should just go with what I've got at this point! I'm not being complacent but the case is from pre POFA 2012, if I can establish that there is no keeper liability and that it's unlikely I was the driver, all this other stuff shouldn't even come up... should it?

If the case comes down to my having to prove there was no contract, I'll have done so badly on the rest of it, I should probably give up at that point!

Just can't wait to get the bloody thing over with!

[Deleted User]

Fair points.

ElParque

Quick Questions about court tomorrow..

When DJ Manasse asks me to speak,

1. Do I go through my point by point rebuttal of BW Legal's witness statement (including the superfluous points in it which refer to other cases)?

2. Can I introduce other evidence? I've now got a copy of the title register of the land which shows that the bloke who signed the witness statement document which purports to show there IS a contract in place, isn't the landlord and he doesn't state on their document in what capacity he signs.

3. There are 5 cases listed at 10am tomorrow. Mine is allocated an hour. All the others are allocated more time. Can I read anything into that?

Cheers