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Being taken to court for unpaid rent for 3 months we were not there. HELP!
Comments
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I can't see where it was said when it was advertised, so it's a moot point. However I wouldn't put it passed some LA to "find" some evidence of advertising it were it necessary to CYA when it came to a court case.moneysavinmonkey wrote: »BobProperty - whether it would have relet or not is a moot point... the letting agents did not relist the proeperty in good time and instead they used the OP's remaining rental period to fix the property up. If they can't show that they listed the property and there was no interest then the you can't proove your opinion of a slow period anymore than i can proove it would have been relet immediatetly...
anyway as stand-in for the agents, what do you say to my offer - I won't report your criminal lack of a gas safety certificate or go to the press and in return you withdraw this claim against me?
As for the deal, I don't like it but it may be the best shot. It however may be useless if the landlord or LA know they are about to be "done" for the Gas Certificate problem and just want to cut their losses by keeping some deposits and winning some court cases.A house isn't a home without a cat.
Those are my principles. If you don't like them, I have others.
I have writer's block - I can't begin to tell you about it.
You told me again you preferred handsome men but for me you would make an exception.
It's a recession when your neighbour loses his job; it's a depression when you lose yours.0 -
Woah! We don't know who is "lawyered up" here. This is only Small Claims County Court stuff (apologies to all county court judges). The landlord could just be punting on this. £200ish on court fees for £2100 of rent on a fairly straightforward case? He's risking £250 here to get back anything up to 10 times that amount. Who's to say what will get a deal here? If no one is paying for solicitors then I would think a deal can be made because involving solicitors will immediately shred anyone's chance of coming out with any money.I wonder ... What if OP puts this forward themselves. The lawyers in the court with them, representing the other side, and the judge, will immediately see what OP is getting at. If the judge thinks there is any merit at all, then it will have to be answered regardless of whether OP is represented.A house isn't a home without a cat.
Those are my principles. If you don't like them, I have others.
I have writer's block - I can't begin to tell you about it.
You told me again you preferred handsome men but for me you would make an exception.
It's a recession when your neighbour loses his job; it's a depression when you lose yours.0 -
Oh! "doodledoodle24" ........................... your in a right mess!
I will have to read your posts again to try to get my head around your situation. In a LL tenant dispute the worst thing the tenant can do is withhold rent.
Is this the first time that you have rented? Is Adam's guarantor one of his parents? How old are you all?
At the moment I'm struggling to find any fault on the part of the landlord.
Adams guarantor is his best mate, we are all 24 and we have a 2yr old too!!!!is officially a GLEEK0 -
Gorgeous_George wrote: »You cannot justify withholding £2100 in rent for a £50 gas safety certificate (GSC).
New installations do not need a GSC for the first year.
OP is trying it on. As an MSEer, good luck - you'll need it!
GG
How am i tryng it on? I have not witheld £2100 in rent, i was not living there to pay the rent! as far as i was concerned the tennancy was ended when they asked us to move out by the 30th June.is officially a GLEEK0 -
The letting agent have a solicitor, who has signed the court document.
The let was for 12 months
There was gas heating with 2 boilers in the house. None of them were new installations.
The property is now on rightmove advertised at £725 with all the old pics, even though it has been repaired.
Thankyou for all your replys, i think we will try the GSC route.is officially a GLEEK0 -
BobProperty wrote: »Woah! We don't know who is "lawyered up" here. This is only Small Claims County Court stuff (apologies to all county court judges). ...If no one is paying for solicitors then I would think a deal can be made because involving solicitors will immediately shred anyone's chance of coming out with any money.
We're on the same side, Bob, I think! What I was trying to get across is that you can still make interesting arguments if you don't have a lawyer. OK, if it the person in charge isn't someone who is legally trained, they will end up deciding on the 'merits' and ignore the law. That can only help OP. My 'but they let me make that mistake' argument will work fine, as it seems distinctly unfair (OP, please, emphasise how incredibly naive you are!!!!!!!!!!). If it is someone who is legally trained, and one but not the other is represented, then there are obligations to protect the unrepresented party, which is the scenario I was thinking of. Either way, you tell the story, and hopefully the essence of the legal argument will be teased out.Mortgage started on 22.5.09 : £129,600Overpayments to date: £3000June grocery challenge: 400/6000 -
He could have just prepared the court papers. That's a lot different than appearing in court for them (Like £xxx different). Small Claims are designed for personal hearings without legal representation, besides, costs are very rarely given in Small Claims IIRC. Hence my comment about no one coming out with much money if solicitors get involved at this level.doodledoodle24 wrote: »The letting agent have a solicitor, who has signed the court document.....A house isn't a home without a cat.
Those are my principles. If you don't like them, I have others.
I have writer's block - I can't begin to tell you about it.
You told me again you preferred handsome men but for me you would make an exception.
It's a recession when your neighbour loses his job; it's a depression when you lose yours.0 -
altho i can really empathise with the OP - the fact remains that he signed a legally binding contract for 12 months and the judge will have very little leeway to make a judgment in your favour.
my best advice would be to spend your time finding out how to repay this money immediately (which the judge will almost certainly award to the landlord - ignorance is NOT a defence under UK law)
if you pay it within the period that the judge says you have to pay it withink, you will not end up with a County Court Judgment.
If you dont, and you do end up with a CCJ, and being so young, i am sure that you will have no idea as to just how much this will screw your life up for the next 6 years.
having a CCJ means that you will not be able to get any credit (no new mobile phones, no SKY subscriptions, no mortgage agreements, no clothes on credit, no Credit cards etc etc) - and banks will only give you the most basic of bank accounts, if they agree to give you one at all.
All this is hugely inconvenient and will make your life more difficult.
i know that you think you are morally in the right here - and maybe you are, but, you must prepare for losing this case and the consequences of that.
Get the money borrowed from someone, pay the court, and then at least you can move on with your life without CCJs ruining it until you are 30.
good luck0 -
Agreed. Been there, done that in a small way.We're on the same side, Bob, I think! What I was trying to get across is that you can still make interesting arguments if you don't have a lawyer.
Now you have lost me on that one. This is a County Court. You appear in front of a judge in a "meeting room" type of environment. What he (or she) says goes, no arguments. Most of the time they do know the law pretty well.OK, if it the person in charge isn't someone who is legally trained, they will end up deciding on the 'merits' and ignore the law.
I agree with this part. You need to be organised, keep cool, be polite, don't volunteer information but answer what is asked by the judge. Don't have a go at the other party. If the other side is "lawyered up" I suspect most judges will make allowances for this, especially in Small Claims. If it gets as far as a court hearing I would suspect that the landlord will not be represented unless they are particularly naive in this aspect of the process of law.That can only help OP. My 'but they let me make that mistake' argument will work fine, as it seems distinctly unfair (OP, please, emphasise how incredibly naive you are!!!!!!!!!!). If it is someone who is legally trained, and one but not the other is represented, then there are obligations to protect the unrepresented party, which is the scenario I was thinking of. Either way, you tell the story, and hopefully the essence of the legal argument will be teased out.
Tonight's homework is to read EagerLearner's thread on taking landlords to court to get deposits back.A house isn't a home without a cat.
Those are my principles. If you don't like them, I have others.
I have writer's block - I can't begin to tell you about it.
You told me again you preferred handsome men but for me you would make an exception.
It's a recession when your neighbour loses his job; it's a depression when you lose yours.0 -
Have now looked things up and can see that the 'small claims' process is very different from NZ's disputes tribunal. All the normal legal rules apply and presumably the adjudicator is a lawyer. I was thinking of a system where, effectively, the real question was 'is this fair' rather than 'does the law allow us to do this'.
I still think that OP has a reasonable claim, based on the way in which they were manipulated into leaving (and thus the belief they didn't have to pay rent). Were any invoices sent????
Should add I've been both a tenant (am one right now) and a landlord. I am genuinely neutral.Mortgage started on 22.5.09 : £129,600Overpayments to date: £3000June grocery challenge: 400/6000
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