pregnant, ill & just been served eviction notice

Norman_Castle

The claim form itself says the case is with a court in London, local to me. Then, on the defence form, where they should have entered the name of the court, they have instead entered the first name and surname of some man I have never heard of (definitely not the name of the landlord.)

Is it possible that is deliberate in the hope you will struggle to file your defence?

G_M

Writing to the landlord (or their solicitors) about the dates is pointless.

It is nothing to do with them.

the Issue Date stamped on the court paperwork is 11th June. But the postmark on the envelope it came in is 22nd June,

It is the court that sent the paperwork and it is the court which decdes whether a defence submission is in time or out of time, and it is to the court that you direct any complaint.

Similarly the defence submission goes back to the court.

The claim may be filed at one court ut the hearing is generally heard at the defendant's local court. But speak to the court officials if it is unclear where the defence should be sent.

They can answer queries about procedure (but NOT about law).

Fair&Pure

G_M wrote: »

Writing to the landlord (or their solicitors) about the dates is pointless.

It is nothing to do with them.
It is the court that sent the paperwork and it is the court which decdes whether a defence submission is in time or out of time, and it is to the court that you direct any complaint.

Similarly the defence submission goes back to the court.

The claim may be filed at one court ut the hearing is generally heard at the defendant's local court. But speak to the court officials if it is unclear where the defence should be sent.

They can answer queries about procedure (but NOT about law).

OK, the court listed on SOME of the paperwork would indeed be my local court. That's who I've been calling and they don't answer the phone. I guess what I will do is send the defence form to them. I'll also call the court who actually sent out the paperwork, I guess. Maybe they will even answer the phone.

Fair&Pure

Norman_Castle wrote: »

Is it possible that is deliberate in the hope you will struggle to file your defence?

The paperwork is certainly in a shambolic state. And as for the Landlord claiming they personally handed me a hard copy of a "How To Rent" booklet, some three months before they'd ever heard of me or met me etc, is interesting.

steampowered

Op I assume this is not an 'accelerated procedure' case, i.e. started with court form N5B. If so the timing for serving the defence is more critical than in a standard procedure possession case.

Fair&Pure wrote: »

Nowhere in the court papers does it mention that I must serve the Defence on the landlord's solicitors. Considering how important this is --- losing your home! -- it's incredible how vague and shambolic it all s.

Yes, in some respects the county court system in great but in other respects it is a complete shambles.

G_M wrote: »

Writing to the landlord (or their solicitors) about the dates is pointless.

It is nothing to do with them.
It is the court that sent the paperwork and it is the court which decdes whether a defence submission is in time or out of time, and it is to the court that you direct any complaint.

Similarly the defence submission goes back to the court.

If the Defence was not filed on time, it is the landlord that would drive the process forward - the court doesn't do it automatically. It is also the landdlord's solicitors that would seek sanctions/consequences for failure to serve on time.

Similarly the court does not by itself assess whether the defence is received on time or not. The courts don't keep a record of the deemed date of service, only the issue date (which in this case was some time ago).

When you get to the hearing half the time the court will have misplaced a copy of the defence and ask for one from the parties anyway.

The reason why the Op should contact the landlord's solicitor now in writing is that it would provide ammunition if the landlord seeks to allege that the defence was not filed in time. If the Op can clearly show that she contacted the landlord's solicitor to explain that she only just received the form, then if the landlord's solicitor fails to object to the timescales now it will be looked on badly if they try to make a big deal out of it later.

The claim may be filed at one court ut the hearing is generally heard at the defendant's local court. But speak to the court officials if it is unclear where the defence should be sent.

They can answer queries about procedure (but NOT about law).

This is a good idea but the problem is that you don't always get a correct or helpful response from court staff, and as it is verbal you can't prove/rely on it at a hearing if you get told something wrong. Important to get a written record of these things where possible.

Fair&Pure

steampowered wrote: »

Op I assume this is not an 'accelerated procedure' case, i.e. started with court form N5B. If so the timing for serving the defence is more critical than in a standard procedure possession case.

.

The paperwork states that it is an Accelerated Procedure. So, it would seem I'm best off assuming date of service is considered 2 working days after the Issue Date? And making sure I get my Defence Form in by then. Which gives me about one to two days I think. And presumably I sent the Defence to both courts.

Gosh!

Fair&Pure

I will also write to the Landlord's solicitors. Nothing to lose in doing that really, right?

tlc678910

Hi OP,
Just a suggestion that you can check the EPC register by property address at
https://www.epcregister.com/reportSearchAddressTerms.html?redirect=reportSearchAddressByPostcode (need to accept the terms and then search by postcode).
On the off chance that the property does not have an EPC then it would be clear that the landlord could not have given you a copy and are lying about it.
Tlc

Fair&Pure

Tried ringing both courts this morning. Let the phone ring for 30 minutes+ at each court. Nobody picks up. I can't believe how unprofessional this all seems.

Norman_Castle

Keep notes of everything you've done to resolve this.