Landlady changed her mind about renting after signing the contract - Can I sue her?

[Deleted User]

As per my post (no. 21 above) there is a basic question to be answered here which dictates your options, i.e. did you have a valid contract? Did you pay her any money? Yes or No?

GDB2222

IoanaP wrote: »

What kind of lawyer do I need?

You don't need a lawyer. For a case like this, a solicitor would charge around £2k in fees. This case would be a 'small claim', so you wouldn't be able to claim the solicitor's fees from the landlady. I doubt your compensation claim is worth as much as the fees, so you'll be out of pocket even if you win.

You can bring a case as a litigant in person, but it's quite a learning curve. Are you quite sure you're up to it?

You've been wronged, but's probably best just to forget about it, I'm afraid.

IoanaP

stator wrote: »

Your situation is a mess. You willingly signed a fake lodger agreement with a fake move in date on it.

If this gets before a judge, he will have trouble unpicking it all and will probably tell you to naff off

How was the lodger agreement fake? Or the move in date on it?
I was supposed to move in the 2nd March which is the exact date on the agreement.

CarrieVS

OP, the place I'm currently living, I was told on a Thursday afternoon by my then employer that I would have to relocate to start a new placement on the subsequent Monday and they would only pay for one week's temporary accommodation. I started looking immediately and managed to find a place that same weekend and had everything arranged by the following weekend. I was lucky in that the place I found turned out to be a lovely flatshare and I'm still here three years later, moving out soon only because I'm buying my first home, but at the time I signed the lodger agreement I was only pretty sure it was going to be tolerable for a month.

Three weeks is loads of time to organise lodgings. Look for lodgings not a tenancy, as it's much quicker to arrange and easier to get out of if you decide to move soon because you didn't find an ideal place. You're going to have to take a risk of not finding something perfect, and just go for the first one that's tolerable. If you're not sure whether you will like it then look for something that's on a rolling contract from the get-go, and if you don't like it you just put up with it for a month, keep looking and move again.

To be honest I think you were getting into a mess of a situation where your prospective landlady was planning to commit various kinds of fraud, and while her intentions towards you may not have been malicious good intentions don't always work out to good results. E.g. she might have had a different idea of your respective rights and obligations than you did given the unorthodox definition of the basis of your occupation. It sounds to me like you fell on your feet by not getting mixed up in it.

As has been pointed out, you didn't give notice in the knowledge that you had signed a contract for alternative accommodation, so you would still be needing to find somewhere else by the same date if you had never signed this contract. If you're viewing flats then you're obviously finding some that are in acceptable locations and affordable, so are they really all unsuitable? You cannot afford to be too picky right now. I've lived places that aren't ideal because I had to find them at short notice, and it's amazing what you get used to. Certainly better than not eating and living with all your possessions packed up!

GDB2222

As an example, suppose you find a place to rent, but it's £200 a month more expensive. Your claim would be for £1200 (£200 for 6 months) plus say £100 for stress.

If your solicitor charges £2000, you'd be £700 worse off. And, that's assuming you win the case AND the landlady pays up!

[Deleted User]

Third time lucky (see posts 21 and 42) … To sue someone you have to have an actionable cause. If you and your prospective landlord have a VALID contract, that actionable cause would be breach of contract. If you don't have a VALID contract, you have NO BASIS FOR COURT ACTION. Before you do anything else, you have to establish (as per my post no. 21) if you have a VALID contract. Do you???

GDB2222

AngelicKaty wrote: »

Third time lucky (see posts 21 and 42) … To sue someone you have to have an actionable cause. If you and your prospective landlord have a VALID contract, that actionable cause would be breach of contract. If you don't have a VALID contract, you have NO BASIS FOR COURT ACTION. Before you do anything else, you have to establish (as per my post no. 21) if you have a VALID contract. Do you???

What in heaven's name makes you think there wasn't a valid contract?

[Deleted User]

Did you read my post no. 21? OP said she didn't pay any money to her prospective landlord, so there was no "consideration" - a box of chocolates would not be deemed "consideration".

need_an_answer

At this point its potentially only the cost of the chocolates that she's out of pocket.Even that may be deemed not recoverable as they were bought with the intention of giving them as a gift.

I don't really see this idea for a claim going anywhere....OP I would focus on finding somewhere to live that you can afford and put this whole scenario behind you.

IoanaP

AngelicKaty wrote: »

As per my post (no. 21 above) there is a basic question to be answered here which dictates your options, i.e. did you have a valid contract? Did you pay her any money? Yes or No?

I offered to pay but she didn't want to. She was keen on leaving the property as soon as possible as she had Airbnb customers returning soon to the property.

That is why we agreed to meet the evening before moving in - because I was suppose to pay and she was suppose to give me the keys.

The below says:

Consideration. All contracts require consideration, meaning each party must gain something. It may be something that is or isn't done or given. When a party agrees to do something (paint your house) or to not do something (not sell their house to anyone else for 30 days) they must gain something. Generally, if I say I'll paint your house, and you haven't promised me anything in return, you can't sue me for not showing up because I haven't received any consideration. Volumes have been written about this aspect of contracts as well.

But by signing a contract I "promised" to pay £1150/month, which I would have done if she would have given me her bank details. This is from the email I sent to her and I think it shows willingness to pay:

Please note that if we do not meet today for you to give me the house keys and give me your bank details to pay the rent, the next step I will take is court action.