Defending myself against my ex landlord in small claims court

Kyleayres

Hi
My ex landlord summarily ended my tenancy of over 5 years in 2018 because he wanted to sell his property for personal reasons and gave I believe 3 months notice. I found and moved into a new property a month earlier than the eviction date and handed back the keys.

The letting agent then contacted me around Jan 2019 and said there were some damages and they wanted to claim the full deposit which I agreed to. I then heard nothing from them.
In Jan 2020 I then get a call from the letting agent asking for over £800 for unpaid rent and damages. I said I had agreed to the deposit release and heard nothing further so considered the matter closed. I said that given it had been a year since then I was surprised to hear from them.  I didnt have rent arrears when I handed back the keys and no further emails were sent after the deposit release but now it looks like they want to go to court.
I'm happy to defend myself but my real worry is if I lose do I automatically have a ccj on my credit file or can I lose, pay it and move on. If a judge looks at everything and says I owe it then I'll pay up but I really don't want a ccj as I may look at a mortgage in the near to mid future. 

Cheers

[Deleted User]

Kyleayres said:

Hi
My ex landlord summarily ended my tenancy of over 5 years in 2018 because he wanted to sell his property for personal reasons and gave I believe 3 months notice. I found and moved into a new property a month earlier than the eviction date and handed back the keys.

The letting agent then contacted me around Jan 2019 and said there were some damages and they wanted to claim the full deposit which I agreed to. I then heard nothing from them.
In Jan 2020 I then get a call from the letting agent asking for over £800 for unpaid rent and damages. I said I had agreed to the deposit release and heard nothing further so considered the matter closed. I said that given it had been a year since then I was surprised to hear from them.  I didnt have rent arrears when I handed back the keys and no further emails were sent after the deposit release but now it looks like they want to go to court.
I'm happy to defend myself but my real worry is if I lose do I automatically have a ccj on my credit file or can I lose, pay it and move on. If a judge looks at everything and says I owe it then I'll pay up but I really don't want a ccj as I may look at a mortgage in the near to mid future. 

Cheers

How did the landlord end the tenancy?  Assuming this is in England or Wales only you (the tenant) or a court can end the tenancy.  Did your landlord issue a Section 21 and then get a possession order from court?

What damage is the landlord claiming you are responsible for?  Do you have a check-in inventory and a check-out inventory?

If your landlord is successful then it won't automatically lead to a CCJ as long as you pay up.

SharkMoney

Did you pay for the final month when you moved out early? If not then this is a no brainer - you are in arrears so should pay up ASAP. 

DCFC79

I take it as you agreed for the full deposit to be taken you were aware of some damage ?

AdrianC

Kyleayres said:

Hi
My ex landlord summarily ended my tenancy of over 5 years in 2018 because he wanted to sell his property for personal reasons and gave I believe 3 months notice. I found and moved into a new property a month earlier than the eviction date and handed back the keys.

So the legitimacy or otherwise of the notice is irrelevant now.

The letting agent then contacted me around Jan 2019 and said there were some damages and they wanted to claim the full deposit which I agreed to. I then heard nothing from them.
In Jan 2020 I then get a call from the letting agent asking for over £800 for unpaid rent and damages. I said I had agreed to the deposit release and heard nothing further so considered the matter closed.

They are perfectly within their rights to pursue losses and damages above the amount of the deposit.

I said that given it had been a year since then I was surprised to hear from them.

It's certainly unusual to leave it so long, but any debt can be pursued for up to six years.

I didnt have rent arrears when I handed back the keys and no further emails were sent after the deposit release but now it looks like they want to go to court.
I'm happy to defend myself but my real worry is if I lose do I automatically have a ccj on my credit file or can I lose, pay it and move on.

A CCJ is a County Court Judgement. The judgement is what's handed down by the judge...

If you pay it within 30 days, it's not entered on your credit file.

Here's a couple of documents which explain the procedure... https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/dealing-with-county-court-judgements-ccjs https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/JCO/Documents/CJC/Publications/Other+papers/Small+Claims+Guide+for+web+FINAL.pdf

I have to ask, though... What state did you leave this place in...?

greatcrested

* it's unclear how the landlord "summarily ended my tenancy". This may be critical from a legal perspective. Verbally? Email? S21 Notice? Court action?

* the damage, and deposit, appears to be sorted. Agreement was reached, and no claim is now being made for this. Correct?

* from what you say, you did not serve notice to end the tenancy yourself. Is that correct? This may also be critical from a legal perspective

* if you did serve notice, then

a) was your tenancy in a fixed term, or periodic? If fixed term, exact start and end dates? If periodic, exact period dates?

b) what exact date did you serve your notice?

c) what exact date did your notice expire?

d) did the landlord accept your notice? If so how and in what exact wording?

* if you did not serve notice, did you simply move out and leae the keys? Was anything said, or written, by the LL/agent when you left or when they accepted the keys? Exact words please.

As for your questions, if you defend, and lose, you will have a CCJ against you, but this will only be recorded publicly (ie on your credit files) if you fail to pay what the court orders.

A year is a surprisingly long time for the LL to wait, but legally he has 6 years to make a claim.

bouicca21

Was the deposit protected?

AdrianC

bouicca21 said:

Was the deposit protected?

Irrelevant now, since the OP agreed to it being retained in full.

This dispute is about a claim for recompense above the deposit.

greatcrested

AdrianC said:

bouicca21 said:

Was the deposit protected?

Irrelevant now, since the OP agreed to it being retained in full.
This dispute is about a claim for recompense above the deposit.

though if the deposit was not protected, the OP could counter-claim for the penalty for non-protection. The fact that a deposit deduction has been agreed would likely mean a lower penalty; perhaps 1x the deposit rather than the full 3x.

Kyleayres

Thanks guys I'll try and address as many of your questions as I can. 

I don't really have a problem with the way the landlord ended the tenancy. Reeds rains sent through the documents giving notice so I'm sure whatever section they used it was above board.
The condition of the property is somewhat more complicated in that I was there over 5 years the landlord agreed I could redecorate the living room at my own expense and listed among the damages were carpet cleaning which I paid to put in and some damaged furniture which wasn't his in the first place. In any event they sent me a list of the damages when they asked for the full deposit and I said fine expecting that to be an end to the matter. If there were other outstanding arrears I would have expected those in the list of outstanding costs. 
I also think there has to be a point at which communication ceases and you move on. Surely me presenting the email exchange and saying this is how it was left would show I agreed to what they wanted and expected that to be an end to it. I'm more annoyed they are now asking for monies which I was never told I owe. 
With regards moving out I didn't give notice that I wouldn't be staying the final month but to be honest once I found a new place I had to take it. I couldn't ask them to hold it for a month while my lease ran out so I could accept that I owe the final month. 

The biggest question I have is the ccj thing. If I went to court and the judge said OK you owe the rent but not for the extra damages or worse said I owe it all id say fair cop and pay up. So you guys are saying in that instance I'd have 30 days to settle up without anything going on my public credit file? 

Kyleayres

Oh and by summarily I mean it was a year on year thing but he ended it early. It just said the landlord requires possession and gave a date. It wasn't a court eviction or anything like that.