Taken to small claims for missing rental payment, help.

St3ve

Hi

I am new, would appreciate any help possible.

From the start, here goes...

I moved into a property in May 2006 paying a deposit, agency fees and a months rent up front.

All was fine until late September when i was contacted by my landlords secretary and informed that my August rental payment was missing, this being the payment made by me on August 26th 2006. So first off, it took them almost a month to tell me, is this the norm? As soon as i knew there was a query on the payment i printed off my online bank statement and also made a copy of my regular bank statement and posted both to my landlord. Septembers payment went out as scheduled and i heard nothing more.

In the middle of October, a court summons arrives in the post, the particulars of which are rent for 3 separate months, none of which are the initial missing payment that had been queried, court costs and some rather hefty admin costs. A large deposit was paid at the beginning of my tenancy so in fear of losing this cash i withheld my final months rent, Novembers rent, due at the end of October. I vacated the premises at the end of November.

My court date came up in March, i attended with a wedge of evidence, everything i could possibly need, statements, all correspondances between myself and the landlord etc etc. He didnt turn up to court, the case was dismissed and the judge told me that was an end to it.

In July, i got a letter from the court saying my landlord had been able to "vary" the decision and that it was all open again. I was given another court date.

I attended again, after approximately 10 minutes, it was clear to myself and the judge that my landlord didnt actually know what he was talking about! He admitted he had claimed for all the wrong things, he said instead of 3 missing rental payments he meant just one, and none of the 3 he had initially claimed for was the one he wanted to claim for. His "admin costs" were also rubbished by the judge as there was nowhere in my tenancy agreement that mentioned such charges. The judge adjourned the hearing in order for him to resubmit a correct claim.

This is where we are now. Its been over a year now and my questions are , i have a statement showing i paid every months rent, he has a statement with one payment missing, where do we go from here?

Also, do i have grounds for a counterclaim? Stress of the whole thing, loss of earnings, actually attending court on a couple of occasions to defend an incorrect claim?

I am a young person currently looking to get on the property ladder, i am looking for a mortgage, obviously any court order against me at this stage would be a major problem for me, it is for this reason, before going to court the first time, i offered to pay my landlord £10 per month until the missing payment was found, this offer was ignored.

He is also claiming for missing items on the inventory. When i moved in i received 2 copies of the inventory, i was instructed to go round the house and make sure i was happy, then sign both retaining one and sending one back. I wasnt happy and never signed either copy and still have both unsigned copies. During the 2nd court appearance my landlord produced a photocopy of a signed inventory, this is impossible. How do i get this more closely examined without blurting out "its a fraud" and risking slander! Can i ask to see an original, what if he cant produce an original, which i know he cant, does this cast a doubt on the whole case?

I am back in court next week and would appreciate any help you may be able to give.

Thanks

roses

Contact your bank and ask them to find out what happened to the payment as use this as evidence in court that you did pay.

St3ve

I have a stamped "fulfilment of standing order" sheet. Is it possible for the judge to contact my bank and discuss the fulfilment of this standing order? Basically, i have this stamped proof, my landlord has his statement not showing the payment at all, also stamped. What can the outcome be?

Thanks for the response

silvercar

Its your bank that needs to start the search. The money has gone from your account, but not to the correct place, so your bank needs to see where it has gone. There is little point the LLs bank searching as they have no starting point.

Bank errors do occur and they have procedures for sorting them, you just need to get your bank to strt the work.

St3ve

As far as my bank goes, they say the standing order has been satisfied. Its all so confusing. Basically, i dont understand what the outcome can be if we both have proof of what we are arguing. In relation to the inventory in question, if an original was not available for whatever reason from the landlord, would this cast any doubt upon the originality of all evidence provided on his side?

pinkshoes

St3ve wrote: »

i offered to pay my landlord £10 per month until the missing payment was found, this offer was ignored.

noooooooo, don't offer him money, it's a sign of guilt!!!

You have evidence that the rent was paid, you sent them this evidence in October as soon as they notified you of the problem. Was the rent you withheld in the last month equal to the size of the deposit?

As for the inventory, take both the copies with you, and tell the judge you didn't sign either as you didn't agree with it, but the landlord didn't get back to you. It's already been shown that the landlord is clueless, so tell the judge that you are 100% sure you didn't sign an inventory, so anything with your signiture on is a fake and has been forged.

St3ve

My withheld final months rent was £125 less than the deposit. I do have both copies of the inventory, both unsigned and i can say, with 100% belief that the "signed photocopy" that has been produced is as genuine as a £9 note.

The offer came more out of fear to be honest, i didnt want to go to court, i didnt want the slight chance of any kind of judgement against me, the fact that my offer was ignored surely goes against him too?

cherry_blossom_6

I would go back to your bank and be more forceful. After all, YOU are being taken to court because something in THEIR system means the money has not got there. They are the only ones who can find out where it has gone.

irnbru_2

St3ve wrote: »

Stress of the whole thing, loss of earnings, actually attending court on a couple of occasions to defend an incorrect claim?

You need documentary evidence of your losses.

geoffky

you really need to get your head round the fact that between you and your bank the payment has gone astray ie its gone in cyber space,,you need to get your bank onto this right away as it could prove costly to you.you think you paid him the landlord knows you have not paid him so its a banking problem that you must sort out soonest,,,it happens alot with banks

St3ve

I have had this conversation with my bank. They told me, the payment was sent, your standing order fulfilled, here is your proof, that should be good enough for anyone. Their words not mine.