Has anyone taken a TDS decision to court and succeeded

Skiddaw1

Trouble is, however unpleasant the experience, you're fighting a battle you can't possibly win. This is one of those situations where I honestly believe your only choice is to walk away and chalk it up to experience. You'll be throwing good money (not to mention much emotional energy) after bad if you don't.

Cakeguts

None of the information that you have provided makes any difference to the contract that you signed.  You also didn't take into account that the property was cheap for a reason.  Use it as a learning experience and don't try to rent the cheapest property you can find. Renting is the same as every other purchase.  You get what you pay for. When you rent you are buying space in a property to live in.  What you are trying to get a refund for is space.  It consists of the air inside the walls. That is what you were buying when you signed the contract.  There was nothing wrong with that space you could live in it. What you didn't like was the space outside the flat but you were not buying that to live in.

sanavora

Skiddaw1 said:

Trouble is, however unpleasant the experience, you're fighting a battle you can't possibly win. This is one of those situations where I honestly believe your only choice is to walk away and chalk it up to experience. You'll be throwing good money (not to mention much emotional energy) after bad if you don't.

So in other words what you and everyone thinks is, despite there being laws to protect tenants in this situation such as unfair trading regulations, it’s a losing battle? The fact the lied and misrepresented the property as safety, even the property itself had endless problems which was endless and headache to get fixed, and they didn’t tell us we would be charged until 8 days after we left despite asking if we will repeatedly, the courts will not favour us? 

sanavora

Cakeguts said:

None of the information that you have provided makes any difference to the contract that you signed.  You also didn't take into account that the property was cheap for a reason.  Use it as a learning experience and don't try to rent the cheapest property you can find. Renting is the same as every other purchase.  You get what you pay for. When you rent you are buying space in a property to live in.  What you are trying to get a refund for is space.  It consists of the air inside the walls. That is what you were buying when you signed the contract.  There was nothing wrong with that space you could live in it. What you didn't like was the space outside the flat but you were not buying that to live in.

It was one that accepted us, with one working person as I had lost my job, so they were the only “very good rated estate agents” who accepted us to pay a upfront premium to cover our “eligibility” rent amount..  but the flats all around that area were similiar in the 950-1000 mark as it was far from the station so it wasn’t much cheaper as we paid 925. 

According to unfair trading, the landlord should disclose all known information about the property and flat and not lie about the property so shouldn’t that hold any weight. After speaking to TDS they also thought the same saying the courts was better option than they. 

Doozergirl

sanavora said:

Skiddaw1 said:

Trouble is, however unpleasant the experience, you're fighting a battle you can't possibly win. This is one of those situations where I honestly believe your only choice is to walk away and chalk it up to experience. You'll be throwing good money (not to mention much emotional energy) after bad if you don't.

So in other words what you and everyone thinks is, despite there being laws to protect tenants in this situation such as unfair trading regulations, it’s a losing battle? The fact the lied and misrepresented the property as safety, even the property itself had endless problems which was endless and headache to get fixed, and they didn’t tell us we would be charged until 8 days after we left despite asking if we will repeatedly, the courts will not favour us? 

There isn't a law protecting you from what happens outside the doors. 

The law you signed up to is the contract that you signed for the flat.    That contract only allowed you to move after 12 months, or with the agreement of the landlord if you pay fees.  It's completely standard and that is why your argument wasn't taken into account. 

It's also why no one thinks you should be going to court. 

 

A lot of people live in grotty areas, sadly, and no one's tenancy agreement allows them to leave early without a fee to be paid.     It's that simple.   You are responsible for your own due diligence on everything beyond that door, not the agent and not the landlord.  

Grumpy_chap

sanavora said:

Skiddaw1 said:

Trouble is, however unpleasant the experience, you're fighting a battle you can't possibly win. This is one of those situations where I honestly believe your only choice is to walk away and chalk it up to experience. You'll be throwing good money (not to mention much emotional energy) after bad if you don't.

So in other words what you and everyone thinks is, despite there being laws to protect tenants in this situation such as unfair trading regulations, it’s a losing battle? The fact the lied and misrepresented the property as safety, even the property itself had endless problems which was endless and headache to get fixed, and they didn’t tell us we would be charged until 8 days after we left despite asking if we will repeatedly, the courts will not favour us? 

I totally get that this has been an awful experience for you.  You feel wronged by the situation and feel that there some be some remedy. 

You may have grounds to establish a claim through the courts, though I am not sure what those grounds would be.  Particularly if you are moving from specific tenancy rules to general consumer rules, which is where I understand "unfair terms" would sit and doing so based upon mis-representation.  If that mis-representation is based on verbal comments then it all comes down to recollections of "he said - she said" and very hard to establish anything in a court.

If you find a basis to go to court, will you win?  The other side to this case is that there was a letting contract for 12 months and the LL released you from that contract early.  That alone may be sufficient to show that the LL acted reasonably and fairly in the circumstances.

Assuming you went to court and won, how would you actually recover the money?

All-in-all, it is less than £1k that you would seem to be claiming and to pursue this will cost more money and burn you up inside with bitterness and stress.  I understand that money is tight with being between jobs, but your effort may far better be expended looking to the future, focusing on your future happiness as a family and securing your next employment.  I know you feel that is unfair, and possibly it is unfair, but every hour you devote to pursuing this claim against the ex-LL is an hour less available to seek new employment or enjoy time with your family.

So, I agree with @Skiddaw1 and @Cakeguts that this is likely not a good case to pursue.  That does not in any way diminish that you have been "wronged" or suffered an appalling experience, it is just that not everything can be solved through the courts.

anselld

sanavora said:

Skiddaw1 said:

Trouble is, however unpleasant the experience, you're fighting a battle you can't possibly win. This is one of those situations where I honestly believe your only choice is to walk away and chalk it up to experience. You'll be throwing good money (not to mention much emotional energy) after bad if you don't.

So in other words what you and everyone thinks is, despite there being laws to protect tenants in this situation such as unfair trading regulations, it’s a losing battle? The fact the lied and misrepresented the property as safety, even the property itself had endless problems which was endless and headache to get fixed, and they didn’t tell us we would be charged until 8 days after we left despite asking if we will repeatedly, the courts will not favour us? 

You originally questioned .. "I am wondering if it’s worth it or not".  I think you have got a unanimous answer to that even if it is not what you wanted to hear.

There is another route which does not involve throwing away more money which is to make a complaint to the redress scheme which the agent must legally be a member of.  It may at least give you the satisfaction of returning some grief to the agent and you may still win some compo if you are lucky.

sanavora

anselld said:

sanavora said:

Skiddaw1 said:

Trouble is, however unpleasant the experience, you're fighting a battle you can't possibly win. This is one of those situations where I honestly believe your only choice is to walk away and chalk it up to experience. You'll be throwing good money (not to mention much emotional energy) after bad if you don't.

So in other words what you and everyone thinks is, despite there being laws to protect tenants in this situation such as unfair trading regulations, it’s a losing battle? The fact the lied and misrepresented the property as safety, even the property itself had endless problems which was endless and headache to get fixed, and they didn’t tell us we would be charged until 8 days after we left despite asking if we will repeatedly, the courts will not favour us? 

You originally questioned .. "I am wondering if it’s worth it or not".  I think you have got a unanimous answer to that even if it is not what you wanted to hear.

There is another route which does not involve throwing away more money which is to make a complaint to the redress scheme which the agent must legally be a member of.  It may at least give you the satisfaction of returning some grief to the agent and you may still win some compo if you are lucky.

What is the redress scheme? 

anselld

sanavora said:

anselld said:

sanavora said:

Skiddaw1 said:

Trouble is, however unpleasant the experience, you're fighting a battle you can't possibly win. This is one of those situations where I honestly believe your only choice is to walk away and chalk it up to experience. You'll be throwing good money (not to mention much emotional energy) after bad if you don't.

So in other words what you and everyone thinks is, despite there being laws to protect tenants in this situation such as unfair trading regulations, it’s a losing battle? The fact the lied and misrepresented the property as safety, even the property itself had endless problems which was endless and headache to get fixed, and they didn’t tell us we would be charged until 8 days after we left despite asking if we will repeatedly, the courts will not favour us? 

You originally questioned .. "I am wondering if it’s worth it or not".  I think you have got a unanimous answer to that even if it is not what you wanted to hear.

There is another route which does not involve throwing away more money which is to make a complaint to the redress scheme which the agent must legally be a member of.  It may at least give you the satisfaction of returning some grief to the agent and you may still win some compo if you are lucky.

What is the redress scheme? 

There are two schemes.  All agents must be a member of one in order to resolve complaints.  (Assuming England and Wales) ...
https://www.gov.uk/redress-scheme-estate-agencies

GeordieGeorge

sanavora said:

Skiddaw1 said:

Trouble is, however unpleasant the experience, you're fighting a battle you can't possibly win. This is one of those situations where I honestly believe your only choice is to walk away and chalk it up to experience. You'll be throwing good money (not to mention much emotional energy) after bad if you don't.

So in other words what you and everyone thinks is, despite there being laws to protect tenants in this situation such as unfair trading regulations, it’s a losing battle? The fact the lied and misrepresented the property as safety, even the property itself had endless problems which was endless and headache to get fixed, and they didn’t tell us we would be charged until 8 days after we left despite asking if we will repeatedly, the courts will not favour us? 

There are no laws to protect you in this situation, the flat that you rented was fine, but you decided that you did not like the building or the area.