Taking landlord to small claims court

joyful_2

My son and his housemates had their deposits withheld after leaving this June.His reasons for retaining their deposits were untrue and having taken photographic evidence, and after several attempts to retrieve the money they have now started a small claims action.My question is the house was rented from a man who has a limited company for renting houses. The only subsequent written contact is now from his brother (naming himself as landlord in the letter) who has the same initial as the original landlord. They started the court paperwork (form N1) naming the defendant as Mr J xxxxx. not specifying the first name. Is this likely to cause problems with their claim as there are two Mr J xxxxxxxxs and should they have claimed against the limited company instead?They are at the next stage where court proceedings need to be instigated.Many thanks for any advice

TJ27

This sort of thing can indeed cause problems.

My advice would be to obtain the details of the correct owner of the house from the land registry. This costs about three quid but will hopefully give the full name of the landlord.

Loretta

joyful wrote: »

My son and his housemates had their deposits withheld after leaving this June.His reasons for retaining their deposits were untrue and having taken photographic evidence, and after several attempts to retrieve the money they have now started a small claims action.My question is the house was rented from a man who has a limited company for renting houses. The only subsequent written contact is now from his brother (naming himself as landlord in the letter) who has the same initial as the original landlord. They started the court paperwork (form N1) naming the defendant as Mr J xxxxx. not specifying the first name. Is this likely to cause problems with their claim as there are two Mr J xxxxxxxxs and should they have claimed against the limited company instead?They are at the next stage where court proceedings need to be instigated.Many thanks for any advice

I am not positve about this but I think you can have multiple defendents and I think that if I was you I would name Mr ? x 2 and the limited company to cover yourself and then the judge can cross of the wrong ones, small claim courts a quite informal.

You must have some paper work, tenancy agreement maybe a letting agent, check everything you have got.

If you put one name and it is the wrong name the case will be dismissed, if you put them all on the summons the judge or the defendants can decide which one they want to use.

The judge may think that they are making it complicated to cause just this problem and he won't be happy about that and puts them on the wrong foot from the beginning. If youhave nothing to hide you don't go in for this different names nonsense

Running_Horse

Loretta wrote: »

The judge may think that they are making it complicated to cause just this problem and he won't be happy about that and puts them on the wrong foot from the beginning. If youhave nothing to hide you don't go in for this different names nonsense

Agreed. From memory courts do not look kindly on landlords forcing people down this path, and tend to favour the tenant. However, enforcing payment of any award may be harder than you think. Good luck.

joyful_2

With many thanks to previous replies. The saga moves on, the court paperwork went through naming the limited company and Mr J xxxxx as defendants. With no response they were granted a Judgment in default. The next stage is to enforce the judgment which will cost more money. I have dug around at a cost and found out there are 3 directors of the company who jointly own this rented house and others. One of the directors Mr J xxxx owns another property jointly with his wife.
Does anyone have any idea how best to proceed now? I understand a ltd company can just close down and restart with another name. Another option is apply for a charging order on a property but this can only be done with the agreement of the co-owner (s) so we seem to be stuck there too.
It seems the small claims courts have no teeth even with claimants win their case. We are very reluctant to let these landlords get away with this.
If anyone can help further we would be most grateful.
Thanks

THE_LONE_RANGER_4

i had a friend who went down this road the l lord paid up before going to court , he would have had to show why the deposit was held proof of damage and invoices for said repairs etc

SouthCoast

I assume from your post that you have obtained judgement against a Limited Company. Downloads from Companies House cost £1 and will enable you to make a considered decision on your next move.

More info here:

http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/

http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/

AlanG_3

This is not necessarilly an answer but it maybe an idea.
First check with the court if a CCJ will be against Mr J. XXX as well as the company. Try to put his name on the judgement debt. If he doesnt pay you within 30 days he ,personally, will have a bad credit record. (he will try to remove the debt from the court record but thats another story) It will be harder , for him ,to get loans , mortgages in future.(presumably ltd cos will need a personal guarantee)

With his d.o.b. and name check co house records , or use an agent , to check for his other ltd cos. TIP. check dissolved companies also. With all his addresses check with Registry Trust his (and also possibly his ltd cos) CCJs.
If none then he may be vulnerable , by not wanting a CCJ. Or you may find he has loads at different addresses , in which case you are up against a professional debtor.

HTH