Witness statement

Mojito1

Thank you - Some of the replies are really helpful.

From some of the posts it seems there is some confusion about what has happened at court so far - Here is a brief outline:

My original counterclaim and defence was written very briefly on the standard defence/counterclaim form. It was only a few sentences / paragraphs. I also submitted a statement, which wasn't properly formatted, and also submitted a couple of documents of evidence (Police call records and a copy of doctors letter that had been previously sent to claimant). This was the best I could do at the time without missing the chance to file anything. I was extremely ill at the time and unable to attend that hearing and a court legal person represented me at the hearing. I was then sent a letter from the court representative, confirming what the judge had said and a court order was made, which said my defence and counterclaim was struck out, but permission to file a properly pleaded defence and counterclaim by a certain date and permission for the claimant to file a defence to my counterclaim by a certain date and a new hearing date set for January. 

I couldn't meet the deadline for filing this, so submitted an application for extension of time to file a properly pleaded defence and counterclaim. I received no confirmation as to whether or not the application for extension on time had been received or accepted, or not. I filed the properly pleaded defence and counterclaim as quickly as I was possibly able to, which was only 2 days before the hearing date. I was extremely unwell and too ill to attend the hearing and notified the court of this via email. I then received a court order stating that default judgement had been awarded to claimant as I had failed to file properly pleaded defence and counterclaim by the deadline date in the previous court order. 

I then filed application for permission to appeal, along with application for hearing transcript and have just received a court order stating CCJ set aside and I am to file a witness statement setting out why I couldn't meet the previous deadline and why I was unable to attend hearing with supporting medical evidence. The order also states a new hearing will be arranged and notice to follow.

babyblade41

Mojito1 said:

babyblade41 said:

Mojito1 said:

babyblade41 said:

I think you should move on as you haven't a cat in hells chance of winning anything & I'm sorry to say the only loss will be from your mental health continuing on

I am the only person who can judge what will be better or worse for my mental health 

You didn't pay 7 months rent , you were lucky in as much as that when it gets to 2 months arrears a section 8 could have been sent to you and awarded 

A section 8 was served

What you should have done is got some advice when repairs weren't met in a reasonable timely manner ...like here for example and you would have been given the tools to get this rectified without going through what you gone through now .
Well I didn't, so that's pointless. My priority was trying to move out as quickly as possible - That was going to happen with or without the gas cooker / shower being fixed. 

You have been given that information now, but you did say you were a landlord so surely this would have been known to you already When I was a LL, firstly I wouldn't have rented a property in that condition & state of disrepair in the first place, and any issues my tenants had were resolved quickly

.........

You say you would have rectified any issues your tenants had then that is good but you must also have known that withholding rent is not the way to go about things. I didn't withhold any rent. Withholding rent would be when you actually have the rent money, but choose not to pay it. I could have withheld the further 4 months rent payments that I made, but I didn't. The subsequent arrears were due to not physically having any money to pay the rent. I don't have a magic money tree unfortunately

It is entirely up to you how you proceed but you have been advised this is a pointless task.

There is no more to be said, you obviously believe you are entitled to the claim and wish you all the best in moving forward 

...............

OK then not "withholding"  but unable to pay.  Same thing really but you still owe this money.  My next bit of advice will be to get some debt advice boards 

Mojito1

babyblade41 said:

Mojito1 said:

babyblade41 said:

Mojito1 said:

babyblade41 said:

I think you should move on as you haven't a cat in hells chance of winning anything & I'm sorry to say the only loss will be from your mental health continuing on

I am the only person who can judge what will be better or worse for my mental health 

You didn't pay 7 months rent , you were lucky in as much as that when it gets to 2 months arrears a section 8 could have been sent to you and awarded 

A section 8 was served

What you should have done is got some advice when repairs weren't met in a reasonable timely manner ...like here for example and you would have been given the tools to get this rectified without going through what you gone through now .
Well I didn't, so that's pointless. My priority was trying to move out as quickly as possible - That was going to happen with or without the gas cooker / shower being fixed. 

You have been given that information now, but you did say you were a landlord so surely this would have been known to you already When I was a LL, firstly I wouldn't have rented a property in that condition & state of disrepair in the first place, and any issues my tenants had were resolved quickly

.........

You say you would have rectified any issues your tenants had then that is good but you must also have known that withholding rent is not the way to go about things. I didn't withhold any rent. Withholding rent would be when you actually have the rent money, but choose not to pay it. I could have withheld the further 4 months rent payments that I made, but I didn't. The subsequent arrears were due to not physically having any money to pay the rent. I don't have a magic money tree unfortunately

It is entirely up to you how you proceed but you have been advised this is a pointless task.

There is no more to be said, you obviously believe you are entitled to the claim and wish you all the best in moving forward 

...............

OK then not "withholding"  but unable to pay.  Same thing really but you still owe this money.  My next bit of advice will be to get some debt advice boards 

I don't believe I do. Thanks, but if I wanted general debt advice I would ask. I would prefer to stick to the issue I have posted about

spoovy

I think you need to move on from this court case OP. You lost it, and honestly I'm not surprised. The law is like a game in that it has rules, and if you don't play by them you'll probably lose. That doesn't mean you are in the wrong, or that you weren't badly treated. There are some horrendous landlords out there and it seems you had the misfortune of running into one.

If I were you I would now focus on more immediate concerns like your current living conditions, mental health etc.  I appreciate its a lot of money you now owe, but it is manageable; debt is always manageable in this country, thankfully. Ask on the debt forum for practical advice.

Mojito1

deannagone said:

For various reasons this thread has moved away from the original question.  The original case has already been made and judgement was found against you.  I am sorry for this.  But now you have to 'fight clever' and make arguments in your favour that will help you. Thank you - Yes, any input into arguments in my favour would be helpful & appreciated

Do you have a mental health condition in addition to the physical health problems?  Whatever conditions you have, mental or physical, try and find someone who can help with this in mind.  We don't know what conditions you have been diagnosed with so try and find charities that help people with these conditions, they will be able to advise better than we can.  Some people I think benefit greatly from things like counselling for their mental health issues, although for some people that can cause more harm than good and is not always appropriate for all. 

Try and deal with facts, the allegations you feel very strongly about may not help prove why you weren't able to attend the original court hearing and why you didn't comply with the judgement.  I suspect it may be too late to make a counter claim.  

You might beneficially give a brief history, with evidence (police calls, requests of repairs) of how the tenancy increased your mental health difficulties.  If you have no supporting evidence, however, this might not help.  Please bear this in mind.  Don't include pages and pages of complaints, it needs to be a brief, unemotional, to the point list. Thank you, this is helpful. I would like to also submit a statement about how this behaviour has made me feel... I am just worried that I won't be able to present my claim / evidence properly in the time frames allowed. Having such short deadlines to adhere to is not really helpful. 

It will probably be most helpful to explain what conditions you have, why these made it impossible to attend court and also explain your financial circumstances to explain why you couldn't keep to the judgement.  For example, you can only claim you shouldn't have paid rent if the property was made uninhabitable due to a lack of action/repair etc.  Having to clean a toilet is unpleasant, but doesn't make the property uninhabitable.   I have to clean disgusting toilets quite a lot as my son has some physical problems.  Its something very unpleasant that makes me heave (one of my 'things' that I have a particular horror of doing) but its part of living somewhere.  I also lived in a homeless hostel with unmentional stuff up the walls, and was pregnant, fairly unwell with other conditions.  Put rubber gloves on, bleach, started scrubbing so my then toddler had a decent toilet to use.  Not pleasant, but had to be done (the hostel had a cleaner but one thing they didn't do was clean).  Its impossible to prove at this point that the LL put sharp things in the carpet to hurt your pet.  I am not sure what the accepted legal definition of uninhabitable is, but I would describe the property under the circumstances to be uninhabitable. I am sorry you had to go through that experience, which must have been horrendous and very traumatic for you. The pins that were left scattered around the carpets I absolutely believe were left deliberately, due to where and how they had been scattered around. It's a good job I spotted them, one of my cats was about to swallow one, which probably would have killed them, or caused serious harm. 

But explaining that conditions a, b and c, meant you couldn't deal with what was happening, and your benefits were stopped/reduced/your income was limited prevented you from paying what the court asked for could well be more beneficial for you.  You have to deal with what is, for the court. 

But discuss the two options - arguing that the court judgement shouldn't have been made in the first place, against the viability of explaining why you couldn't attend court or pay the judgement.  Try and open your mind to the fact that this judgement has been made and you might need to argue differently to how you feel you should. It could be that the best thing you can do now, is reduce the payments the court expected you to make.  

You can also discuss this with the court clerk.  Although their advice isn't always to be relied upon, it will give you a starting point.  Go back to the CAB, discuss whether the above paragraph has any relevance to you.  Get what you can out of this.  The legal system is by no means perfect, particularly when dealing with vulnerabilities.  Don't waste your time with losing arguments, deal with what is possible.  See if the CAB, if you can't get any other help, will help you phrase your reply to the court if you decide to change the approach to the case. You could end up paying a minimal amount, per week.

....................

turnitround

Mojito1 said:

babyblade41 said:

Mojito1 said:

babyblade41 said:

Mojito1 said:

babyblade41 said:

I think you should move on as you haven't a cat in hells chance of winning anything & I'm sorry to say the only loss will be from your mental health continuing on

I am the only person who can judge what will be better or worse for my mental health 

You didn't pay 7 months rent , you were lucky in as much as that when it gets to 2 months arrears a section 8 could have been sent to you and awarded 

A section 8 was served

What you should have done is got some advice when repairs weren't met in a reasonable timely manner ...like here for example and you would have been given the tools to get this rectified without going through what you gone through now .
Well I didn't, so that's pointless. My priority was trying to move out as quickly as possible - That was going to happen with or without the gas cooker / shower being fixed. 

You have been given that information now, but you did say you were a landlord so surely this would have been known to you already When I was a LL, firstly I wouldn't have rented a property in that condition & state of disrepair in the first place, and any issues my tenants had were resolved quickly

.........

You say you would have rectified any issues your tenants had then that is good but you must also have known that withholding rent is not the way to go about things. I didn't withhold any rent. Withholding rent would be when you actually have the rent money, but choose not to pay it. I could have withheld the further 4 months rent payments that I made, but I didn't. The subsequent arrears were due to not physically having any money to pay the rent. I don't have a magic money tree unfortunately

It is entirely up to you how you proceed but you have been advised this is a pointless task.

There is no more to be said, you obviously believe you are entitled to the claim and wish you all the best in moving forward 

...............

OK then not "withholding"  but unable to pay.  Same thing really but you still owe this money.  My next bit of advice will be to get some debt advice boards 

I don't believe I do. Thanks, but if I wanted general debt advice I would ask. I would prefer to stick to the issue I have posted about

This, in a nutshell is why no one would ever be able to advise and help you.  What you believe does not matter (although you say you previously been a landlord so I'm amazed that you cant agree that you owe the money), what matter is what the lawa says and the law says you owe the money. You are in complete denial which is not helping you at all. What makes you think that you are right and all the replies on here are wrong?

Mojito1

spoovy said:

I think you need to move on from this court case OP. You lost it, and honestly I'm not surprised. The law is like a game in that it has rules, and if you don't play by them you'll probably lose. That doesn't mean you are in the wrong, or that you weren't badly treated. There are some horrendous landlords out there and it seems you had the misfortune of running into one.

If I were you I would now focus on more immediate concerns like your current living conditions, mental health etc.  I appreciate its a lot of money you now owe, but it is manageable; debt is always manageable in this country, thankfully. Ask on the debt forum for practical advice.

I am sure your intention is not to be so demoralising and insulting, but honestly really is not helping me at all. I don't see it that I have lost my case at all. Your advice and opinion is not good - Why on earth would I just accept this and let it eat away at my mental health for the rest of my life?! People should stand up for themselves, in any way they are able to and victim blaming/shaming is something I feel extremely strongly against. I don't take kindly to people who are clearly victims / survivors of abuse, being smeared as gold-diggers. 

I can assure you I AM focusing on my mental health and if I make a decision to argue my case in court and am asking for support for that, the very worst thing you could possibly do, is advise me that I am wrong and to go against my best interests. 

babyblade41

I can assure you I AM focusing on my mental health and if I make a decision to argue my case in court and am asking for support for that, the very worst thing you could possibly do, is advise me that I am wrong and to go against my best interests. 

You are wrong and the advice given is exactly to help your best interests .

I'm out now.good luck if you proceed , I think you might need it 

Mojito1

turnitround said:

Mojito1 said:

babyblade41 said:

Mojito1 said:

babyblade41 said:

Mojito1 said:

babyblade41 said:

I think you should move on as you haven't a cat in hells chance of winning anything & I'm sorry to say the only loss will be from your mental health continuing on

I am the only person who can judge what will be better or worse for my mental health 

You didn't pay 7 months rent , you were lucky in as much as that when it gets to 2 months arrears a section 8 could have been sent to you and awarded 

A section 8 was served

What you should have done is got some advice when repairs weren't met in a reasonable timely manner ...like here for example and you would have been given the tools to get this rectified without going through what you gone through now .
Well I didn't, so that's pointless. My priority was trying to move out as quickly as possible - That was going to happen with or without the gas cooker / shower being fixed. 

You have been given that information now, but you did say you were a landlord so surely this would have been known to you already When I was a LL, firstly I wouldn't have rented a property in that condition & state of disrepair in the first place, and any issues my tenants had were resolved quickly

.........

You say you would have rectified any issues your tenants had then that is good but you must also have known that withholding rent is not the way to go about things. I didn't withhold any rent. Withholding rent would be when you actually have the rent money, but choose not to pay it. I could have withheld the further 4 months rent payments that I made, but I didn't. The subsequent arrears were due to not physically having any money to pay the rent. I don't have a magic money tree unfortunately

It is entirely up to you how you proceed but you have been advised this is a pointless task.

There is no more to be said, you obviously believe you are entitled to the claim and wish you all the best in moving forward 

...............

OK then not "withholding"  but unable to pay.  Same thing really but you still owe this money.  My next bit of advice will be to get some debt advice boards 

I don't believe I do. Thanks, but if I wanted general debt advice I would ask. I would prefer to stick to the issue I have posted about

This, in a nutshell is why no one would ever be able to advise and help you.  What you believe does not matter (although you say you previously been a landlord so I'm amazed that you cant agree that you owe the money), what matter is what the lawa says and the law says you owe the money. You are in complete denial which is not helping you at all. What makes you think that you are right and all the replies on here are wrong?

I am astounded that you believe I should owe the LL any money under the circumstances, or that you believe the LL should not have to pay me any recompense. Really?? Your life experiences I am sure, clearly must have been very different to mine - I think you are the one in denial and am sorry you cannot grasp or understand the situation. That does not mean that you are right. 

Mojito1

babyblade41 said:

I can assure you I AM focusing on my mental health and if I make a decision to argue my case in court and am asking for support for that, the very worst thing you could possibly do, is advise me that I am wrong and to go against my best interests. 

You are wrong and the advice given is exactly to help your best interests .

I'm out now.good luck if you proceed , I think you might need it 

That's sad, but ok.

The people actually giving advice on what I asked for are much more helpful.... Any negative drain on me is very clearly not of any benefit to me, or my health, so I fail to see why you have tried to make me deviate from my instinct and best interests. 

Any advice given in contradiction of my best interests is very clearly NOT helpful at all and is only a waste of peoples valuable time and energy.