We are being evicted, some advice please...... the date has arrived......

blue_monkey_2

Hi everyone,

Well, I have way tooooooooooo much time on my hands these days. Was browsing around earlier and saw that our MP (the one who sits in Parliament, he is the 'proper' one right?) has an open surgery on 23rd Feb. Soooooo I have sent 'some' background information and asked for an appointment to see him to discuss the matter. If I don't get one I am just going to turn up anyway, I've never been to a 'surgery' before, the worst they can do is turn me away. It is in 2 weeks time so we should have a court date by then as well.

Silvercar, the council told me I would be liable to pay ALL of my mothers court costs. At that time she had been to see a solicitor and was told it was costing her £1000 - I mentioned this to the council and she told me I would be told to pay all of these costs by the court. On the form there is a section you delete whether you want the plaintiff to pay your [the claimants] court costs. You can have a look at them on t'internet on the court website, it is form N5. however, I did not mention this to mother and !!!!! sister otherwise they would have done it and now mother is doing them herself (sister was supposed to be helping but she has lost interest now the house is too expensive for her and is helping when she 'feels' like it)

To be honest, I know - deep down - that a hostel is the last resort, I am 'ready' but feel that it is going to be an absolute nightmare and the thought of it keeps me awake at night as I know that it is going to be a living hell for all of us living with Ryan in one room.

However, I ain't going down without a fight over this to try and get somewhere rather than a hostel and he might take pity on me yet!! I have heard the ones who yell the loudest get dealt with first - either that or take out an injunction on me!! I've still got my eye on that 4 bedroom detached house with garden space for a pony and a nice apple orchard..... you got to keep on smiling right

Thanks for the positive vibes they mean a lot to me. Oh and yes, I am taking Ryan with me to the surgery (not that I have anyone to look after him anyway) - then they will see what life will be like with him being stuck in one room!!

Will let you know of course.

Wol2

Hi Blue Monkey

Quick thought...it is often up to the judge/magistraite of the court whether to award costs and how much.. If costs increase because of an error on your mum's part, the judge could say that these are not eligible to be awarded in your mums favour

Although we may think the law is an !!!...(and it frequently appears ot be) .I have to say that actually in some areas the law is incredibly fair and common-sensical (according to its own rules) as long as you present in "the courts lingo". Awarding of costs in situations such as yours I think are one where the court would exercise discretion.

You are clearly not wishing to "waste the courts time" by your approach to all of this (i.e. not contestng vigorously) and this fact should certainly be pleaded as mitigation against the award of costs to your mum.

If you want to discuss on the phone....PM me for my telephone number.

As you can see..still lurking on your thread..and posting if i feel I have anything useful to offer.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you...and sending hugs your way.

Much love
Wol2
xxx

Tiglet

Hi Blue Monkey,

Not too many years ago I had to evict a tenant who was on a verbal tenancy. The case had to go to a full hearing, and the tenant was as awkward as possible so I ran up huge legal fees.

I was awarded costs at the hearing but this was only the costs directly related to the hearing, plus my Solicitor's time in filing the documents. Out of thousands I paid in legal fees, the amount I was awarded by the court was (IIRC) less than £200.

blue_monkey_2

Hi Guys,
Thanks for setting my mind at rest on that, they are just little things I guess but they all still mount up and up and you end up with 100 things swimming around your head at one time.

It looks like another scare tactic from the council then *sigh*. Why is it the only time in your life you ask for help they do all of this and make life so stressful for us all. I could understand if I was difficult or a problem neighbour, kids in trouble and running amok, etc... but we are not. We keep ourselves to ourselves and don't cause any trouble with anyone and have never been in trouble with the police and stuff like that. Although my son has his problems we make sure that he bothers no-one else, we keep him in a bedroom furthest away from the neighbours so not to disturb them, we send letters when we have had parties or christening do's and stuff to apologise for parking problems or noise and tell them what time we intend on finished up. No-one else does things like that for us and we have to get all the crap from our problem neighbours but put up with it,however, I'll still do my good neighbourly bit as that is the way I have been bought up. We've just been dealt a crap hand in the last year and want some help, but no, they make life so stressful all round for all of us, depsite the other problems going on which they know about as well.

Anyway, ignore me, just having a rant, better to get it on 'screen' than carry it around.

I've had an auto-response from the PM and I've included all the details I need to. I've re-read the email I sent and I think it sounds OK. Should I post it on here? It probably sounds a bit daft but we have been lifetime supports of said political party anyway (they do know who has voted for who as when I first moved in here my mother had previously voted for a different party and the MP came around and was faced with me 'Ooh, Mrs x, will we be getting your vote at the next election? You what, I don't think so and................., LOL, let's just say they backed down the path and crossed her name off their list and have not been back!!) - do you think this has more bearing on whether they would help you more?

LOL when I think about that now!!

silvercar

Officially they treat all constiuents equally. It can't do any harm to say "as a life long supporter..." Whether unoffically some people are more equal than others??

You could be liabile for the immediate court costs, but they can't get blood out of a stone. Whether your Mum is hard enough to go back to court, get a CCJ and get a judge to set payments at 50p a week is anyone's guess.

Now that the council know of your situation, the longer they have to find an appropriate home the better.

blue_monkey_2

Thanks SC, I didn't put that in the letter - it crossed my mind to, but I thought it would have made me sound a bit of a sap, I just wondered if they looked back to see if we had voted for him in the past or not. I shall wait and see.

God, I hope not with my mother getting a CCJ - I take it we will have to pay her ir the court? Heck, mind you once someone puts an idea into her head it seems she is up for anything at the moment!! Apparently someone told her a month ago not to sell right now as it was not the right time, but she still is. It's anyones guess I suppose.

I did point out to the MP in my letter that it has now been 3 months that the council have known of our impending situation, they have had a copy of the S21, that has expired, now we are waiting for a court date but that we should have that by the time we meet him. I have asked him to tell me for what reason they are insisting it be dragged through the courts and for us to actually be in the 'homeless' situation before they help us. I also said that I refuse to believe nothing suitable could have come up in that time and they know we are also under the stress of getting my son's diagnosis and with his eduction as they have the letters and paperwork so why are they waiting until we are due for being evicted. I've also pointed out where the house is for sale so he can check on this if need be.

As I say, whether it works or not is another matter but I won't let the boat go down without trying to find a lifejacket, screaming the loudest and asking the question as to why they feel the need to drag this out for as long as possible. I've also pointed out that the council know we have debt and yet they are insiting we drag it through the court so we get ainto more debt - this time with the county court.

I can understand because of it being my mums house and people must get their mothers to kick them out so they get council housing, but if I don't ask 'why, why, why' then I won't get any answers, will I? I've also told him that we have been given a higher rate of medical points so they can see my son has issues yet they still want us dragging through courts.

At the end of the day, all I can do is ask and bug as many people as possible. What have we got to lose??

mumoftwins

Hi BM,

Good for you for asking why it takes so long and why you have to get into further debt before they will confirm whether they will definately help you or not. I found this the most frustrating thing of all and it was so annoying that despite my talking to the council months before that I ended with such a huge debt and a worsened mental health condition!

blue_monkey_2

Hi Julia,

Hope everything has been going OK, I have had my eye on your thread as well. I am so excited for you guys.... he he, and you have a spare room if I need it, LOL!!

Anyway, I could not let this pass without letting you know that the bizarre happened about 5 minutes ago! I went to get something from upstairs and my MP's face was starting at me from the letterbox - no, he was not outside (as hubby suggested, LOL) but a mailout has come telling all that he does in the community, etc... and that you are welcome to contact him etc... that he has surgerys you can attend. And that came the day after I sent that email. Very weird.

Anyway so opens it up and right in the middle was 'A Record of helping Familes' and that he takes a keen interest education and particularly in 'special education' - which is what my son is getting and he will understand the needs my son has.

I know it might be nothing but it has given me something to be excited and positive about and right now I need this - i am so excited I could cry. So, fingers crossed he will do all he can to ensure my son's needs are met on the school and housing side. I had already explained o him the help the school had given him in my email. Am I a sap for getting excited?? Who care's, Until I meet or hear from him and he tells me otherwise it will give me more optimism over everything. So, right now I am feeling Depsite having a whopping migrane and my son having another day of paddys. I just feel warm and happy inside over him helping us. And what a bizarre day for the mailout to arrive, I can;t even remember the last time one arrived. Is the hand of fate giving us a leg up I wonder??

My son is helping himself to the cheese so better run else it'll have grated skin mixed in. Nice!!

MummyHol

blue_monkey wrote: »

Anyway so opens it up and right in the middle was 'A Record of helping Familes' and that he takes a keen interest education and particularly in 'special education' - which is what my son is getting and he will understand the needs my son has.

I know it might be nothing but it has given me something to be excited and positive about

You're right to be thinking positively about this. Theres a good chance that he'll be more likely to help you (or at least show you support) if it shows people that he's serious about his interest in 'special education' and his 'record of helping families'. Beside which, if he doesn't help you could always go to your local papers saying he's claiming to have a ''keen interest'' but is turning his back on his supporters.
Our local MP didn't really help us directly (they were quite upfront about the fact that they coudln't do much) but they did follow our progress with the council, which put the pressure on them a bit. Her office even sent us a letter when we finally got housed, saying they were glad to hear our situation had been resolved, which was nice.

If we win the £95million Euro tonight, i'll buy that house for you :T !!

Tiglet

It sounds to me as if he's been busy on parliamentary stuff, but he's at least managed to get one of his constituency people to pop a leaflet through your door to let you know that he wants to get involved.