Urgent Pls pls advice - Need some help with support evidences in suing the LL

Neillgb

yatin123 wrote: »

Hi,
I have posted a seperate thread on my problem earlier and have recieved some valuable advices from the people here.
To cut the story short, the LL has not refunded my deposit amount and I had mould problems in my house soon after occupying the house. I reported the problem to the Letting agent and the LL within 3 months of occupying the property - but, it was not resolved through out my tenancy of 14 months.
Now, the reason for not refunding the deposit is stated as repainting the apartment and cleaning.

I have a hearing date of 20 May and I have filed the case against the LA and the LL but have sent the papers to the LA. They have defended the case saying that the cost of repairing the apartment was more than the deposit amount but they are claiming the extra costs.

As I have to send in my support docs, I really need some advice from you people. I have gone through eagerLearners thread...but, I need some advice specific to my case.

I managed to get in touch with the current tenants of my flat and it looks like the mould problem is still there. I would like to present this to the court - can someone tell me which the best way of doing this? Can I take a photo of the moulds and present it? Not sure, if the current tenants will let me do it - but, I can seek their help. If not, what is the best way of explaining the current status of the flat to the judge?

Also, the court hearing is in Belfast and I have now relocated to Edinburgh. Can I claim the flight charges as well in my case now? If so, how do I state that?

Pls kindly provide me with your advices as it will be very helpful in presenting my case. I have lost £530 to the LL and this is a huge amount for me which I cant afford. As I have to travel to Belfast now, i am really worried about the extra costs now...and so, I really have to present my case well.

Many thanks

I see quite a lot of this 'repainting and cleaning' lark from LL's.

Have you asked for receipts for the work carried out. Did they get quotations for the work in order to obtain the best price for you?

yatin123

No, they didnt respond to my letters asking for the bills. They had mentioned in the dispute form saying that the bills/inventory will be passed on to the court before the hearing.
But, they didnt come to the hearing and they didnt pass any proof of claim to the court.

Neillgb

What a bunch of chancers they are.

Thoroughly dishonest and immoral.

They are trying to frighten you off and if they succeed you have been scammed.

It is your money but given what you have presented on this thread I feel you have nothing to fear. There is nothing to worry about in court simply present your case , do not get upset and answer questions calmly and concisely. Get the sequence of events clear in your mind, take notes and take time to refer to them if you need to.

The travel costs bit will have been covered in the links provided by other posters.

I can't see any reason why you could not present photos, they have'nt shown you the bills have they? Try to get the photos, difficult perhaps but if they demonstrate the work has not been done then the LL is going to look pretty silly.

Hope you go for it.

yatin123

Hi,
I have been getting some valuable suggestions re my small claims. I really need some urgent help/advice from you people.
A bit of background:
Sued both the LA and the LL for not returning my deposit. The Letting Agent sent the dispute claim saying that the landlord has spent more than the deposit amount but didn’t want to claim the remaining amount. The case came to the hearing and both the LA and LL didn’t come to the court. So, the judge ordered the case in my favour.
Waited for 4 weeks and contacted the EJO and have sent the notice to the Letting Agent first on 24 June. I actually thought of proceeding to enforce the judgement on the Letting Agent first…as I was told by EJO that I have to file in separate EJOs for the LA and the LL.
I don’t have the LL's address and so, have given the Letting Agent's address only for all communications.
The LA has written to me saying that the Letting Agency cannot be held responsible for this and he says that he has informed the court about this. He also says that the court has agreed to him. I called up the Small Claims and the EJO and they confirm me that there was no such communication and that the judgement against the LA still holds valid.
If I proceed to stage 2, will he be able to defend saying that he cannot be held responsible for the deposit and that the LL should be returning it back?
I don’t have the LandLord's address and so, the judgement papers have been addressed to the LA's office. The LA is still not giving the address of the LL. The flat is still being let out by the letting agent.
Can someone advice me how to proceed on this? There is a huge fee involved in stage 2 of EJO and I am a bit worried abt this. Can the agent say that he cannot be held responsible for the deposit? In that case, I don’t know why the letting agent sent the dispute claim.

Please can you advise?

MissMoneypenny

The new tenants should have the LLs address. If they are reluctant to give this to you, have you tried speaking to the local council's (in the area you rented) Tenancy Relations Officer about where you stand getting the LLs address?

yatin123

No, I dont think the current tenants also will know his address. I didnt check the local council office about the LL's address.
Even in the tenancy agreement, the LA only signed it on behalf of the LL. The LL's address was not mentioned in the tenancy agreement also and was addressed as C/O Letting agency.

So, I sent all the court papers addressed to LandLord, C/O Letting Agency. Should I have got the original address of the Landlord?

MissMoneypenny

In England and Wales the tenant has the LLs address, but not sure about NI.

I would definitely call your local councils Private Housing if this were me and see if they can help with what the rules are about a LL providing his address.

Have you also asked Shelter and the CAB about this too?

yatin123

Now that I have got the judgement against both the Letting Agent and the Land Lord against and the judgement is addressed to the Letting Agent's address, I don’t know if it will make any difference if I get the LL's address now. The EJO would proceed according to the notice of decree and I am not sure if they will serve the judgements to a different address that is not on the court claims.

Can someone please comment on this?

MissMoneypenny

Could you ask the staff at the court? I know they aren't allowed to give you legal advice, but they were very helpful in directing me to the correct information when I asked them for help.

yatin123

Thanks Missmoneypenny. I spoke to a lady at the EJO and she told me that as the letting agent's name is on the court orders, they can be served notice.

But, I would like to know if they can say that they cannot be held responsible when I proceed to issue EJO..which involves a fee of more than £150.