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

tbs624

In England & Wales, once you have left a tenancy , you no longer have the right to be given your LLs address but I am not sure about NI.

Can't remember if you said that your tenancy started after April 2007, but if it did you were entitled to a Tenancy Statement, in addition to your Tenancy Agmt. It should have contained your LLs name and address. Also contact Shelter in Belfast ( I think I gave a link in an earlier post)

However, I think for around fifteen quid you can get a search of the Land Registry of Northern Ireland (not part of HM Land Registry) to find out the name and address of a property owner.

You could also contact the Northern Ireland Housing Executive who have responsibility for both council & private housing matters. they have four offices in Belfast (N, S, E & W)

I would have though that any court would take a very poor view a firm of LAs seeking to distance themselves from an action for recovery, whilst simultaneously refusing to pass on the LLs address.

I don't want to refer to the LA by name but as they are a franchise I would also write to their UK Head Office, outlining how their franchisee has behaved. That particular group seem to excel at self-congratulation on targets & achievements within their bit of the lettings industry so they should also get to hear about the tenant's side of their business too.

clutton_2

""I would have though that any court would take a very poor view a firm of LAs seeking to distance themselves from an action for recovery, whilst simultaneously refusing to pass on the LLs address.""

this was exactly the situation that Eagerlearner found herself in - i dont want to have to re-read it - but i seem to recall that the LA may have finally given up the address of the LL rather than be legally responsible themselves.

Yatin - this court business is a gamble - as i said ages ago - you have to be prepared to lose as well as win.

if you dont now spend the £150 to continue with this claim - you will have lost your original fee and stand no chance at all of winning.

if you do continue (you have already got judgement ) - you will probably then get a bailiffs warrant - and if you can find the LL's address as suggested above the bailiff can take their goods to sell to pay you - but anyone who has been here before can find ways round this.

then you may have to pay the court to arrange an "attachment of earnings" so that money comes directly out of the salary/income of the LL for you - but does he have any income/money ?

its a risk - there are no guarantees

re-read eager learners thread again

good luck

Loretta

yatin123 wrote: »

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.

I would have thought that if you have got judgment against the LA they are responsible because the court has accepted that they are and have given you a judgment against them

If the LA thought they were not responsible they should have filled in the defence when they received your summons and followed it through and appeared in court to say that they did not think they were responsible.

As you do not know where your L/L is but you do know where the LA is, presumably they have offices,

I would have thought that a visit to their office by the bailiffs during working hours may be quite successful!! It would be better still if you could get one of those foot in the door ones we see on TV programs rather than the wuite polite County Court ones

sooz

Loretta wrote: »

It would be better still if you could get one of those foot in the door ones we see on TV programs rather than the wuite polite County Court ones

ideally a large, hairy, mono-syllabic bailiff

yatin123

Thanks for your advices...I am really grateful to you all.
Clutton, I really dont want to give up..after taking so much pain. But, I will have to pay two seperate fees to enforce the judgements on the LA and the LL. So, I thought of taking it on the LA first as they have an office and secondly I dont hv the LL's address and have given LA's address as stated in the tenancy.
As Loretta says, only Belvoir Lettings filed the dispute claim and they didnt come to the courts. So, if I serve a baillif against the LA - will it be of any help? Will the LA have a chance to say that they cannot be held responsible and that they cannot pay?

The property is still being let by the LA and so the LL has an income from the property. So, could you pls suggest me which way to go?

hev_2

You have a county court judgement against both, yes?

Go back to the court staff. They cannot give legal advice, but they can tell you about procedure. In England and Wales there used to be something called a Garnishee (now called third party something order). What that means is that eg if you are owed money by a car showroom and they are owed money by someone who has bought a car then you can apply for the person who has bought the car to pay you instead of the car showroom, if that is clear? Usually done to ask banks holding debtor's money to pay directly to the claimant.

If it was in England/Wales you could apply for one of these so that instead of passing rent to the LL the LA would pay you. Have a word with the court staff (if you think they are helpful) or perhaps try and get some legal advice, some places do free initial half hours.

linky to the info on England/Wales rules http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/enforcement/thirdparty/index.htm
but under the old rules it wasn't necessarily a bank, but anyone who held money owed to debtor, in this case LL. Don't know whether it still applies, but worth asking.

Good luck.

clutton_2

if the court has awarded you the case against the LA then get the bailiffs against the LA if they dont pay you

i would write to the Chief Execetive of Belvoir at Head office first, with a copy of the court judgment and ask for your money PLUS all your costs - court fees, travel, loss of earnings, phone calls, postage etc etc - and say that if they dont pay you in 7 days you will instruct the court to issue a bailiffs warrant and you have a local journalist and press photographer to accompany you and the bailifs

yatin123

Thanks very much for your advice clutton.
Yes, I have a court judgement against both the letting agency and the landlord - both addressed to the letting agent's address.

Can I write to them that I will inform the local press about this? As mentioned, the Belfast office is a franchise. I was in touch with the central office who deal with the franchise and they wrote to me saying that though they are not directly involved in the francise issue, they would interfer in this case as they are concerned of customer care as well.
The manager of the francise department spoke to the owner of the Belfast branch...and only then the LA mailed me saying that he will talk to the owner...but, keeps saying that LA is not responsilble for the deposit and that they will inform the head office as well.

I will also get some info on the third party debt order as per hev's advise. Thanks very much to you hev.

I am a mother of a 2 year old..and wanted to file a case against this LA only after reading thro' EL's thread. I dont want to give up at this stage now. Now it has become more of a morality than a matter of money.

I really appreciate all your help and support regarding this.
I would like to bring this to the attention of the local press as well. But, as I live in Edinburgh now, I am not too sure as to how to bring this to their attention. Will do some research...


Also, clutton, I have got the details of the director and secretary of the LA. Can I write to them at the address mentioned in Company's house website..or if I address it to their head office in London, will it go to them directly?
It would be better, if I could get their email addres...

tbs624

Yatin - some further info for you (following on from my post a few back) Land Registers of Northern Ireland is based at Lincoln Building, 27-45 Great Victoria Street, Belfast, BT2 7SL. Tel 028 9025 1515. You should be able to get your former LLs address as the registered owner of the property from here (unless of course you used to get mail for him at the property, which would indicate he used the let property as his own home or correspondence address)

The situation in NI seems to be different to E & W, in that the housing responsibilities are dealt with by the Housing Executive, as I mentioned before, so the local council doesn’t have a TRO who'd be able to assist, as over here. Have you been into the CAB in Edinburgh yet because they should be able to liaise with one in Belfast to help you out? Or get in touch direct : Central Belfast CAB, 6 Callender Street, Belfast BT1 5BN Tel:028 9050 3000 open M-F 9.30am -12.30 plus Weds afternoons. Also Shelter Belfast: 58 Howard Street, Belfast BT1 6PJ Tel:028 9024 7752. It may be worth contacting any of them in case they have any prior knowledge of this particular LA/LL or helpful suggestions on a way forward for you.

I would definitely write, as I mentioned previously, to the UK franchisor’s office. Add that it is your intention to contact the press in Belfast and places such as the Belfast University accommodations office/student union etc, as well as the Belfast branch of Shelter and the local CAB, to highlight your experience of the business practices of their Belfast franchisee, thereby helping to protect other potential tenants. Remind them that this will be poor publicity for their profile. I know there is a Belfast Telegraph and there will be others, and you can probably send in info online.

Obviously, only you can make the decision on whether to continue to enforcement but, as others have said, having come this far….It must be so frustrating for you: hard though it is, you have to try to look at it as yet another of one of life’s “games” so that it doesn't become all-consuming. Do keep the board up to date with your progress because it all helps other tenants who may have similar experiences to your own.

clutton_2

i would write a registered post letter - then you know that its arrived - write "for the personal and private attention of xxxx" (the chief executive) on the outside of the envelope