UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi Mahira

Thank you for your reply.

I am not a greedy person, all I am doing is just to get this landlord straight. I hope he learned his lesson and he will respect his tenants rights. That's what I was after. I would have appreciate more if he would have come to me with an email and apologise for being greedy and not with all the bullshit he has tried to sell.

I need to admit, I did enjoyed having him stressed as I know what kind of a person he is and how tight he is.

Quote from: AndreW27 on September 28, 2021, 03:58:33 PM
...

I don't know why you seems so angry. The LL's solicitor acts for the LL. You didn't expect them to reply going oh yeah I agree with everything you say.

Most of what's written are just fluff, since it's been said before. The only important bit is the offer. In a non-small claims case, cost generally goes towards the winner, but not if the loser has made a settlement offer that the winner fails to beat in court. I would say you need to consider what you think are the chance that you will fail to beat it in court, but since you have instructed a no-win-no-fees lawyer, that decision is now probably out of your hands. Your conditional agreement probably has a clause that requires you to follow your lawyer advice whether to settle or not, or penalties etc.

Your lawyer probably has more to think about. And if your landlord knows you're on a conditional agreement, the response was written as much for you as for your lawyer. They will try to argue for the case to be assigned to the small claims track, in which case lawyer cost aren't recoverable. Your no-win-no-fee guy expects to make a significant part of their income from the cost recovery rather than the portion of the win itself. If it goes small claims, they don't get any cost recovery. On the other hand, if it goes small claims, you don't have to worry about whether you beat their offer or not since no cost recovery. Swings and roundabouts.

Hi KTC,

Thank you for your reply.

First of all, I want to thank you for all your advices. I have found so much help in your answers for which I am so grateful.

The solicitor I have hired has already asked me how to action, if I am happy with the outcome so far he will accept it. Therefore, as I said in the previous message, I will accept the offer, case closed. Not in mood to go to court, never wanted to get there.

I have explained why I am "so angry", as you say. Admit you've been wrong, don't try to find stupid excuses for your mistakes.

Quote from: AndreW27 on September 28, 2021, 03:58:33 PM1x the value of the deposit, per breach, for a total of £3,300.

This is a wonderful result for you and a terrible result for your Landlord.

All of your assertions have been seen as truth and the Landlord has really learned a financial lesson in the process... plus they have admitted liability (all the noise about 'why' doesn't bother you one little bit).

I think you can walk away from this rather troublesome and long-running situation feeling good about it.

What will you end up with in your pocket after your Solicitor charges you? Or are their charges somehow 'on top'? I don't know how it works, but - whatever the outcome - I hope you have some useful £s.

Take it and run!

Hi Hippogriff,

Thank you for all your replies, much appreciated, all your advices have been so useful.

The solicitor will keep 33%, he hasn't done much. All he did is to use my letter - Letter before action - which has been sent to the landlord prior to hire him,  and add his presentation + a Part 36 Offer.

They must have spent 1-2 hours on my situation, as the initial part I've done it myself with your help guys.

I was surprised with LL's answer after I hired a solicitor. I don't think he thought I will hire one, especially after he received initial letter from myself. Or maybe he got scared of the name of the solicitors hired...

Exactly right.

It became real to him at that point. Sometimes you can do all the effort yourself, you can write the exact same things as someone does who has letters after their name indicating a certain qualification... but one is just hot-air from an aggrieved ex-Tenant you can ignore and one is something you prick your ears up to and pay full attention to. This is the just way of the world. A couple of grand coming your way now is a tasty bonus for your efforts coupled with - what you say you always wanted out of this - a certainty that someone has been taught a real-world lesson... a lesson taught that should also benefit future Tenants of this Landlord.

There is also something else positive about simply accepting the offer as-is, no bargaining or hustling... forever in the future the Landlord will be wondering if you'd have accepted even less than the bare legal minimum... because you snapped it up so quickly that will be a tasty 'unknown' to leave in their mouth. I like the vibe of that. Even though they can never be said to have "overspent" they'll always wonder that.

Hi guys,

A little update on my situation. The landlord had time to pay until 5th of this month. Yesterday my solicitor was contacted by his solicitor that the landlord is not able to pay as he left in holiday in hellostan, can't be bothered, and asked to extend the time he has to pay up until 18th of this month. I agree with, be it as he wants.

Yesterday, I was contacted by the other solicitor I have hired to check on the licence to rent. As stated in a previous message, the borough where the property is, has a licence to rent scheme and you need one if you want to rent. We found out that the landlord didn't have one for 9 months (the licence costs between 1.5k and 2,5k per year depending on the type of licence).

Now, being treated like that by the landlord, who can't be bothered, I have decided to pursue against him again.

" Dear X,

You have a potential claim of £ 12,600.00. If you would like to go ahead I can get agreements out to you all for you to read and sign. Below are all the details that you may need to know. Please come back to me with any questions you may have.

You will need to prove that you have paid all the rent over the 9 month period and we would also need a copy of your tenancy agreement.

... "

Isn't that fun ?

so Andrew, you are back on the game and going to court?

out of curiosity, which borrow is that and breach of which law you are seeking £12.5 k pls?

It'll be Rent Repayment Order on the grounds that the property is unlicenced.

At Tribunal not Court (not much practical difference admittedly).

Quote from: mahira on October 18, 2021, 11:29:37 PM
so Andrew, you are back on the game and going to court?

out of curiosity, which borrow is that and breach of which law you are seeking £12.5 k pls?

Hi Mahira,

I've just received the funds for the deposit claim

As KTC said, it is the rent repayment order, Waltham Forest Borough.

I don't know much about it, all I know is what I have to pay

A little list + 35% of whatever may be awarded by the Tribunal.

Postage (All prices are exclusive of 20% VAT)
•       Royal Mail – 1st class signed for (Letter of claims and general correspondence) : £7.50
•       Royal Mail – 1st class proof of postage (Letter of claims and general correspondence): £5.00
•       Royal Mail – 1st class signed for (tribunal application) for 3 bundles : £30.00
•       Royal Mail – Royal Mail 1st Class Signed For Tribunal Response 3 Bundles to tribunal & 1 Bundle to Respondent : £60.00
Title Search (All prices are exclusive of 20% VAT)
•       HM Land Registry (Registered proprietor & property info search conducted by Legal Road) : £25.00

Now, this solicitor seems to be completely different than the one used for the deposit claim. I have pointed to him that the landlord may wish to negotiate and my understanding is whatever ( if ) he'll offer, will not be accepted...hence the list I have already started to pay

nice Andrew..that is a nice return on investment..right..very happy for you.

glad I asked this question, coz otherwise I would not have known about this RRO.

I googled about it and, although my council Brent does not have such scheme, think I may have grounds on the basis of harrasmment (I had to call 999 one time) and illegal eviction (LL changed locks during notice period and claimed rent from me).

I will research about what to do and how to prove it..thanks a lot...

Quote from: mahira on October 20, 2021, 12:01:42 AM
nice Andrew..that is a nice return on investment..right..very happy for you.

glad I asked this question, coz otherwise I would not have known about this RRO.

I googled about it and, although my council Brent does not have such scheme, think I may have grounds on the basis of harrasmment (I had to call 999 one time) and illegal eviction (LL changed locks during notice period and claimed rent from me).

I will research about what to do and how to prove it..thanks a lot...

Hi Mahira,

I understand you don't want a solicitor, that's a bad thing. I wouldn't trust myself (lack of knowledge & time). I rather pay 50% to a solicitor and be represented.

I am at the 4th landlord now and I can say I only met one who was indeed a nice person. You should get what you give, but it's not happening.

Before I moved at the place where I am now, I have insisted and asked the LL to register my deposit and explained this was the main reason I have left the other one. 3 months after I am still waiting. I'll not say nothing to the guy, but I will go after him when I leave.

LL's who don't register your deposit can't be trusted ( sadly, you only find out after you have signed the contract).

I have/had so many issues where I am now:
- oven wasn't working, had to wait 4 weeks to receive a crap Chinese one which smells of burned plastic when on;
- power in the living room is bad, for some reason burns the light bulbs (still waiting for an electrician to be sorted);
-washing machine leaks quit bad ( explained to the LL, no answer);
- kitchen sink leaks - LL came himself and taped the pipes );
- had to paint myself 75% of the house - LL very happy with that - obviously; 2 bed terraced house;
- property advertised a price, when I got to the house I was asked £25 extra. Greedy as the former one, especially when you know how's the house you are trying to rent;
- there was no cleaning done whatsoever by the LL; had to do it myself (disgusting).

The area is nice and I love it, is exactly what I was looking for 10 years

Hi guys,
Little update on my 2nd claim against the LL, rent repayment order.
The 1st claim (the one with the deposit) has been won, the LL was ok to pay 1x deposit per contract (2 contracts).
My lawyer has requested 9x rent (maximum we can get), LL came back with 1x rent, which has been refused. Counterclaim for 7x rent (lowest we can get in my lawyer opinion), to which LL didn't answer.
There are 5 months now, the LL has changed his lawyers at least twice so far.
In November, the Tribunal decided to see us this year in May.
Last email from my lawyer, 3 weeks ago, below:
" Your landlord's solicitor has been quite busy trying to get the claim struck out. Yesterday he harassed the case officer to the point where she had to send him a stern email. He wanted to find out if we had paid all the tribunal fees otherwise he wanted the claim struck out.
Also, he was interested if you received Universal Credit.
I presume he is trying to devalue the claim if it was found that you were receiving universal credit or get it struck out for deception."
I must be seen like a disease, which doesn't go away, by the LL. Ha Ha Ha
Thanks.

hey Andrew,

if I get this correctly, you had total of two claims and one for failing to protect the deposit and other for RPO ?

I thought you settled the deposit protection out of court?

not sure how LL's solicitor was expecting to get info about your UC from court officer either..

Hi Mahira,
Yes indeed, the deposit claim has been sorted out of court.
Regarding the Rent Repayment Order, I wasn't even aware such thing exist. This has been found by one of the solicitors I got in touch with to be helped with the deposit claim. Therefore, whatever comes from this thing is a bonus. Don't even care if I get anything. I have seen that the maximum we can get from this is around 15k.
There are many many stupid things which LL's solicitor has tried, many emails. I'm not posting as I don't want to bother the guys here, to get them bored with this thing of mine
I'm not sure why the LL's solicitor may think I was getting UC. He knows my income...The judge rejected all his requests so far.
Less than 30 days now for our tribunal appointment.

Hi guys,
If anyone is curious on the result for my RRO claim ...
Last month judge decision has been received and I was awarded 40% of my initial claim + legal costs = 6k
At our hearing ( 6 hours ) LL presented himself with an army of lawyers + a barrister. Prior to our hearing, we were bombarded with tens of emails with all sorts of stupid things ( I was happy to receive them, as I knew this will cost the LL). The judge knew the barrister and was very surprised of his presence, as apparently the guy is very known
I was represented by a guy who's main occupation is IT and a guy who just started as a solicitor in 2021. We did a few mistakes (bundle wasn't quite good, lack of experience...) which helped the LL on his defence - that's where we lost the 60%. Not complaining, I am happy with the outcome.
I am sure that the LL has lost something around 16-17k (if not more) because of my 2 claims (10k payed only to me).

Nice win Andrew...well done!

what was the role for the IT guy though ? It would be good to know summary of where you won and on what basis you lost (high level), so that other Tenants in your situation can benefit.

Thanks..