UK Landlord Forum / Life

Quote from: Hippogriff on July 23, 2019, 07:53:36 AM
Be prepared for a 1.5x offer coming back... softly-softly-catchee-monkey.

I've had a repeat of the 1.37x deposit offer, emphasised as the full and final. My landlord:

• Acknowledges my latest email
• Reiterates 1.37x as full and final offer
• Says has taken advice
• Gives view that I seem intent on Court
• Describes me as having 'demanded' 'staggering' amounts (and quotes amounts I haven't actually demanded, or even asked for; rather which I illustrated as the maximum theoretical penalty - but what's accuracy/ detail these days)
• Says is not willing to receive anymore 'personal'/ 'aggressive' 'demands' and advises my use of solicitor
• Threatens to withdraw offer of 1.37x if it is the court 'root' I wish to take but then assures that it can be 'sorted immediately' if I choose to take it
• Reiterates irrelevances about having had no financial benefit, not having held deposit personally and my not having been at any loss. Makes a random reference to carpet cleaning, claiming to have waived the requirement for this. In fact I cleaned the 5+ year-old carpets even after my landlord had a fitter for new ones round to measure-up, and their agent failed to respond to three requests for confirmation as to whether they needed 'professional' cleaning or just my own efforts
• Reiterates shock at my action but then makes some dig about my 'many disputes with neighbours and management'!

I can only describe this as a wilful misinterpretation of facts. I had excellent relations with all neighbours over 5 years, with the exception of one who was a neighbour for only three months and who refused to cease illegal activities at my polite request.

• Again asks me to reconsider the 1.37x offer which has been reiterated, withdrawn and then reiterated already above

I actually don't know whether my landlord doesn't understand, is being stubborn, or just has a really crap solicitor giving advice but not overseeing the drafting of responses. In any case I'll be completing and filing the forms for action over the coming days. So two questions:

• Any tips on what to include/ what not to include in the filing?
• Is it worth a final response? It's hard to work out whether it's expected or not! I think really there's little to be achieved until the Court summons is received. I could break the latest email down responding to the statements with 'irrelevant', 'incorrect', 'what?', 'where did you read this?' etc, and something to finish along the lines of 'Court papers have been filed. Please feel free to let me know if you would like to save yourself some time, effort and money'.

Thanks.

Quote from: Beattieeee on August 02, 2019, 08:01:34 PM
Any tips on what to include/ what not to include in the filing?

See Shelter and NUS (modified) as guide to fill N208 form out. Google on how to make a witness statement.

You can ask for cost, but you are not entitled to interest on the claim as the deposit penalty is not money owed yet.

The claim is a "Non-money claim" which had a £308 issue fee the last time I looked. It is not a money claim.

Quote from: Beattieeee on August 02, 2019, 08:01:34 PMIs it worth a final response?

Only if you are making a formal Part 36 offer on N242A form.

Quote from: KTC on August 02, 2019, 09:48:20 PM

Quote from: Beattieeee on August 02, 2019, 08:01:34 PM
Any tips on what to include/ what not to include in the filing?

See Shelter and NUS (modified) as guide to fill N208 form out. Google on how to make a witness statement.

You can ask for cost, but you are not entitled to interest on the claim as the deposit penalty is not money owed yet.

The claim is a "Non-money claim" which had a £308 issue fee the last time I looked. It is not a money claim.

Quote from: Beattieeee on August 02, 2019, 08:01:34 PMIs it worth a final response?

Only if you are making a formal Part 36 offer on N242A form.

Thanks KTC. I'm working through the requirements. It appears that my claim would not ordinarily be allocated to the small claims track and therefore initial expense will be higher and process for recovering costs a little less straightforward.

Quote from: Beattieeee on August 07, 2019, 07:49:55 PM
process for recovering costs a little less straightforward.

If you get that far, statement of Costs (summary assessment) (N260) serving it onto the landlord and filing it with the court at the right time before the hearing. (Take spare copies with you to court, as they'll probably have lost it.)

It's been a busy couple of weeks but everything is now ready to go. There were a couple of points where I couldn't find clear and consistent guidance online:

• I have included my partner's name on the claim - they were joint tenant with me, are named on the ASTs and as I understand it I would need Court permission for them not to be named on the claim. This is in spite of the claim form referring to 'Claimant' (singular) throughout. I'm not clear on whether multiple claimants will be required to attend Court should the claim reach a hearing.
• There's conflicting information out there about the timing of providing a witness statement. Some places advise including one with the claim, but there's also guidance which indicates that the Judge will direct a claimant to submit one if and when required. Also it's an admin point but all the witness statement templates I can find are consistent in requiring the inclusion of a claim number which obviously I don't have until the claim is in train...so one way or another things don't align perfectly. In any case I have been able to make a concise but full explanation of my claim on the N208, so for now in the spirit of brevity I plan not to include the witness statement (unless somebody here screams that this is a very bad idea...!)

No further contact from landlord but I expect that will remain the case until they get post from the Court at least.

Quote from: Beattieeee on August 21, 2019, 10:52:22 PM
There's conflicting information out there about the timing of providing a witness statement.

For Part 8 claims, which is the procedure required for deposit protection penalty claim, everything is supposed to be included at the time of the claim. So yes, include a witness statement now.

Quote from: KTC on August 22, 2019, 07:29:25 AM

Quote from: Beattieeee on August 21, 2019, 10:52:22 PM
There's conflicting information out there about the timing of providing a witness statement.

For Part 8 claims, which is the procedure required for deposit protection penalty claim, everything is supposed to be included at the time of the claim. So yes, include a witness statement now.

Thank you again. So would I just leave space for a claim number to be added and hope that the Court does this? Is a single witness statement signed by one claimant sufficient or are two near-identical statements required?

Just thought I'd provide an update. I filed Court papers a little while ago. No acknowledgement or evidence was subsequently filed by the landlord. I'm now awaiting the directions hearing.