I am not sure about that. What I can tell you is this - even if the judgement is in your favour then getting the money off him could be a long haul. If he does not agree to pay the amount in full immediately, or does not agree to any monthly payment plan set by yourself (this stuff is NOT discussed in the court room - the judge will tell you to sort this stuff out between yourselves after the hearing) then you will have to go back to court to apply for an 'attachment of earnings order' which your landlord will have to fill in, stating his income (incomings, outgoings etc) and then the court will decide how much a month he should pay to you. Sadly, the court does not check this information that thoroughly - so if he says he has 3 cars and spends a £150 a month on each one for petrol, which is essential to his business etc, then that will impact on the courts decision of payments. I know this from first hand experience...

My landlord is also stating there is rust on the bleed valve of the kitchen radiator - which will cost £55 to replace plus labour. I never noticed that and now she has brought my attention to it - there *is* a small amount of rust on top of the 'bleed' tap - but how do I know there isnt simply a quick fix solution for removing the rust and that a new radiator is really needed? She also wants to charge me for her visiting the property to remove a few weeds (maybe 5) from the front garden. Again - how can she do that? It was her choice to visit and remove those weeds! At no time did she say "In future, you may be charged for that" !

Well, if you are convinced that you are in the right - let the landlord take you to the small claims court. There is absolutely nothing that you have to pay upfront (I know - I've been through the system with a landlord taking me to court). You only pay if you get a judgement against you. If you feel you are right and can prove it - then let them take you to court. My advice would be to *photograph* everything that your landlord claims is in 'disrepair' etc - you will need this type of evidence to present to the district judge. That alone should allow the judge to make a fair evaluation of what the landlord is claiming to be 'broken' and the actual state that the item is in (as revealed by the photos).

My landlady is asking for the house I rent off her to be 'professionally cleaned' before I move out? Is this normal?

Well the upshot of it is - I have been lucky and have found a houseshare just up the road which I will be moving into at the end of September, so I dont have to tell my landlady that she hasnt given me an S21 blah blah blah. I'm just too accomodating at times I guess. Though it does niggle me that not only does she give me one months notice, but she wants to bring potential buyers to view the property every single weekend until I leave! I said yes to tomorrow, but said no to her coming again Sunday with other people to look around. In fairness, she accepted that. But you know, it does bother me because she is in such a rush and doesnt appreciate the fact I am being so good with her and could have made her wait at least another two months if I really wanted to....

Ah okay. Well I havent had the S21 anyway (I understand it has to be handed in person to me or posted to me) so I have at least one months more house hunting time instead of being under pressure to leave the very next day after my tenancy expires.

Additional - I just noticed that an S21 cannot be served until the end of the fixed term? So if I informed my landlord of my knowledge regarding this, and I cannot be forced out on the day my tenancy ends (Sept 28th) they cannot issue me with an S21 before that date which is valid from the date I receive it? It would only be valid from 29th Sept?

Thank you for your reply. No I did not sign an S21 addendum. Okay, well now I know I have at least two months then, as I have not been served an S21. Again, I am happy to move on - I don't have an issue with that - but I got a bit stressed by the way in which my landlord chose to tell me they wanted to sell and the way the email I received of them was worded - implying I had to go in 4 weeks as soon as the tenancy agreement expired.

Hi, My tenancy is up in one month, end of Sept. I had an email this morning from my landlord stating they have decided to sell the property. It wasn't a 'formal' notice for me to leave, in the sense of the wording. They were thoughtful to an extent and told me that if I needed longer, let them know so they can arrange a weekly payment of rent rather than monthly etc. But, from reading the posts on this forum, am I right in thinking that I can't be legally forced out unless they hand me the S21 document ? Just to stress - I am in now way intending to be awkward at all to my landlord - I just want to know if I do have that extra little bit of time if needed (if I was on my own it would be a cinch to move, but I have a dog and ideally want to move into a househare, and finding one that accomodates pets is a lot trickier)

Briefly - myself and my girlfriend took out a year's lease on a property. We BOTH signed the tenancy agreement. She left in January and is living nearby and I have been paying the full amount of rent. Can I force - via small claims court I guess - her to pay her half of the rent (and back date it) ?

Interestingly, the district judge, several times, alluded to the fact that payment in these cases sometimes has to be wrung out of the defendant and that it is never easy. A CCJ against me for 6 years is something I just have to accept - there is absolutely no way on this earth I can afford the £750 - I will be looking to repay £10 a month, if that. I am already on an Involuntary Debt Management Scheme anyway, so I will see if that company can take on this extra debt. From what I have read, the court will send me a form to fill in asking what I can pay so I will offer £10 a month, stating all my other debts etc.

Actually, do I have grounds to appeal on the witness issue? I know I agreed, but could I argue that to assimilate that information within that short period of time was extremely difficult and I was under too much pressure?

He could gamble on a court outcome because he had no fees to pay in the first place, I guess (he is unemployed so was able to claim the benefits or whatever they are, to pay all his costs). Yeah, you are right about the witness I know, but I was representing myself so to have that sprung on you literally as we are sitting down in front of the district judge - its very hard to make a snap decision. I didn't prepare nowhere near well enough - I accept that. A lesson to be learned for me and anyone else reading this thread who is going through a similar case - prepare! Prepare well!

The law really is an ass. The judgement went against me. It just goes to show that it doesnt matter who is right or wrong - what matters is how better prepared you are on the day and how convincing your argument is and my landlord - who is an actor by trade - gave a convincing performance. So I am obliged to pay him £750. Also, he brought a witness with him - a lodger who witnessed the damage on the afternoon of the same day I left. The district judge did say to me that I could object to the witness, but foolishly I allowed him to stay! I was over confident and just was so sure there was no shred of evidence against me, that his supposed 'witness' could not say anything but confirm the condition of items that were there. Ah well. You live and learn. I have been looking at the whole 'attachment of earnings' order thing though and feel duty bound now to force him to go down that route to extract the money out of me. Cant believe the decision went against me! The district judge just didn't seem reasoned and objective in her summing up. Bugger.

I wonder what would happen if I didnt turn up? The stress affects me a lot and sometimes I just want to 'bury my head in the sand'. Yes, I know its not the adult way of dealing with things, but stress can bring out childhood responses in you. I am sort of confident that the judgement will be in my favour - but you can never anticipate or second guess a judge. There is no evidence - I guess its based on 'balance of probabilities'. *sigh*

I'm appearing in the small claims court on Monday. He obviously, through some strange warped and disturbing reasons of his own, wants to pursue this and has been happy to pay the further £80 or whatever in escalating this to a final small claims hearing. None of the facts have changed since my opening post here. I have no further defence to give - at the end of the day its one persons word against another.

Ah I found the clause. 3.5 - If the property is permanently vacated by the Tenant at the Tenants own request before the last day of the term, the Tenant shall remain liable to pay the landlord the full unpaid balance of the rent receivable by the landlord had this agreement run for the full term. Ah well. Looks like I'm here until September then!

Oh its not let through a letting agency either - its just a private agreement between me and the landlady. I can find no mention, in the contract I signed, of any compensation I would be elegible to pay if I cancelled the contract early. And as I say, I have offered her a full months rent anyway, even though I wouldnt be here.

Hi I'm six months into a year long tenancy agreememnt. I rent a two bedroom cottage. I have the sole use of it. I was looking into the option of going into a housshare due to financial considerations as its a bit tight, to say the least, for me at the moment. I had an opportunity to go into a houseshare in ten days and rang my landlady, asking if this was acceptable *and* offering compensation ( a whole months rent, even though I would have vacated the premises). She wasn't amenable to that at all and was very firm in saying that I had to stick to the agreement. I specifically asked her if she would go down the legal route if I left anyway but she didnt give a clear answer on that and just reflected back that it was the 'agreement' we had that was most important. So...if I left anyway, what sort of outcome could I expect? If she took me to court then what would happen? I can't afford to go through that process so if someone here told me she would be able to gain compensation (the next six months rent) legally then of course, I'll just sit it out and review my options come September.

Don't to it. The whole case stinks.

Thankyou Ed999, That advice is very helpful. I am currently writing my Defence and will post that tomorrow and may do what you suggest and also write to my previous landlord, pointing out the facts highlighted by yourself and that, frankly, he stands to lose money if he pursues this.

I was paying £310 pcm. Balance of prob - its always a tricky one isnt it. But I am confident I can present what I know is the truth in a powerful, succinct way. We will have to see. It is a gamble but a gamble I am willing to take for moral and ethical reasons.

There was no signed inventory. Nothing was signed in fact - I was not even given a receipt in the five months I lived there, for any of the rent payments I made. Thank you for your reply. Even when you are innocent, a situation like this can be stressful but your reply has given me more confidence to proceed with the dispute and stand up for myself and for what I know is right.

Hmm interesting developments since posting here over a month ago. A police officer did visit me. Know what she told me (in confidence) ? She said her colleagues told her it wasn't worth the petrol to come out and see me - it's just one word against another. Anyway, she interviewed me and then, the next day, telephoned me to say that no action is being taken against me and they are not pursuing it. However, my strange ex-landlord has now chosen to spend £125 on a court summons. It was delivered to me at my place of work. In it he is claiming over £800 worth of damages. I am of course absolutely innocent of damaging any items in his property. But how do I prove it? He has not a shred of evidence - it's all circumstantial. I cannot 'physically' prove I didn't do it either. Does it come down to character references and history? Does it come down to how well I reply to the summons? Apparently I can choose to accept it or dispute it. If I dispute it, which I will be, then I have to write down my side of 'the story' I presume and then it states I send that within fourteen days. The judge then sends out an 'allocation questionaire' to decide whether the dispute is settled in a Small Claims court or otherwise (but it seems obvious that it would be a small claims court). So, has anyone been through a similar process and is there anything I need to be mindful of? I am innocent, but as we all know, it's so easy to accuse and proving innocence can be a complicated process.

I have a full time permanent job with NHS and £650 free for rent per month. However, two years ago I went on an involuntary debt management plan with Gregory Pennington due to my ex emptying my account when she left me. Does this mean I have zero chance in renting via leggings agency? I have rented successfully through private ads of course as no thorough checks were done.