Started my claim at Court - LL not responded!

[laprice26]

Hi There,

 

On the 29th September I submitted my claim form for my LL not having protected my deposit. I called today, as have had no word from the court, and LL still hasn't acknowledged the papers.

 

Apparently it was served on the 5th October, which was 14 days ago. . . I read somewhere that if they haven't responded in 14 days I could file a judgement. When I said this to the lady on the phone at the court this morning, she said that doesn't apply to TDS cases. Is this correct??

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks x

[raydetinu]

what are the circumstances surrounding your claim, small claims N1 route are you still a tenant of the LL for how long etc.

[laprice26]

Hi There,

 

No longer a tenant, sent the N208 I believe. I sent in evidence that the LL never protected my deposit, and all evidence that he is now ignoring all emails letters etc. Was a tenant from 29th April 2007 til May 2009. Have claimed for bond back + 3X deposit.

 

My previous threads explain the whole thing, but the above is in summary! x

[Trainee Lawyer 1]

Hi there,

I'm in the same situation.

Opened his post..found out he hadn't paid the mortgage, thought probably a good idea to find out where my deposit was. He never replied to my letters.

I filed papers in court on 5 August 09. Out court date is this monday (26 Oct). It does take a while for the court to fix a date for you.

The court never contacted us to say whether the landlord responded or not and we are therefore still on for the hearing. I think the above post is correct in that they probably don't tell you about any contact he has with the court in TDS cases. It never bothered me that I hadn't heard anything from the court.

House got repossessed on 2 October so if this happens to you, you don't need to send any further documents to the court..just make sure you bring in anything else that has since become relevant since you initially filed the papers.

Good luck with getting your deposit protected...I don't rate my chaces as my landlord is pretty much bankrupt! Hey ho!

[laprice26]

Hi Trainee L 1,

 

I called the court again, and they said that it is still sat with the Judge. So did you wait from August til you received something through the post?

 

Well good luck for Monday make sure you tell us how you get on! x

[Trainee Lawyer 1]

Yeah, I received notice of the 26 Oct court date on 5th September so it does take a while for them to get back to you. Once they set the date, they then send him the copy of the documents you sent them. (You should have to provided them with the copy to be sent to him).

I went to court yesterday and the Judge commented that my landlord did submit his acknowledgment of service and he had it on his desk.

The judge was quite abrupt with my landlord and has given him 14 days to file a defence. I guess the landlord will now file this defence and once the court receives it, they will set a date for a new hearing. I imagine a second hearing will take place in 6 weeks. And so the saga continues.

I think the courts are very busy with hearings like this so that's why it takes 6 weeks to find a date in their diary.

I thought I would just go in yesterday and it would be case closed, hopefully the second hearing will bring an end to the matter...

[laprice26]

Hello!

 

Well I suppose maybe it's a good thing the Judge was abrupt with the Defendant??

 

I've got a "directions" hearing for the 5th November, and the Court are still adament that they have not been served the papers. When I asked how will they know what they are attending for then? The courts said "well they'll have to phone up to find out".

 

That really does sound odd to me. . .well good luck with yours - I'll post some more once the 5th has been and gone! x

[Trainee Lawyer 1]

Hi guys, just an update...after submitting my claim on 6 August 2009 and a pre-lim hearing on 26 October 2009, the case was finally heard in Lambeth County Court by Judge Pearce on 3 August 2010 (It takes a long time!!). She was so thorough and awarded me my deposit back plus 3 x my deposit, plus witness fess plus court fees. This means that I got £8000 back as well as 8% interest (not that my flatmate has said thank you...she's bragging about it since, despite her doing absolutely bugger all to help). Main thing I won. I think there's been a recent case whereby if you have a scenario where your landlord doesn't tell you within 2 weeks where your deposit is, you can sue him,but it's a bit inequitable really so the courts won't uphold this. In my case, he never told me where the money was and even when the repossession was underway and I wrote him numerous letters and he didn't respond to any of them.

 

In terms of the law, I submitted a claim under CPR Part 8 which I though entitled me to 3 x deposit. However the initial judge said it should be heard unde CPR part 7...I took this to mean that it would be a simple small claim and that I would just be entitled to my deposit back (rather than the 3 x deposit..not that I feel I wa entitled to that - as far as I was concerned, it was a gamble and I was only owed my deposit back) So imagine my surprise when the judge starts quoting s.141 of the housing act out (i just thought that despite requesting it on my claim form, any judge just wasn't going to conside the 3 x deposit rule)...I thought I was going to pass out when she said I was entitled to my deposit PLUS 3 x my deposit..unbelievable...worth all the hard work.

I found out my landlord had a bankruptcy order in Dec 09 so I'm guessing if he's bankrupt already he's in more of a position to pay as the previous debts have been wiped clean.

He bought my flat on a 100% interest only mortgage, We paid £1433 rent every month but his payments were £1800. He was an idiot and should never have done that. By then end he ended up owing more than £385k for a flat he bought for £350k.....it was later sold by the bank for less than £315! Shocking.

 

He says he has no money and can only afford to pay the 8k in installments of £400 a month...he will be paying for the next 18 months but that is the price you pay for ripping off your tenants. I wouldn't mind,but he lied about having received out deposit from the letting agent...however, his mortgage acount shows that he paid more than £3000 into the account in Nov 08 (which is when we paid the deposit and first months rent...interesting seeing as he hadn't been able to make any payments since May 2008!!

 

Good luck guys and PM me if you think I can help with specific advice!