Run out of money for legal case.

[shaftedbythesystem]

COPIED FROM LEGAL AS DIDN'T GET ANY RESPONSES.
Run out of money for court action. What now?1

16/10/2018 18:11 shaftedbythesystem

I've name changed for this post.
I live in a housing association property. Due to some mobility problems the property is level access and this is the only type of property that I was able to bid for via the council run bidding system. I'm unsure of the extent of detail I can give here as there is currently legal action underway so I'm going to be vague! When viewing the property the HA representative offered facilities that it later (after signing tenancy) it became clear they were unable to provide. I have been through the official complaints procedure and Housing Ombudsman. The Ombudsman found the HA to be guilty of maladministration and outlined the expected remedy. Two years later and the HA still do not act in compliance with the Ombudsman directions. I started legal proceedings which have now come to approximately £7000. It's my Mum's savings, my savings, every penny we could muster, my living conditions have really taken a beating to put together this money. I just don't have any more cash, I could try for a personal loan but even so it wouldn't stretch to court. My Barrister wants £5000 for the next stage of proceedings, he claims that the Ombudsman process is not a recognised form of Alternative Dispute Resolution and the £5000 is his fee for the ADR process and all preparation in advance of court but NOT court fees. I am confident that my case has merit, the HA have made so many mistakes and fuck ups, my neighbor is involved in the case on the same grounds, we have witnessed etc etc. I just don't know what to do now? Any advice? Anyone know of ADR that I can access for less than the crazy money my Barrister wants? Any legal funding? Basically ANYTHING??
If you've read this far, thanks!

The Housing Ombudsman can apply to the court to make their determination enforceable. Has this not happened?

What was the expected remedy and why is the HA refusing to act?

What have you spent £7K on so far?

Please don't throw any more money at this. Tell us what the issue is and we will try to help. Also, have you spoken to Shelter?

I didn't know about the enforcement option with Housing Ombudsman, I'll call them today. The £7000 has been for a number of letters advising the landlord of breach of contract, meetings to discuss case, court fees and directions questionnaire etc. I've repeatedly tried calling Shelter, I shall keep on trying, they seem VERY busy. The HA have no coherent argument or reason AT ALL hence the Ombudsman found maladministration. Recently in one week they sent a defence to directions Questionnaire including a statement of truth which claimed that I was responsible for a certain activity because Clause ? Stated...? The following week they sent a a repairs and maintenance survey asking if the activity was being carried out on a weekly basis? They are utterly shambolic!

Have you actually been to court? It’s utterly bonkers that £7k has been sunk on this. What are you going to get out of it?

No, not court yet and the £5000 currently being requested by the barrister doesn't cover court but all the processes leading up to it. Yes it's fucking bonkers, I can't really say what I'm hoping to get out of it as it would identify the case but performance of contract and compensation for the 6 years they haven't performed plus the issue of misrepresentation of facilities.

It’s really rare for this sort of thing to need to go to court but without knowing what it’s for its really hard to advise to be honest

I don't think your solicitor (I'm assuming it has been a solicitor up to now) has your best interests at heart. He keeps taking your money with no real direction.

There's nothing stopping you giving more detail on here. If you're worried about being in contempt of court/ sub judice, on what you've told us it is not relevant here, nothing you say would be prejudicial to the case.

The housing forum on MSE is very helpful too, but they'd need the full facts to advise.

I'm onto my second legal representative, started with a lawyer who referred me onto barrister. I don't really want to discuss the case as it's been going on for years with so many ins and outs, twists and turns that its a never-ending narrative. Really hoping to hear any suggestions of how I can keep the case alive having run out of money. Have repeatedly called shelter since last posting, I don't even get connected to a queue its so busy.

im shocked the ombudsome actually did something

cant you go court and present your case yourself? i have done it before

If you have no funds then the only way to keep the case going would be to take it on yourself.

Please please stop throwing money at this without any kind of end game, not least because the court may well limit the costs you can reclaim.

The way forward would be to be a litigant in person, that basically means represent yourself. You just need to notify the court that you are no longer represented by your solicitor and will be representing yourself. It is not as daunting as you imagine, you can also have a McKenzie friend with you to take notes on your behalf etc.

Ah, I'd be more than happy to do it myself, I know the case far better than anyone. If anyone knows of an online resource for informing myself I'd be really grateful.

Did the HA put what facilities they were supposed to be providing in writing ? Did the HA put in writing dates that the facilities would be provided ? Did the HA say that they would provide these facilities free or that they would charge you for the materials and labour ? Please supply more information. Is your HA a huge international company, that owns 1000s of properties in your country and abroad ?

Have you been to Citizens Advice to ask for suggestions.

CAB may also know a charity that may be able to help you. However, if the facilities have not been put in place for a couple of years. What makes you think that they will still be put into place now or in the near future ?

It was facilities that they offered that they were not in a position to offer so have misrepresented the property. It's not strictly in writing but the tenancy agreement is so shit and ambiguous that it wouldn't be possible to know that they weren't available. Crucially, everybody else with the same type of property was offered so I'm not worried about that aspect. They can never be in a position to provide these facilities. Again, it's going into details about the case which would take hours and hours, I'm really just after some ideas of sources of legal support. Honestly, I don't rate the CAB, they don't have the knowledge base for this type of issue.

No the CAB aren’t very good. Unfortunately normal people often can’t enforce the law because it’s simpiy too expensive. There isn’t a untapped free legal resource going around. I agree self representation is your best bet

You are allowed to acxt as a litigant in person and not pay the £5000 to the barrister for the ADR/mediation. The £5000 is not actually an unusual sort of sum for say 10 hours of preparation and attending say 10 hours including travel on a day of mediation and they often drag on for 10 or 12 hours. It might be 20 hours in total at £200 an hour. So it is not that the barrister is bad, it is just at yor income level and given the kind of dispute you should not choose to throw so much money at this kind of case whereas it would be prefectly appropriate for people with a lot of money or different kinds of cases that go to ADR.

it sounds like you have issued legal proceedings - some kind of court claim and the HA has pout in a defence and then each side sent documents to the other and that before you go ahead with statements from witnesses and a final hearing both sides thing voluntary mediation - ADR - might be worth a try. If you do use ADR you may have to pay a mediator's fee for preparation and the day which in business cases could be £2k +. If you cannot afford that neve rmind the barrister just see if they other side will make you an offer without having the ADR/mediation. If not you can continue with the case to a final court hearing. If you lose however you will have to pay the other side's costs (or at least you do in other types of cases anyway) so you may want to take out insurance against that.

It sounds like you have had had a very difficult time of it.

I think you need to work out what you want from this. The property your in is the only property you could bid on due to access. Then they offered a facility they couldn't provide. So do you want cash from this, an apology, different property - which you said HA doesn't have.

I'm a bit bemused over what facilities they offered that worth suing over

Apologies if you’ve tried this, but there are some firms that’ll take do no win no fee legal cases against housing associations. I don’t know if they’d be the right sort of help, but could be worth a google and a phone call?

I’m sorry you’re going through this 💐

If they're never going to be in a position to provide what they promise, what are you wanting to achieve? Does whatever you want offset the amount of money this has cost?

Op wants the compensation, which presumably at this point has to go towards paying back the £5k savings she’s spent getting here...

Although even if you fully win a court case you tend just to get about 2./3rd of your costs back and I tihnk if you are suing for under £10k then you don't get any costs as it's a small claim so I tihnk someone needs to sit down with a calculator and look at all those aspects too.

Two specific facilities were offered as a feature of the property. Both were withdrawn after tenancy signing. One particular feature requires significant maintenance, the HA, despite having been instructed to maintain by Housing Ombudsman, do not maintain. This has been going on for years and if I don't pursue the case I will be left to maintain it indefinitely. I don't have the physical capacity to do so and simply shouldn't have to. Xenia, you have surmised exactly my current position, thank you. Would you know a mediation organisation I could approach, Google throws up thousands of results. Thank you all for the good wishes and input, the whole thing is incredibly stressful, I only keep going as I'm very aware of the merits of my case and frankly can't wait to see what a judge has to say to them.