Ex landlord taking me to court for lost remote control - claiming £8k so far! Any advice? Anyone know about small claims court?

[toddlermom]

Hi all,

I'm super stressed and love if anyone has any advice at all. We moved house 3 years ago and the ex landlord thinks we lost/took/mislaid a remote control during the move. I honestly have no idea what happened to it. Have never seen it since we moved out.

Then they fraudulently kept £4K of our deposit and refused to give it back. My mistake as I didn't get the paperwork into TDS on time. So nothing I can do there.

Then they wanted me to pay £200 for this remote control. Which looking back of course I should have done. But there was no mention of it being lost or missing in the inventory. So I told them to get lost.

Now she has lodged a county small claims court thing and is claiming £8k in legal costs, having to buy a new TV (!) and interest etc

Does anyone know anything about small claims court? What do I do? I don't really want to go as I've got full time job, kids, still breastfeeding baby and I just I haven't got time or energy. Can I just say I don't want to go?

It's really stressing me out though! I'm super law abiding and don't even have parking or speeding fines. It's just really scaring me and her lawyers are super mean and imposing. She's really rich and really entitled retired nasty old woman so she's got time and energy to put into this and I just don't!

Thanks for any advice!

I've no advice but I didn't want to read and run. She sounds like an absolute witch. Honestly I don't think the judge would entertain this would they? Like should that not be covered under landlord and contents insurance? Could you qualify for legal aid?

That's so kind of you thank you. I don't think I qualify for legal aid. But it's more the stress and the time I'm spending on it.
Yes literally can't believe it's in the court system and the courts are spending time/money on this!!

Can you pursue her for the deposit money in the small claims court too?
A new remote control costs about twenty quid if that.

I wish! The TDS have this ruling that their decision is final and you can't appeal or claim afterwards! Annoyingly.

Ah, ok.

She'll only get a small amount of costs in small claims, certainly nowhere near £8K.

Has she sent a letter before action to you?

Can you give us a breakdown of what she is claiming for? And an explanation of why you didn't replace the remote before now.

She did send letters before the action but to my old email address so I never received them. She finally sent actual physical papers to the postal address only last month.

The breakdown is mostly legal fees and interest.

I didn't replace the remote as we didn't take it and don't have it. It may have gotten lost in the move, may have been "'misplaced' or the movers might have lost it. I have no idea. But I didn't replace it as the inventory did not show that it was missing. Obviously now I wish I just had replaced it just to avoid all this hassle.

Do you know if I can just refuse to go to actual court?

Can I just do it online or by paperwork?

How will the judge decide? They have no proof that we 'took' it. But apparently it did go missing. But we definitely don't have it not want it!

Any practical advice welcome. Thank you!!

this is quite useful and says you can't claim for legal fees. It also says you don't need a lawyer - I'd get reading up on this OP and push back.

A quick google says you have 14 days to send back your response. There's no guarantee it will even go to court - I suspect if you've not been responding to emails she's hoping you'll miss it somehow and it will go to court and be awarded in your absence.

I'm no solicitor, but surely you have a document (the inventory) which shows nothing noted wrt the remote. This must have been agreed when you handed back the keys? How is the llord going to prove that this was missing? Have they sent emails/texts referencing the remote which you have replied to accepting responsibility?

Thanks @LonnyVonnyWilsonFrickett . I'm on it now!

A TDS decision is only final within their own system. You can still push it through court if you want and have six years to do so.

@clownstotheleft exactly what I thought! This is more or less the first I've heard about it. Literally insane

she is pulling a fast one - max exposure would be the cost of a remote - and it is most likely that the magistrate / judge it is in front of will consider it vexatious litigation - they could even award costs for your time / parking etc. against her!

there are no legal fees reclaimable in the small claims court - as is known by every solicitor in the land, so no lawyer would be advising on pursuing for a £20 remote control...

I would be tempted to force the issue and waste her time - you can have the case moved to the court closest to you and as long as you are polite and smartly dressed and open, you will probably win - then ask whether you can claim your costs due to vexatious litigation... there is a standard level of costs (low) but it would still be satisfying...

all you need to do is stand up in court and just say that the remote was left with the device when you left the property - you are not able to tell what happened to it after that...

@toddlermom , you need to take @akkakk to court with you , they could probably get you walking away from court with some cash!

Smilies not posting :/

:D :D :D

Surely if she has retained your deposit she has no grounds for claiming for the remote?

@toddlermom - thank you I am not a lawyer (but have had to take people through the small claims system several times, so know it reasonably well) - and have a dislike of those who try and take advantage!

I don't know anything about this, but in your position I'd use the legal assistance cover that comes with my contents insurance. Check yours - do you have legal cover?

What puzzles me, though, is why didn't the LL take this from your deposit? Especially since they retained a chunk.

I think they mustn't have realised til 3 months later that's why it wasn't included in the deposit she kept. Otherwise I'm sure she would have done. @akkakk great advice thank you! I just hate taking a day off work, paying someone to pick up kids and travelling and wasting time on this. It's so vexing.

Does anyone know if I can get it struck out or excluded from court before it actually goes to court?

You might nit need to actually go to court. You just send them your response and if applicable any documentation.

I sent my response and documentation and I got a form to say if I agree to go to small claims court or not. It doesn't seem very flexible.

Anyone know if you can decline to go to court or just say no?

Thanks!

My husband is a barrister in this sort of field and I read your post to him - his eyes lit up at the sound of them having kept your deposit in that way. The TDS paperwork is the landlady's responsibility, not yours, so you should be able to claim that back. Plus up to four times the deposit in punitive damages... It may be worth talking to a solicitor or a direct access barrister (not touting for business or anything, honest gov) as the law is totally on your side in this sort of case, and the landlady seems to be being ridiculous.

He's just read my post and corrected it to three times the deposit in punitive damages. And he says don't worry about the costs position.

Too much, he says. He's being a pernickity lawyer. And of course as he says, he hasn't read the papers.