Panicking!

[CutiePatooties]

Apologies to those of you who have seen me on here a couple of times before, speaking about the same thing!

I just have a final question and wondering if anyone knows the answer? (Perhaps a solicitor is on here, or someone who has been through the same thing).

I sent my defence in, but it was terrible. I was highly emotional and didn’t say any of the facts I needed to say really. I also didn’t send any of my evidence across.

I’m now in a better frame of mind (I have BPD, so struggle to think clearly enough for things like this when under pressure or stress) but today I have clarity. I’ve written a far better defence, sticking to the facts and I’ve sighted where I will intend to use evidence. I’ve printed off my evidence, labelled them and highlighted parts to help the Judge when looking through it all.

Have I wasted my time? Will the judge tell me I should have submitted my evidence before now and will they not let me submit a different defence on the day?

I feel like an absolute idiot, but I’ve not been in the right frame of mind at all. Think I’m only seeing clearly as I’m forced to - the hearing is on Monday.

But I will add that I don’t agree with you that “the landlord gets it all“ - she’s had to spend thousands of pounds getting you out and suffered a lot of stress in the process with no way of knowing what state the property will be left in. It really is a nightmare scenario for landlords. And you have no idea why she needs the property back, perhaps it’s for an elderly relative or because she’s suffered some kind of major setback in life and her life is now in limbo for months while she legally gets you out. So while I of course have sympathy for your situation I do for her too.

@AmberMariens I do know why she wants the property back - it was her aunt’s property and she became the beneficiary. Her aunt died, so she inherited the property and decided to sell it as it’s worth around £400,000.

The costs she’s incurred, we will pay. She knows the state of the property as her letting agent inspected it last week (and inspects it every 3 months). The property is at a high standard and very well maintained, whilst I agree she doesn’t know how we will leave it, we haven’t indicated on our 3 monthly inspections over 3 years that we will leave it in any state other than when we first moved in.

Obviously I understand why you’d have sympathy for both parties. I’m just speaking from my side of the fence (as I presume she has when talking to others - I doubt she has sympathy for me either, so there’s probably a mutual lack of sympathy on both sides).

Would it look bad if my husband went in on behalf of both of us?

I really don’t want to go and we don’t have anyone to watch our 2 year old either and I don’t really fancy bringing my toddler to court.

op I fully understand why you were unable to submit a proper response, but why was your husband not able to do it instead? Why did it fall to you?

this is relevant if you want your husband to go in.

@Sparklywhiteteeth I work part time and he works full time, so I think it just came down to the fact I had more time to do it.

I can give him the defence I did send over and some notes I made (in case they allow any more to be said) and he can just read what’s there?

Not sure if I’d get in trouble for not going - that’s the problem! It wouldn’t look good bringing a toddler to court either.

Hi OP, has a legal advisor/solicitor looked through the Claim (bundles) and advised you there is no defence?

There should be a court duty advisor available on the day for possession cases, get to Court at least 30 mins before the hearing and ask to see them. They can represent you (for free)

The bundles have be served on both of you , but there will only be one set of costs btw

@MythosK no one has looked through anything and advised us. I just sent a written defence over in a panic when I was at a heightened emotional state and didn’t send any of our evidence. Today I wrote a better defence, sighting evidence, but it’s too late to submit it.

The court bundle from the claimant just shows the tenancy agreement and deposit scheme bits etc. It states there are no arrears, there’s nothing about the property’s maintenance in there so she can’t be claiming for damage etc, otherwise I assume it would be in her court bundle. She is claiming for the full deposit but it just says as per a part of the deposit scheme contract (the bit about compensation for the landlord) but does not note what she wants compensation for, so I suppose we’ll find out on Monday. Although I thought she wouldn’t be able to submit evidence of costs etc for compensation on the actual date of the hearing, otherwise we could just submit our evidence on the day as well. So I’m a bit confused about the deposit part of her claim.

Oh, I thought because the bundle has £460.50 at the bottom of each one, that it would mean we pay that each? Looking at it, I think I’ve got that wrong. It does state both our names and then the £460.50 at the bottom of each claim. I’ve never done this before and have no legal help so really don’t know what I’m doing.

Ok it is important to keep it factual at Court, the LL is entitled to get their property back, but at the same time, you are entitled to your rights as a tenant if they haven't got it right.

If your tenancy started AFTER October 1 2015, then there are lots of technical requirements the LL has to get right. Gas Safety, EPC, How to Rent Guide.

(if it was before there are different rules)

The s21 has to give 2 full months notice, if it was posted through the mail, it is deemed served 2 working days after it was posted, which can mean that a full 2 months was not given in some cases and the the claim could be dismissed.

If they protected your deposit, they also have to have provided you with the "prescribed information" such as the certificate, leaflet and details about the scheme. Possession claims can fail on this point.

The claim form also has to have been completed correctly, if the LL has done this some themselves, then they often get it wrong, the hearing could be adjourned to allow the LL time to amend, (which gives you time to seek legal advice and representation -if you are eligible for Legal Aid) or it can even be dismissed.

You sent in a defence, which is why there is a hearing. Any further defence can be raised at the hearing, that's ok.

If there is no Court Duty advisor available, it is ok to explain to the Judge that you didn't get time to seek legal help and can ask for an adjournment (especially if there is doubt about the validity of the notice re above) to give you time to do this.

The Court doesn't have to agree, but will do usually if there is doubt, as Judges know that legal advisors/solicitors working under legal aid contracts for housing are in very short supply.

IF there is no defence , then PP was correct, you can ask for 42 days before possession is order under exceptional hardship, ie you have nowhere to go, health issues, finances...

Please note- this is general guidance only to give you some pointers for tomorrow as I do not know the full circumstances and have not seen the paperwork but I hope it helps, even if buys you more time.

PLEASE ask to see the the duty advisor. This is what they are there for.

I think I’ve just twigged that she’s probably claiming the full £1500 for high court bailiffs as I’ve seen they’re around £1400. So that’ll be our deposit gone - just preparing myself for that eventuality.

It also means she can then come back and argue about anything she ‘doesn’t like’ about the property, as the deposit will have gone on bailiffs, so anything with the property she’ll have to come back and get. (Not that there is anything, but I’m questioning everything now).

It just feels like this has the potential to be never- ending. I’m struggling today more than I thought I would. My husband appears fine but I’m just sat around crying and want to stay in bed.

The lettings agent said they will phone us Monday about how to ‘minimise deductions’ from the deposit so I just emailed and asked them not to call us please, as there is a chance we’ll have no deposit left after Monday (which they know, hence calling Monday and not before).

I also don’t understand my friend’s sister’s case: she came away from this, as a tenant, and only had £330 to pay (total: court and bailiff fees).

We’ve got £460.50 (I thought this was each) and £1557 deposit I think she wants for bailiffs and then she’ll need to be reimbursed for what would have come out of the deposit, for anything she isn’t happy with about the property, later. My friend’s sister has the cheek to say her landlord was horrible, yet I’m sat here wishing we had swapped landlords as ours really is out for blood.

I sent my over proof of my diagnosis and asked in an email if my husband can attend alone and represent us both. I’ve explained I do not cope well under any stress or pressure, plus we would have to bring our two year old in with us, which I feel would not be appropriate.

Hopefully he can go in with a duty advisor tomorrow. I don’t really see the point in fighting any of it though, as by the sounds of it, we’re screwed. No home, no deposit back and forever paying off a payment plan as a reminder of all this crap, for months or years to come.

She’s not “out for blood” - she’s claiming back money you’re costing her by not moving out after she gave you notice. The reality is the judge may well not award her the full amount she is asking for - which is probably what happened in your friend’s case - and the LL will be left out of pocket by thousands of pounds. Just because she’s asking for the full amount doesn’t mean the judge will award it.

Tbh, I did feel bad about saying that after I had posted it, but I was in a terrible state this morning. Probably shouldn’t have posted in that state tbh

I can appreciate it’s very stressful for you and I’m sure the judge will try and find a solution that is fair to both parties - you and your family are being made homeless which is awful and terrifying and she has become an accidental landlord and doesn’t want to continue, which is fair enough. As I said, the judge may well not award her everything she is asking for. There’s been some good advice on this thread (eg get there early and see if you can find someone to advise you on site). Also the judge’s clerk, who sits at the desk in front of the bench inside the courtroom, will also be helpful so you can go early and ask him for any advice eg how to address the judge etc. Best of luck.

@AmberMariens thank you very much - I’ll follow the helpful advice on this thread and hope for the best in a bad situation.