Longtermrenter Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 You can always accept their offer as an interim payment on the full amount you are requesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kibuc Posted May 30, 2017 Author Share Posted May 30, 2017 (edited) Update 30.05.2017 I sent them my ultimatum today. It's £6440 (4x deposit minus £1k in damages), or I'll be going for a full 6x (£11160) plus £5535 for disrepair, giving us £16695 in total. On top of that, I'll be looking to reclaim my court fees (£1650 fast-track trial fee for claim above £15k, and an additional £345 in respect of the legal representative’s attendance at the trial). I gave them until the 9th of June to get everything done - including all the paperwork and money transfer. I think it's 50/50. They received legal advice limiting their liability to 3x the deposit, so I expect them to stick to that. Disrepair claim might still be enough to tip the balance in favor of a settlement, but it's a new claim that hasn't been raised before, so they probably won't accept it at face value. However, negotiations are now over as far as I'm concerned. In all honesty, I'm not sure which outcome I'd prefer. It'd be oh-so-sweet to destroy them in court for £15k+, and leaving so much money on the table surely hurts, but this whole case affects my personal life and I'd like to wrap it up before my holiday in June. Edited May 30, 2017 by kibuc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gribble Posted June 5, 2017 Share Posted June 5, 2017 If the landlord is that sly for she she is not declaring tax. In any case squeal to HMRC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kibuc Posted June 6, 2017 Author Share Posted June 6, 2017 Update 06.06.2017 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dorkins Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 Nice work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyFTB Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 2 hours ago, kibuc said: Update 06.06.2017 What happened? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kibuc Posted June 7, 2017 Author Share Posted June 7, 2017 I got a letter from their lawyers, stating that their accept my terms. They'll pay us £6440 at that will settle any claims from both sides, including our claim against the agency. It looks like the agency saw this train leaving the station and boarded it at the buzzer. I'm still shocked how bad of an advice you can get from so-called experts. Their previous letter about how Housing Act and Deregulation Act work was so full of misinterpretations, omissions and half-truths as if it was written by a first-day intern with bad attitude. Previous to that, they got similar advice from another source, and presumably paid top dollar for each. If I hadn't extended our negotiations and if I hadn't spent my time educating their advisors, it would have costed them another £10k in court. The guy I was getting advice from got most of the stuff right, but I still had to correct him on whether I could claim from the landlord and the agency simultaneously. Having said that, he did it pro bono so he deserves a lot of credit regardless. Anyway, my takeaway from all this is: if you're looking for legal help, do you own research first, draw your own conclusions and ask you lawyer to challenge it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeryMeanReversion Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 8 minutes ago, kibuc said: Having said that, he did it pro bono so he deserves a lot of credit regardless. Don't forget to sent him some beer vouchers. I've done this when I've received free help which saved me a similar sum to yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flopsy Posted June 7, 2017 Share Posted June 7, 2017 Wow - thank you for documenting this here! Congratulations on facing them down and winning. You did so much work to get to this point. It's been very inspirational. I've only ever done the small claims route against a LL to get my deposit back only. Will be saving a link to this thread for future reference! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicker Posted June 8, 2017 Share Posted June 8, 2017 Well done kibuc . Showed real grit . As you have shown, success was all about dyor and having the tenacity to see it through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BearlyBegun Posted June 8, 2017 Share Posted June 8, 2017 On 6/7/2017 at 10:51 AM, kibuc said: I got a letter from their lawyers, stating that their accept my terms. They'll pay us £6440 at that will settle any claims from both sides, including our claim against the agency. It looks like the agency saw this train leaving the station and boarded it at the buzzer. I'm still shocked how bad of an advice you can get from so-called experts. Their previous letter about how Housing Act and Deregulation Act work was so full of misinterpretations, omissions and half-truths as if it was written by a first-day intern with bad attitude. Previous to that, they got similar advice from another source, and presumably paid top dollar for each. If I hadn't extended our negotiations and if I hadn't spent my time educating their advisors, it would have costed them another £10k in court. The guy I was getting advice from got most of the stuff right, but I still had to correct him on whether I could claim from the landlord and the agency simultaneously. Having said that, he did it pro bono so he deserves a lot of credit regardless. Anyway, my takeaway from all this is: if you're looking for legal help, do you own research first, draw your own conclusions and ask you lawyer to challenge it. Well done and thanks for the ongoing updates through your case... its been very interesting to read and terrific that you reached this amazing and satisfying conclusion! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rave Posted June 11, 2017 Share Posted June 11, 2017 Great thread, top result! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Switch625 Posted June 11, 2017 Share Posted June 11, 2017 Well done Kibuc! I have been following your travails and as someone who has suffered at the hands of unscrupulous landlords and agents over the years, it warms the heart to hear of someone using the rules to get justice. Thanks for the interesting and potentially useful links which I hope I won't have to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear Hug Posted June 12, 2017 Share Posted June 12, 2017 Congratulations and thanks for sharing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Knimbies who say No Posted June 12, 2017 Share Posted June 12, 2017 Awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Venger Posted June 12, 2017 Share Posted June 12, 2017 Great result kibuk. Well done. Thread bookmarked for possible future reference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Venger Posted June 12, 2017 Share Posted June 12, 2017 On 5/9/2017 at 5:43 PM, kibuc said: Within an hour, the agency called me back: What is it that I want Landlord is the an old man who let for the first time and simply forgot about his obligations Landlord did not protect my deposit at all On 5/9/2017 at 5:43 PM, kibuc said: I informed the agency that I'd still be filing my letter before action later in the day and we can discuss matters after that. Also, I called her out on some pieces of misinformation, namely: it was not landlord's first let and we know exactly how old he is as we met him in person when he inspected the property last fall (duh!). Especially enjoyed this part. ^ Also reminds me of this... Provision of housing (renting out housing), and the responsibilities that come with it, is a serious undertaking. All the BTLers who have rented out homes within a system that gives tenants just 2 months notice to leave (in periodic)... they are all part of it. It's good when there are consequences to those BTLers who cast themselves the amateur who doesn't need to do much apart from collect the rent, and hold on for mad-gainz HPI. On 11/10/2014 at 0:55 AM, Venger said: Amateur landlords indeed; are we all amateur tenants? Quote May 2015. A HPCer. Did you not read all the shit those BTLer spivs posted? Their goal seems to be that landlords are treated liked amateurs with allowances made all the time and tenants are purely professional, never allowed any leeway. I hope they all burn (metaphorically in a banking bonfire of the vanities) On 1/12/2016 at 2:05 PM, Neverwhere said: Individuals who would normally sell up, but who hold onto properties to let out instead, prevent the market from clearing and proper price discovery from occurring - thus significantly contributing to any problems attributable to high house prices - so it really depends on whether they would be inclined to sell into continued use by somebody else if they decided not to rent it out. Additionally, amateurs clearly often don't think that tenants should have any decent security of tenure and don't familiarise themselves with even current legislation so they obviously do undermine your legitimate concerns above. I don't really see how my argument is any more moralising than asserting, by implication, that amateur landlords generally aren't doing anything wrong and generally are doing a broadly good thing. All I am saying is that if they have no idea about the legal realities of what they have chosen to do of their own free will then that is also a choice on their part. They could have educated themselves. They didn't. They don't like the consequences of that. Oh well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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