Suing the Council for wrongful prosecution.

[Ms Andrist]

My City Council sought a 'review' of my benefits in 2013.
After Having filled in their form with all relevant information,..... they immediately suspended/cut off all monetary assistance...presented me with an 'over payment' bill for Housing Benefit (over £10,000) which then also triggered a bill from the Council Tax.

Summons's were issued and the baillifs were sent to my door.
I attended their offices to try and see what the problem was on numerous occasions and then had protracted correspondence with a 'Senior Appeal Officer'.
The officer finally concluded that there had indeed been an over payment due to a 'failure to notify'

I was then 'invited' to an 'interview under caution' which I eventually chose not to attend since I could not find Legal Aid assistance.
Six months later the disclosure papers were sent to me with a Court summons for above alleged crime. After two pre- trial hearings the 'case' was abandoned by the Council (no reasonable expectation of getting a conviction) but they still pressed on with seeking to recover the alleged over payment...and even started taking it from my Pension (Credit) the minute I became eligible!

I moved to independent Appeal Tribunal which was upheld in my favour and immediately sought to recover money that had been 'suspended' (since returned in full)
Alas, the Outcome has come too late to avoid a Section 8 repossession order from my Landlord for rental arrears.

This is as a direct consequence of above.

I have been caused to pay for/seek Solicitor's advice and attendance at the Tribunal (amount nearly 2 months rent) to defend myself for something that should never have been to court. The council erroneously applied the law (or their view of it). In short they made a mistake.

I require recovery of the money spent on my Solicitor (no Legal Aid for Tribunals) and compensation for my obvious distress (splayed all over the newspapers and internet).

I hesitate to assert that it was a malicious prosecution, but it was CERTAINLY a wrongful prosecution due to systematic incompetence.

Answers on a postcard please as to how to go about it. Due process at the council takes so long that I fear I have now run out of time. Thank you for your patience in reading this and apologies for the post being so long.

[Kati]

Re: Suing the Council for wrongful prosecution.

I'm not the best person to answer :sorry: but I'll tag [MENTION=15129]Crazy council[/MENTION] for you (if he can't help he will probably know someone who can ) xx

[Ms Andrist]

Re: Suing the Council for wrongful prosecution.

Thank you Kati. Obviously I am attempting to be as pro-active as possible, in that I have sought the email addresses of: my local MP, the CEO of the council, the head of Revenues of the Council and the local Ombudsman,....though on my last visit to the Council offices, I was directed to first 'complain' to a thing called 'Customer Feedback' which I fear will just add more time in officialdom....

[Crazy council]

Re: Suing the Council for wrongful prosecution.

Hi

I think you have to go through the complaints process before you can take action,

I do feel for you, i fully understand the stress and strain faced when a council is taking action against you as an individual, and it feels like there either not listening, or purposefully messing you about.

I would start by writing it as a complaint/request for the payment, show the link between you paying for the solicitor and your rent problems that lead to the section 8. Send this to the head of finance ( section 151 officer ) Detail about your time andd effort you put in to correct there mistakes. , although it still goes into the complaint process, it cuts some of the time taken and means the 151 officer is taking responsibility for the answer to you. ( if its rejected, you can go for them direct, and its a LOT easier to target senior officers directly , then it is to target council departments. )

[Ms Andrist]

Re: Suing the Council for wrongful prosecution.

Thank you so much,....I cannot seem, despite my best efforts, to find the email address of the Officer in question. I will therefore once more make another trip the the Council counter and ask,...if not I will deliver a letter to their head office. I only have a couple of weeks to go before my repossession hearing though.

[Crazy council]

Re: Suing the Council for wrongful prosecution.

Hi

Do you want to stay in your home, apart from rent arrears, is your relationship with the LL ok, ( ie, if it got paid up, or some paid, would they ease up )

[Ms Andrist]

Re: Suing the Council for wrongful prosecution.

It is a private Landlord who, seeing my obvious distress in the national and local newspapers, has seized his only chance of re-possessing the property (I have an assured tenancy and being more than 2 month's behind with the rent is a mandatory reason for the judge to award same). As stated earlier, I have (finally) recovered all of the Housing/Council Tax arrears,....but this whole process has taken nearly 3 years....and I was without any assistance for nearly 18 months. Hence my precarious financial situation. I will be paying some arrears tomorrow, but, going forward, if I could add to that with recompense for my Solicitor fees and/or compensation for an unlawful prosecution, that would really be useful to show to the repossession judge that I would be able to continue paying rent as per normal in the future. All correspondence between myself and the Landlord is conducted between myself and his solicitor.

[Crazy council]

Re: Suing the Council for wrongful prosecution.

Hi,

does the notice have any other grounds on it as well as section ground 8.

If its just Ground 8, then as long as the total arrears is not more than 8 weeks at the hearing date, its not a mandatory ground ( becomes discretionary )

[Ms Andrist]

Re: Suing the Council for wrongful prosecution.

Also 10 and 11,....because I was struggling through lack of money, I was paying a 'shortfall' from Dec 2015 (therefore consistently late)....and also at the time I was actually issued with the Section 8, I was behind by 4 months of rental. This will not be the case when I attend the repossession hearing and I have already advised the County court that it is highly likely that I will be able to repay some/all arrears by the time of the court date. I have already sent the court together with my 'defence form' the mitigating circumstances (ie: the Council prosecution, withdrawal of benefit assistance) and also a ,letter from my solicitor (to the council) where he states that I have been issued with a section 8 as a direct consequence of their ill conceived actions.

[Crazy council]

Re: Suing the Council for wrongful prosecution.

Ok, thats a reasonable starting point, Do you think your LL will ease up if its paid ( or arrears are coming down substantially. ?

Ground 10 and 11 are usually added with ground 8. If your LL was a council or housing association, , 10 and 11 would not meen that much, but ground 8 does. But because your LL is a private LL or company, magistrates will usually give give the LL consideration on these grounds as well, instead of just dismissing them easily.

So, for ground 8, you need to be less then 8 week arrears by the court date ( ideally at least 7 days before ) . If not, you need a good explanation backed up with statements etc showing how you will get on top of it over a short period.
For ground 10, and 11, You need to show you can afford the current rent and an amount towards the arrears.

If the magistrates go in your favor, there still likely to do a suspended possession for a fix period whilst you pay the arrears, and when its paid, the possession get withdrawn. sometimes, the LL will back away ibefore court if most of its paid.

[Ms Andrist]

Re: Suing the Council for wrongful prosecution.

My landlord will neither ease up nor back away. When he became aware of my financial difficulties, he issued a section 13 for a 40% increase in my rental in 2015! I won at the property tribunal (just a very small increase)...but he/his solicitor have been on my back and hostile ever since....and I currently have another section 13 issued by him for a 30% increase. This is a very sorry vexatious sub plot to the main issue of suing the council though. The LL does not know I was successful at the Tribunal concerning my prosecution case and he does not know I have recovered HB and CTAX arrears. I have just paid the rent for this month (July) and have received a snotty letter from his Solicitor stating that 'any money received following the issue of proceedings are accepted only as payment for use and occupation and not by way of rent'. I find it rather worrying that if I DID in fact pay back arrears before the County court date that there would be a chance that the Judge would not rule in my favour?

[Crazy council]

Re: Suing the Council for wrongful prosecution.

hi

When would your tenancy end normally, was you served with the correct paperwork at the start so the LL could use a section 21 notice at the end, ?

Making payments and getting the arrears as low as possible will give the magistrates plenty of room to rule in your favor, having a good reason, like you do, also goes a long way. what you can not account for, is whatever argument the LL will put up at court, there can be circumstances for LLs ( like debt,, finances ) that can be put as very convincing arguments from there side.

If you think theirs no chance of sorting it with the LL,, when does your tenacy end normally ?

I will add some bits about the recommended letter to the council should include tomorrow after tea

[Ms Andrist]

Re: Suing the Council for wrongful prosecution.

My tenancy is an assured periodic, way back to the early 1990's...it is not a fixed term, it just rolls over. I don't think he can serve a section 21. Interestingly enough, the Landlord DID attempt a bit of sharp practice, in that over a year ago he tried to get me to sign a 'new' agreement for 12 months. I obviously ignored it. I have never defaulted on my rental...until the problems with the council, I have never been in any debt, and even though I am in receipt of benefits I was always able to pay my rent, and pay it on time. Occasionally I have had charitable donations from a couple of dear friends to help me (I have included emails from these persons to show the judge that I do have assistance occasionally). Thank you so much for your assistance, and I look forward to your recommended letter to the council.

[Crazy council]

Re: Suing the Council for wrongful prosecution.

.it is not a fixed term, it just rolls over. I don't think he can serve a section 21

I think your correct there ( am fairly sure )

My tenancy is an assured periodic, way back to the early 1990's.

Thats very much in your favor, both for the current action and any rent increases,

I have never defaulted on my rental...until the problems with the council, I have never been in any debt, and even though I am in receipt of benefits

Again, thats very much in your favor. I will try give you some further recommendations tomorrow on dealing with it through the LL aswell as defending the court action.

,

[Ms Andrist]

Re: Suing the Council for wrongful prosecution.

Thank you for your comments,....but I really need to press on with my limited knowledge, since I have now lost another 48hrs awaiting your help.....and time, prior to my imminent eviction, is of the essence.