Suing the Council for wrongful prosecution.

[Diana M]

Re: Suing the Council for wrongful prosecution.

I only have a couple of weeks to go before my repossession hearing .

What is the date of the repossession hearing?

I've only just seen your thread so haven't read back through everything you posted but I can see that you have an "assured" tenancy which should give you enhanced (my choice of words) legal rights to remain in the property.

If there are outstanding ongoing legal issues a court may wish those to be resolved before making a decision on your legal right to remian in the property.

Are you paying or is the current rent being paid regardless of any arreas?

My suggestion is you should call the Shelter legal helpline (free) on 0808 800 4444.

Most county courts have a duty solicitor available on "repossession day". Ask to see one when you arrive at the court. They give their services free.

Di

[Ms Andrist]

Re: Suing the Council for wrongful prosecution.

Thank you Diana. A lovely lady from Shelter was my designated 'case officer', when I told her I was going to a Tribunal which I hoped I would win (I DID eventually)....she closed the case. I have paid my rental for this month (July), though I have had a perplexing missive from the LL's solicitor stating: 'any money received following the issue of proceedings (isued in May) are accepted only as payment for use and occupation and not by way of rent'. I find it rather worrying that even if I DID in fact pay back arrears before the County court date (25th July) that there would be a chance that the Judge would not rule in my favour?

[Diana M]

Re: Suing the Council for wrongful prosecution.

I haven't seen the possession summons but you say it's on the basis of Ground 8 because you have rent arrears of 8 or more weeks.

At the hearing the DJ will be making his decision based on that fact. If you no longer have rent arrears by the time you walk into court (take the evidence with you) then I can't see how you will get an Order for possession against you. Whether you are likely to have rent arrears in the future should not be his concern. He should only be looking at the evidence in front of him not any 'what ifs'.

You've said that the backdated HB has now been paid to you. A DJ will expect you to have passed that money to your Landlord. If you haven't/didn't it won't look good in court.

Your tenancy agreement should say when and how you should pay your rent (e.g. weekly/monthly rent due date with funds to be paid by standing order). That's what you should be doing, although you've implied you're paying it to the Landlord's solicitor instead. I don't understand why the solicitor says it's not "rent" because it is.

If your HB has been restored then asked the Council to pay it direct to the Landlord from now on. You can arrange that once the rent is in arrears by 8 weeks. I think this is a wise thing to do because you can then demonstrate to the court that there won't be any rent problems in future. Your Landlord can also ask the Council for your HB to be paid direct to him and they can't refuse.

If you have eight weeks' rent arrears the DJ has no discretion over a possession Order. However if you can demonstrate that the Landlord's position won't worsen (because HB is now coming through and being paid direct by the Council to LL) then you may be able to to persuade the DJ to make a Suspended Possession Order which will only kick in if you breach the terms.

If you can't pay all the arrears (or reduce them to under 8 weeks) prepare an I&E budget to show how much you will be able to pay towards the arrears (however small the amount) on top of the HB which will cover the ongoing rent. This is the sort of thing which can count towards a decision to give a SPO.

In the worst case scenario you could be evicted and the Council may not rehouse you as rent arrears can be viewed as making yourself "intentionally homeless".

I don't give formal advice but I do strongly recommend that you make paying your rent arrears a priority before the hearing.

Shelter has helped you before, so ask them to help you again.

Di

[Crazy council]

Re: Suing the Council for wrongful prosecution.

Hi

To really help , would need to see a copy of ;

Tenancy agreement ( with personal details removed ) all pages
The notice with all personal details removed
Any copy of the paperwork for the rent increases they got knocked back

A rent account for the past 6 months, balance and payments

You need to try get under 8 weeks rent arrears at least, the more data you can show the judge the better ( accounts stuff ). Depending on how the LL did the paperwork for the rent increases, and how much time it took you to defend, you may be able to ask the judge to consider was it harassment ( there are terms for LL harassing a tenat, serving knowingly wrong paperwork on a protected tenant,, could well be argued harassment ( for your protection )

Sorry it took a few days to get back to you

I don't understand why the solicitor says it's not "rent" because it is.

I dont think they can, thought this could only be done after the eviction date, to stop occupants trying to claim payment as agreement to occupy ( squatters ) if they still in there. i suppose a LL could do this after a section 21 notice has expired on a modern AST.

[Diana M]

Re: Suing the Council for wrongful prosecution.

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)

Is there any reason why you don't want your Landlord to know you won at the Tribunal and have subsequently recovered the HB which effectively was paid to you to cover the rent due (not disputed I presume?) to him for his property?

Maybe his aggressive stance is based on his uncertainty as to where things stand and what the future might hold. He could be proceeding to court on that basis. He might have a mortgage pay etc.

If he was made aware that everything is now resolved would he discontinue the possession proceedings? The solicitor may want to soldier on for business reasons (he'll be after his costs).

Di

[Ms Andrist]

Re: Suing the Council for wrongful prosecution.

Greetings Diana,......I will deal with the other issues you raised in a previous post, but in reply to this one:
The LL issued the Section 8 BEFORE I was aware of the Tribunal date had been waiting 18 months, and it took a long time to get the result (in my favour) at the end of June and an even Longer time to prize the money back from both HB and CTax (in the last week or so). Which is why I paid this month's rent (finally) on the correct day with a view to paying ALL arrears (either today or Monday)..but this letter from the LL's Solicitor is upsetting me (with regard to:'any money received following the issue of proceedings (isued in May) are accepted only as payment for use and occupation and not by way of rent')

[Crazy council]

Re: Suing the Council for wrongful prosecution.

Hi

Need to see a copy of your tenancy agreement, The basic terms in law have changed over the years, It sounds like you may be a protected tenant ( Assured Tenant )

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

And it limits how the LL can take action. , also, that other term your questioning, i think i know what there refairing to, but would need to see both the TC and Notice

[Ms Andrist]

Re: Suing the Council for wrongful prosecution.

Crazy Council, thank you for your imput. I do not possess a 'scanner' to be able to provide tenancy details, though there are some really odd clauses in there, which, when referred to the 1st Tier property Tribunal (in 2015), were found to be nul and void/unenforceable. My case officer at Shelter pointed out that because the agreement was ORIGINALLY for a 'fixed term' (1992-1995) that the clause which mentions a rental rise up to 10% per annum was invalid and quoted case law.

I WILL be below 8 weeks at the time of the court hearing (I will/can pay all arrears now)...unless of course the LL will say he will not accept it....as he is saying in effect that he is not accepting this month's rent as such.

The LL has been covertly harassing me for years, but when he attempted to effect a sudden 40% rise in 2015 (without the correct paperwork and also on the incorrect date where historically rental increases took place) he suddenly went 'Tonto' on me and became officious (demanding everything be done through his solicitor)

He is demanding:
That I pay his Solicitor's fees
That I pay for a flat inspection
That I pay (back) 7 YEARS water rates. Until the Property Tribunal ruling, my rental included them....the Tribunal ruled that from June 5th 2015 the Water rates would become separate. So he is pulling a fast one there
That I even pay for the Solicitor having to acknowledge my rent (when they were not doing so I complained)
In short he is doing everything he can to intimidate and squeeze me financially

The Tribunal itself commented that both the LL AND the Solicitor had 'misrepresented their Authority' as in asserting things to be correct when they know (or should know) they are wrong.

In short, the LL is just a mega rich bully, and I am most surprised (as was Shelter) that his Solicitor is complicit in this hostility,intimidation and harassment

[Ms Andrist]

Re: Suing the Council for wrongful prosecution.

The LL's aggressive stance is that he wants me out....so that he can knock through from HIS flat and form a doorway,....rip out my kitchen and install a spiral staircase up to his OTHER 2 flats (knocked into one) and create a mega mezzanine property.
Because I am an assured protected tenant the ONLY way he can get rid of me is if I fall behind with my rent....and the Council caused me to do that as mentioned in my first post. I actually have the 'schedule of works' complete with signatures which the Landlord intends to carry out......this was provided to me by a concerned neighbour. He wants me out either by fair means or foul...and will do anything to make that happen!

[Diana M]

Re: Suing the Council for wrongful prosecution.

How did you used to pay your rent before the solicitors became involved?

If you paid it direct to his bank then would it not make sense to do that again if you've got the sort code and account number?

If he's mega rich and wants you out to develop and enlarge his own adjoining property, has he considered that you may be interested in a suitable offer to go Although I wouldn't suggest this to him until after the possession hearing in case that backfires, but it's certainly something to think about if you don't really want to stay.

Di

[Ms Andrist]

Re: Suing the Council for wrongful prosecution.

With a bankers draft, which I would place under his door ((18 inches from my own)....I would then send an email to him to state Rental had been paid.....and also make a copy of Bankers draft made on that day....just to make sure
The reason for this?
After a few months of him becoming my new landlord (he did not inform me he was the new landlord and I had paid to the wrong place) he claimed he had not received my draft (at an address in London he wanted me to send to). After this, I pushed under his door monthly. I knew what he was up to then (2009)....he just wanted to make life so uncomfortable that I would go.
The offer 'to go' has been suggested to me via Shelter. He would never go for that. He wants to grind me into the ground until I am so mentally deranged and helpless (as I have been) that I will just give up. This is my HOME of the last 24 years!
Sorry to say,he is a very rich, nasty piece of work......

[Diana M]

Re: Suing the Council for wrongful prosecution.

he just wanted to make life so uncomfortable that I would go.
The offer 'to go' has been suggested to me via Shelter. He would never go for that. He wants to grind me into the ground until I am so mentally deranged and helpless (as I have been) that I will just give up. This is my HOME of the last 24 years!
Sorry to say,he is a very rich, nasty piece of work......

Do you feel you're being harassed by him in any way?

Keep a diary of incidents if you do. Harassment of a tenant is a criminal offence!

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_ad..._by_a_landlord

If he's living only inches from your home it can't be fun. Do you ever bump into each other?

Normally I would suggest making (fake) peace with a Landlord to try to sort out things but it seems to have gone past that stage.

Di

[Ms Andrist]

Re: Suing the Council for wrongful prosecution.

The Landlord lives half of the time in London, and then comes here for the weekend (where he has substantial business interests).
We bump into each other occasionally,....I say hello, and he says hello. I refuse to let him know how he has distressed me!
His harassment is borderline,...but, as has been pointed out by Crazy Council he/his Solicitor have attempted to make me embark on a course of action due to them misrepresenting their authority.
I usually just ignore it.
He even threatened Shelter with a complaint.
He is a bully

[Ms Andrist]

Re: Suing the Council for wrongful prosecution.

Having read carefully all of the court papers/particulars of claim, it is also Ground 10 and 11 as in being persistently late etc.....this has been explained in my mitigating circumstances provided already to the county court....and I daresay by now the LL will have a copy of same. The LL is ALREADY asking me to to confirm that I agree with the terms of the repossession prior to court ('to avoid additional costs')!

[Crazy council]

Re: Suing the Council for wrongful prosecution.

If you can take a picture of your contract on your phone ( just lay siome paper over your name details ), it would get youy some deffinat answers, but from what you put

agreement was ORIGINALLY for a 'fixed term' (1992-1995)

If it was a 3 year contract ( not six months ) , and it turned into a periodic tenancy ( sounds about right ) . Then the LLs going to struggle arguing quite a few points.

I WILL be below 8 weeks at the time of the court hearing (I will/can pay all arrears now)...unless of course the LL will say he will not accept it....as he is saying in effect that he is not accepting this month's rent as such.

Dont worry about that, it a landlords equivilent of trying to stick there head in the sand and ignore you

The LL has been covertly harassing me for years, but when he attempted to effect a sudden 40% rise in 2015 (without the correct paperwork and also on the incorrect date where historically rental increases took place) he suddenly went 'Tonto' on me and became officious (demanding everything be done through his solicitor)

Right, really need to see your TC, ther is something else that might be usfull to you but i dont want to suggest it ATM because it could be misleading. But you have been a tenant for over 20 years, and your on a contract from before 1996,,

What [MENTION=87380]Diana M[/MENTION] suggested is a good idea in your circumstances, , i will explain further if i can see the TC, and the paperwork he used for the rent increase.

What data is your hearing data for the repossession, could do with the paperwork up for that as well,