Former tenants suing for deposit, damages, stress, harassment, and injury but I am now abroad

Former tenants suing for deposit, damages, stress, harassment, and injury but I am now abroad

10:21 AM, 29th October 2015, About 9 years ago 18

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I had a dispute last year with my two tenants over the return of their deposit where they wanted a higher rent abatement than I offered them for some major bathroom works that was done while they were there. They therefore failed to pay some rent in their last month.long arm of the law

When they moved out, I retained some of their deposit to cover this rent and they raised disputes with DPS where the deposit was registered. I had to send cheques to DPS for the respective amounts. I dealt with one using the ADR service (which I was successful on), and the other I opted out of the ADR service (so it would have to be dealt with in court). The latter’s deposit has been held with DPS ever since.

However, this month both tenants have sent me letters before action by e-mail and are making a number of claims against me. One of these is that I did not register their deposits within 30 days which is a failure to comply with s213 of the Housing Act 2004. I understand that there is no defence for this and I will be liable to compensate them between one and three times the deposit amount. One of them is also claiming for disrepair of the property during the bathroom works which took longer than expected, for stress due to harassment from me attending the property without proper notice (they were under separate room-only ASTs and I entered common areas only to inspect the ongoing bathroom works), and for a minor injury to her foot where she claims she stepped on something sharp. The claims are £1875 and £6500 respectively.

Now, my initial query isn’t so much about the validity of the claims (I will cross that bridge if it comes to it), but more about the procedures they must follow when I no longer live in the UK but still have properties in the UK. I am now a Mauritian citizen (no longer British) and I moved to Mauritius after the end of their tenancies. Therefore, the address for service on their tenancy agreements is no longer valid.

I understand that documents other than the claim form (such as the letter before action) must be served in the UK or EEA in accordance with Section III of CPR Part 6 – https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part06#III – but I’m not sure if this applies to me since I have moved outside of the jurisdiction since the tenancies ended. Therefore, I believe Section IV of CPR Part 6 applies. And if Section IV – https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part06#IV – applies in my case, then I guess that would leave them in a much more difficult situation if they do not have my overseas address or any other details.

Any advice on this would be appreciated.

Jason


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Comments

20:44 PM, 2nd November 2015, About 9 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Jason Payne" at "02/11/2015 - 17:53":

Jason - I've seen too many cases where the claimant is aware of 'another' address but still goes ahead on the 'last known'. I have one at the moment where the defendant was overseas and told the claimant but still went ahead. What make this worse is the claimant in this particular case has no standing to make the claim in the first place !!! CPR Part 6 is 'Service of documents' but section III is service of documents other than the claim form

Neo

20:50 PM, 2nd November 2015, About 9 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Peter Fisher - Fixed Fee Law" at "02/11/2015 - 20:44":

Yes, but Section III is only for service of documents within the UK and EEA according to https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part06#III - this is why I believe only Section IV applies to me because I am outside of the aforementioned jurisdiction and Section IV specifically states that it is for the service of the claim form and other documents out of the jurisdiction. Am I missing something here?

9:27 AM, 3rd November 2015, About 9 years ago

It is all down to everything complying with CPR's. What I was trying to get over was the fact that you might find they issue knowing you are overseas- get judgement and then go for a charging order and force the sale of a property. Yes you can apply to set aside but it will be costly to start with and if successful you may get your costs. Just giving worst scenario.

Neo

20:58 PM, 3rd November 2015, About 9 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Peter Fisher - Fixed Fee Law" at "03/11/2015 - 09:27":

OK, thanks. Obviously, I don't want it to go as far as judgement. And every item that gets sent to me will be duly sent back to the court with a note stating I'm in Mauritius (indicating I'm outside of the jurisdiction). I'll therefore be aware of roughly the number of documents being sent to me in relation to the matter.

What I'm concerned about and not entirely sure of is how can the court be made aware that Section III of CPR Part 6 does not apply to me and therefore documents cannot be deemed served (therefore, judgement cannot be legally made)? Obviously, this somehow needs to be communicated to the court without actually seeing any legal documents. And as soon as I get a solicitor involved, I suddenly have a UK address for service. So, what do I do in these circumstances? Even if I wait for judgement or even a charge on my property, how would I know without arranging to have my mail opened at my old address? And the court may ask 1) why I suddenly did this, and 2) why I couldn't have done that earlier when court documentation was being sent to me.

Neo

11:24 AM, 29th November 2015, About 8 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Peter Fisher - Fixed Fee Law" at "03/11/2015 - 09:27":

Hi Peter, I'm trying to get hold of you by e-mail and I don't have your mobile number, so hopefully this will get to you.

You said on Friday after I paid some money on account that you would have something ready for me by Saturday so that I can post the documents by DHL from Mauritius first thing on Monday. I need to send this first thing tomorrow morning, so if I don't get this today, then I won't be able to do that because the UK is four hours behind and sending it to me tomorrow morning UK time will be too late in Mauritius.

Can you please give me an ETA for today?

Stephen Barham

12:54 PM, 30th November 2015, About 8 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Jason Payne" at "02/11/2015 - 17:53":

Hi Jason,

Is there any particular reason why you are not prepared to answer the issues being raised by the tenants?

It seems you are doing everything you can not to face up to your responsibilities but, maybe I'm misreading the situation.

Regards,
Stephen

13:14 PM, 30th November 2015, About 8 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Stephen Barham" at "30/11/2015 - 12:54":

There is a lot more to Jason's case

Neo

13:27 PM, 30th November 2015, About 8 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Stephen Barham" at "30/11/2015 - 12:54":

You misread the situation completely. The issues were addressed a long time ago as is clear from the second paragraph of my post. And I live overseas.

I will face up to any responsibilities I might have, but CPR rules must be followed - they're there for a reason. And those reasons are not for claimants to flout them and for defendants to fly across the world to defend vexatious and frivolous claims in a court that has no jurisdiction.

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