Tenant claiming £10k damages?

Reply to the comment left by AA at 20/02/2020 - 09:56
The tenancy states that 2 months rent is payable in advance, and it is made crystal clear that no deposit is payable, to which the tenant acknowledges by signing every page. I mean, can anything be open to interpretation? and everything in a legally binding document could mean nothing ? ' Oh, I didn't sign this tenancy thinking that I might have to pay the rent every month and keep the place in good order. I signed this on the understanding that I should never have to pay a penny and vandalise the place ! or ' the way I understood it in that is that the landlord contents insurance should cover my losses when the house is burgled ?. How can rent be a deposit in disguise ? or a deposit be rent in disguise? or a holding fee be rent disguise ? Whats clear here is that some people on this forum have one view and others have another ( bearing in mind the users on this forum are property people). I think the outcome could well depend on the judge we are appointed on the day. What experience the judge has in matters like this, I would have no idea. Would a judge with little or no experience in these matters have any place even being there ? From my experience in evictions with the accelerated procedure, the judges are very often ill informed and quite frankly do not know what they are talking about. The last time I faced a judge, he tried telling me that the epc was invalid, as it was over 5 years old !, the epc was 6 years old and had another 4 years left.

Some County court judges do not have a specialism ( or very much knowledge ) in Housing law, as your story about the EPC clearly describes.
I am collecting such perverse decisions, and you can find another cracking example on my link ;
http://www.possessionfriend.uk/perverse-possession-decisions/
( Sec 8 Rent Arrears dismissed because judge thought wrong Form 3 Notice was used, as it related to 'Assured' or Agricultural Tenancies, duh ! )
Please feel free to send some more details of your EPC case as my intention is to present a collection of errors to MoJ via my MP ( an ex-lawyer, bit of waste of space )
There was a partial recognition of the need for schools of specialisms within County courts [ in a review, but its not progressed,] as your example illustrates.

Trapped Landlord, on 19/02/2020 at 09.52 you wrote:
"This is how the tenancy reads under the rent heading -

-The Rent shall be £. per month, payable 2 months in advance.
-The first payment of £. being due on or prior to the date of taking possession.
-Thereafter the “Rent Due Date” will be the. day of each month during the Term of this agreement.

I think it may hinge on the second payment which was made on the second month. Ideally, looking back this should/ could have been made at the beginning of the 3rd month. The tenancy does state that the rent should be payable to months in advance however so I will have to see what my solicitor says tomorrow."

As I have explained, the fact that you say a payment isn't a deposit is not decisive. The fact the tenant signs every page does not strengthen your case. Please re-read my earlier posts. I cannot put it any more clearly and I suspect when you meet your solicitor today he or she will confirm that you have a problem. It is not simply the case that everything is up in the air and subject to the whim of the judge. (Which is not to say that I do not have concerns about the quality of some decisions of County Courts). Sorry this is not what you want to hear.

FYI, I am a solicitor with over 30 years experience in property law and am also a landlord with BTLs and HMOs. We have signed over 150 tenancies and taken over 150 deposits over the past 10 years.

Reply to the comment left by Ian Narbeth at 19/02/2020 - 15:52
why not charge the normal rent and hand it back to them as a gift.

Reply to the comment left by zhorik at 20/02/2020 - 14:23
It may be necessary to return the "deposit" but that does not absolve the landlord of the consequences of not having protected it properly.

Reply to the comment left by Ian Narbeth at 20/02/2020 - 14:28
Hi Ian. Would you mind commenting on whether my understanding is correct, that the only circumstance where 2 months rent could be payable in advance (with 1 month not deemed a deposit) is when payments are, thereafter, made every 2 months (i.e. the payment cycle is 2-monthly)?

I met with the solicitor earlier in today. After an hour or so and a couple of hundreds pounds later, we read through the tenancy agreement together and she feels confident that id have nothing to answer for by way of deposit/ rent in advance. She did however, in order to strengthen the case with the disrepair, strongly recommend that I instruct a surveyor to visit the house and issue a conditioning report as the council are still ignoring my emails. She also confirmed that the tenant refusing mediation will go against him. Again, this was her opinion as an experienced solicitor.

What is the reasoning for asking for two months rent at the start of the tenancy?

Reply to the comment left by Dave Driver at 20/02/2020 - 18:49
Prefer the idea of my tenants being that extra month in front with their rent , gives me extra time to get the section 21 in the post if and when the money stops coming in.

Reply to the comment left by Ian Cognito at 20/02/2020 - 17:06
No, that's not correct, as I said earlier