Dispute Over Rent And Property Damage

[Rentingbob]

I had a long running dispute over back rent and some property damage. My former landlords daughter takes care of the finances for him and she obtained a judgment from suing me for over £4000 in payments of back rent and the property damage.

She is now applying for an attachment of earnings order to ensure I have to pay her. This could be up to £200 a month I will have to pay and that will plunge me into a lot of financial difficulty.

The daughter seems quite ruthless and she says that putting me into deep financial difficulty is of no concern to her at all and she is ensuring I pay her in full, yet I know she is already raking in big profits from renting.

I ‘m not actually looking for legal advice, but I would like to know your views on how you see this. Is she right to show no concern about the financial difficulty she is putting me in despite already raking in good profits or is she just going about this is a business manner?

[Rentingbob]

OK, I'll say a bit more on how my situation came about. I rented a house in a joint tenancy with two eastern Europeans who I did not know (my big mistake). It didn't work for them in the UK so they left and went back home. However they were the ones who hadn't paid rent and left the damage to the property.

Even if I could locate them, they had little money or assets to go after. So with the joint tenancy the landlord can go after any of us for money owed.

I tried to dispute this but got nowhere and got no sympathetic view from the landlords daughter like I have said.

Maybe she does just have to look at this kind of situation in that she has a business and it is a payment owed just like any other payment and putting me into big financial difficulties is not something she should be giving any consideration to.

[THECORBYLOON]

Many folk go into a jointly and several responsible agreement and are fine and dandy about the joint responsibility because it's shared but give little or no thought about the several liability.

[EDDIE51]

This is not a personal matter it is business.The person owed the money has the right to try to get payment and as fast and as much as possible. But I have a lot of sympathy for your situation. However, you still need to offer an amount you can comfortably & sensibly afford. As I said earlier, if the two parties cannot agree a suitable repayment plan between them, the court will decide a payment plan and enforce it.

[Rentingbob]

Thanks for your view Eddie51, I realise you are right that this is a business matter and not personal. A problem I have is that I do also owe money to relatives that wasn't documented so as far as the courts see it, I have quite a bit more money spare than I have and they will order me to pay more than I can really afford.

I have told the landlords daughter about this but again she says it is no concern to her at all and like you said, she will want to be paid as much as she can and as quickly as she can.

I'll admit that most of this is my own doing so maybe she is justified in having no concern about the financial difficulty she is putting me in. I appreciate all views whichever way anyone sees this.

[Islay]

Did you rent a room from the landlord or a house?
You say you didn't know your house sharers but you must have done if you were willing to rent a house with them?
In my experience if you rent a house with 'friends' then you are all responsible for the others failings.
Sorry but she is running a business and doesn't care if you owe money to relatives.

[EDDIE51]

Put ALL you owe on the expenditure sheets .You DO NOT have to prove what you owe. They will accept your word for it as long as it is believable. I know this from personal experience , I have had to do it several times.

[bednobs]

you have no idea what financial pressures you have put her and her father under by owing them money. Did you show any concern to her?

[Rentingbob]

Thank you for giving me your view Islay, it was a house we were renting. When I said I didn't know them before we rented, it was because we met through someone else a to share an accommodation which I now realise was a big mistake.

You are right that we are all responsible for any failings of the others. I can't really argue that she is running a business and has no care for the fact that I owe money to relatives. Her only care seems to be getting paid as much as she can.

I know she is already making a lot of money from renting so would probably not even miss this money but I guess that's not the point.

[Islay]

No that's not the point!
She may have mortgage payments that she uses the rent money to pay, therefore she didn't make those payments when she didn't get your rent.
Suck it up an pay what is owed is the only way out of this - sorry.

[woofgang]

How do you know what she is making from renting and what her expenses and responsibilities are?...and no whether or not she would miss the money is not the point.

[EDDIE51]

As said, an expenditure sheet to determine a suitable repayment for a county court judgement is a legal document. They have to accept what you say on it even if you do not have proof of what you owe .
It is a declaration made under oath same as giving evidence in court. So put down every single thing you owe and every expense , do not hold back anything for lack of proof. If you want help doing it go to your local CAB and ask to see an advisor. They will help you fill out the form. You will almost certainly not realise just how much you can truthfully put down as expenditure. But the CAB will know and will make sure you put everything. They will also suggest a suitable amount to offer as repayment. The amount will probably be a lot less than you would have offered by doing it all yourself. It was the CAB that suggested I offer £1 a week on my £9000 bank debt. It was accepted immediately. Seeing that the CAB have advised you will give the court reassurance that your financial situation has been correctly accessed, and give a higher chance of accepting the offer.

[Rentingbob]

Well it is just that it is well known in the area that they are well off woofgang. I will accept though that's probably not the point. I also accept that even though she does seem to be well off and may not miss the money I owe, she will still want to be paid any money owed to her and if this has to be done by obtaining a court order which will put me in big financial difficulty she is probably justified in in doing so.

[EDDIE51]

^ exactly. The court has determined that you owe the amount claimed and that will not go away. All you can do is to get repayments set at a rate you can sensibly afford. The person you owe the money too could be a multi millionaire , it makes no difference. You owe it so you have to pay up.

[cassa333]

You don't have to prove what you claim on your income/expenditure forms until the person you owe money to goes back to court and asks for a warrant to attend court for questioning. You then very much have to prove what you are saying. You have to back it up with contracts, bank statements, and receipts et The person you owe money to can ask for any reasonable documentation they feel necessary.

Why should she believe a word you say?

[Baldric]

I'm a Landlord (6 Rentals) and my long-term house guest also has a Rental which I look after for her. If someone owes us money for rent or damages, they are going to pay and I don't really care how that payment is collected, they owe it, legally, and they will pay.

[Rentingbob]

I appreciate your view on this Baldric, especially as you are a landlord yourself.

I know I made a big mistake in taking on a joint tenancy with those guys who then left me in the lurch and because of that I am now facing big financial difficulty because she is going to make me pay by whatever means she has to.

I think she takes exactly the same view of this as you do in that it does not matter to her at all that it wasn't me who failed to pay my share of the rent or caused the damage. It also does not matter at all to her that she is going to put me in big financial difficulty as long as she is paid in full.

So you fully support her in this situation?

[Baldric]

Renting property is a business, the same as any other business, debts have to be payed, simples..........

[Islay]

Hang on - its not just them leaving that has put you in this position!
You did not get a deposit off them in case of a situation occurring - rule one of house share.
You got yourself into the financial mess by borrowing from relatives - there seems to be a pattern here!
Now you are inferring that the landlady is greedy because she has plenty of money and won't miss it!
Man up pay your debts and move on - lesson learnt!

[Rentingbob]

It's well known in the area that they are well off Bednobs, though it's not that I didn't feel any concern, it was just after the other two left me in the lurch I could not afford to pay her.

I'll admit that this is my own doing and I will have to find a way to pay her. It is just that she wants as high monthly payments as she can get and over a short period which is going to put me in big financial trouble.

Perhaps a court will allow me to pay lower payments than she is asking for as Eddie51 has suggested.

[woofgang]

I don't think that anyone on here is going to say "oh there there you poor person you should be let off this debt what a nasty landlord"