MCOL Small Claims .... is it worth it ?

[Virtualred]

Good evening all

I am in the process of an MCOL claim for some tenancy remedial works that cost me around £450 and am wondering whether it is really worth the bother ....

I allowed the last tenants I had renting my property to repaint 3 or 4 of the rooms provided that they met they returned them to the original state when leaving.
Along with 3 other painted rooms I was left with a loft conversion they had painted dark bright pink with a spray painted mural on the wall!!
Needless to say I could not quite leave this the way it was for my next tenancy and had all the rooms re-painted as they were.

Tenants were advised on leaving that as part of the tenancy agreement they were to return the property to its original condition and the subsequent costs to do so.
At the time of leaving the tenants were in rent arrears with the least rent payment having to be taken from the deposit .... leaving not enough to cover the works
The attempts from the agents to contact them were unsuccessful and pretty much ignored.

I since filed a claim for the amount. In response they have filed a defence which is 8 or 9 pages or waffle with plenty of lies. Much of it complains about heating issues when I had to have a new boiler fitted during a christmas period and about conditions of the painted walls although they never raised any complaint in communication about any issues.

As i live abroad the cost to travel back and attend a court appearance to retrieve the money seems now likes its not going to be worth the time and effort.
Based on what I know of the tenant after several incidents previously and from the defence statement I know it will be hard to sift through all the lies and apparent grievances and even if I succeeded there is no way they would be wanting to pay me any substantial amount. I guess my claim is also based more on principle than the monetary value itself.....

Am I now considering just discontinuing with the claim and I guess my question is what are peoples experiences on whether its really worth the time and effort or not ?
I would welcome any thoughts

Many Thanks

[ploddertom]

Have you considered:
a - all the Court costs involved - there is the initial application fee, then the Hearing Fee
b - if you win are you likely to have to enforce the debt because they haven't paid
c - do they have any assets that could be seized to repay the debt

That is just a little bit of what may be involved and of course as I often say just because you have been given Judgment is no guarantee you will ever get paid. They could make an application to pay you at say £5 per month and by the time it is all done and dusted you will have lost out anyway. On the other hand it could give you satisfaction that their credit will be screwed for the next 6 years.

As you say if you live abroad then the time taken to come back and forwards will soon mount up. If they are intent on defending it then you have to respond to what they say. The decision has to be yours but taking Court action should be looked upon as a last resort, I'm assuming that you never returned any of the deposit they paid.

[Virtualred]

Hi Ploddertom

Thanks for your thoughts ....

Application fee yes as I have already paid that but nothing more as of yet, i guess that's my dilemma and I am thinking its not worth it.
My concern is as you say, even if I win he will not make it straightforward and that is really not worth the money.

The personal satisfaction would be great but not at my own expense which it would be travelling to try and dispute his defense.
What remained of his deposit was £200 as he was in rent arrears at the end and could not pay .... unfortunately what was left was just not going to cover it.

I am thinking i will respond and be willing to go with with the mcol free mediation service but my gut feeling is he does not want to give anything up.
If nothing comes of that I think I will just have to discontinue asap and cut my losses,, do you know if there is cost associated with that ?

[ploddertom]

If it were me I would take it as far as possible without shelling out any more. Believe mediation is free, but you would have to pay a Hearing Fee at a later date. If you don't pay then your application may be stayed or struck out but have a read of these:

http://legalbeagles.info/forums/foru...otential-costs

http://legalbeagles.info/forums/foru...g-fee-what-now

[_______]

not at my own expense which it would be travelling to try and dispute his defense.

If you're considering abandoning your case even before any costs come up, it's worth noting that even if mediation is rejected or fails, a hearing won't necessarily require travel - they are often conducted by phone. You would find out how the hearing is proposed to be conducted before having to pay the hearing fee to proceed.

Reasonable travel costs to attend an in-person hearing are also allowable for small claims so you stand to be awarded those back if you win.

Other concerns about proceeding have already been discussed; it's just worth noting that a potential hearing is probably not as big a factor in this, besides the time it consumes.