Help needed with Accelerated Possession Claim

[efpom]

If the documents you received from the court say that you must respond by a certain date, you have until 16:00 on that date to file and serve the Defence form
This can be sent to the court by email with subject line - Case number Defence Form X Claimant Y Defendant

If the Claimant or his solicitor has agreed to service by email that can also be served by email. If no agreement, then that must be served either in person or by 1^st class post

If you wish to issue a CLAIM, you must pay the court fee (or obtain relief from paying those.)

Your landlord can also issue a claim against you e.g. for rent you owe to him or for damages caused by your breach of the Tenancy Agreement and must also pay the court fee- even if that is a “counter claim” made in response to a claim made by you.

I emphasise that neither a “counter claim” by you nor a claim by the landlord for rent you owe to him or for damages caused by your breach of the Tenancy Agreement will be considered by the judge dealing with the S.21 Accelerated Procedure application for a Possession Order.

As this is a S.21 accelerated procedure, where the Claimant is applying to the court for an Order for Possession there is no hearing, you are not entitled to make a "“counter claim”", as you put it, and the only possible outcomes are:
a) A Possession Order issues, effective at a minimum of 14 days and a maximum of 42 days, from the date of the Order
OR
b) An Order issues for a hearing.
OR
c) The application is dismissed/struck out because the Notice of Possession is invalid.

[Malibu1]

efpom


Do I have to send my forms and evidence directly to the landlords solicitor as well? I thought the court did that? I did not receive the claim from the landlords solicitor, only directly from the court?


Regarding a counterclaim, I have read the following online - Is this not correct then? Or has something in the law changed recently?

Counterclaims to accelerated possession claims
Section II of CPR 55 does not include any provision preventing a tenant from bringing a counterclaim. Therefore, a defendant to an accelerated possession claim is entitled to bring a counterclaim just like a defendant to any other litigation.19 Aug 2019


Here also is a link to a successful counterclaim made in accelerated possession proceedings:

Nelson v Drew judgment.pdf (communitylawpartnership.co.uk)

Is there any specific reason that these people were allowed to bring a counterclaim, but I am not?

I believe it would be in my best interest to bring a counterclaim and it may also make it more likely for the judge to dismiss the possession claim if I do? I really don't see that I have anything to lose by making a counterclaim and would prefer to do so. I would really appreciate any help in writing a counterclaim, along with defence, as I am struggling to think straight and am sure somebody else could help to present my defence & counterclaim much better, and faster, than I can.

Would really appreciate any help with this. Many Thanks

[Malibu1]

Could anyone possibly answer my other questions in post no.45.

Really do appreciate any help.

Many Thanks

[efpom]

The OP must, of course, act in what he/she believes to be his/her best interests.

I think I have contributed as much as I usefully can to this thread. aimed at that.

On that note, I depart this thread by wishing the OP every success with opposing the claim.

[islandgirl]

I can only add that any information re health etc may stay the repossession to the maximum 42 days. Or the judge may wish a hearing (all as per Efpom). The only way to throw out the S21 at this stage is to show it is invalid. I also add my very best wishes. Please come back and tell us what happens.

[Malibu1]

Thank you for the replies. So does anything within my response show that the S21 is invalid?... Would very much appreciate if you could amend my text to present that to the judge, as I do not feel my written explanation is adequate enough?

Is there anything I should write in a clearer manner regarding the S21 being invalid? If so, please could somebody help with amending or re-wording my response at all?

Many Thanks

[Malibu1]

@EPFOM - I very much appreciate your reply, but you have not answered my questions in post 47, which is making me even more confused?

I refer again to the questions in that post ?

[Malibu1]

You asked me to post a draft of the "defence", and I thought you were going to help further with that... If you are not able to help - Is anybody else able to help write a more professional defence and counterclaim? I don't have much time and would appreciate any help with what I need. Many Thnaks

[islandgirl]

Efpom has dealt with the S21 being flawed as below:

17 If the Claimant has completed section 18b–18d, have you received
the document ‘How to Rent’ marked ‘H’?
Your answer No
If the judge believes that answer might be true the accelerated possession claim will fail and a hearing will occur.
20
The section 21 notice was a retaliatory eviction, served solely because I was too unwell with Covid and other conditions to accommodate an inspection on their demand. I offered every reasonable alternative
If the judge believes that answer might be true the accelerated possession claim will fail.

[efpom]

This just in.
https://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKUT/LC/2022/266.html

[Malibu1]

Hi,

efpom - I have just read your link, but have some cognitive problems since suffering a stroke a few years ago, and sometimes struggle to read & understand long written documents in legal terms - I could not actually understand the outcome of the link you attached... I can see it said something about sub-tenants, so not sure how this might relate to my situation?... Could you maybe give a summary of what the link is about and the outcome?

So, an update on my situation - I received notice from the court that there is a hearing scheduled for about 1 week from now. Today I also received a large bundle of documents from the Landlord / Claimants solicitors, including a reply to my defence and also a witness statement from one of the members of letting agents.

They deny each and every allegation made in my defence statement. They also make various allegations, including claiming that I did not have permission to make adaptions to the property, which they claim is therefore another breach of contract.

I most certainly did have permission directly from their letting agents for the adaptions - If they are trying to claim they knew nothing about this, then the actions of their letting agents are their responsibility, not mine.

Amongst other things as well, they deny serving unlawful S21 as a direct result of their discrimination against my health conditions and are trying to claim it was solely due to Landlords needing property for their elderly mother. I have written evidence otherwise.

They also deny any bullying, harassment, stalking, or deliberate misuse of pesticides etc. I also have various evidence of this, including CCTV footage.

I am feeling quite intimidated by their legal representation, and I cannot afford to appoint a solicitor myself.

I would like to provide a detailed response to their response - Am I allowed to do that?

I also would not be able to attend court hearing in person, owing to ill health and would like to request that this could be dealt with on papers only - Am I allowed to request that? If so, how do I request that? Is there any particular application form I would need to complete, or should I simply send an email to the court requesting this? If so, what is the latest deadline before the current arranged hearing that I should request this?

I have not yet been able to secure another property to move home and would very much like this to either be postponed or for the possession claim to be dismissed altogether, to give me more time to move out and to try to get assistance with this. I would also like to provide specific items of evidence to the judge, which I do not have enough time to obtain from third-parties in time for the current scheduled hearing.

Can I ask the judge for more time for this reason?


I am really struggling and would like to present much more detailed information to the judge in relation to all of my allegations - Would anyone possibly be able to help me write my statements / defence in a more professional manner?

I really am confused and not sure what exactly I need to send to the court in terms of statement / defence / evidence and would very much appreciate if anybody could help with guidance and properly written statement etc?

Many Thanks

[Malibu1]

Could anybody please help with this - I am unsure exactly what I need to do / send to the court and don't have much time left. Would very much apppreciate any help with forms or drafting reply. Many Thanks

[Malibu1]

I apologise for all of the questions - In addition to any help with the above, I have a few questions and would be very grateful if anyone can answer:

1. In my defence I mentioned the bullying, harassment & discrimination I have also been subjected to by the letting / managing agents employed by the landlords. I believe the landlords are responsible for how their agent treats their tenant. As part of the claimants reply to my defence, they have included a witness statement from one of the managing agents. The agent has sent copies of many many emails, including a copy of my passport etc to the court. There are several emails between myself and agents that I was also going to include as my own evidence against them - I have not had chance to check yet if they have included those specific emails, as it is such a large bundle. Is this considered a breach of data protection?

2. The Claimant seems to have tripped themselves up in their reply to defence - I made reference to agreed adaptions made to the property in my defence, but didn't specify what the adaptions were. In their reply they deny having ever given me permission for said adaptions, stating I have therefore breached tenancy agreement. They mention specifically what the adaption is, however they could not possibly know this information unless they had given permission. The only other way they could know is if they had trespassed / spied over the fence, which they also fully deny. Is there a better way I can word this to explain to the judge how this proves they are lying?

3. They are now also falsely claiming that I was offered a 6 month only fixed term. I have various written evidence otherwise - Should I included that?

4. Am I allowed to send telephone conversation recordings to the judge, in addition to CCTV and photographs?

5. Some of the evidence I would like to show the judge is only obtainable from third parties and I will not have this in time for the scheduled hearing - Can I ask for more time to prepare this?

6. Can I also ask the judge for hearing to be decided on papers / other evidence only, as I will not be able to attend a hearing in person?

7. Can I ask the judge for costs for my time and if so, is there a specific value or way to request this?

I would appreciate any help. Many Thanks

[Malibu1]

I forgot to mention, they are asking the judge to make me homeless by bailiffs within 14 days. I am worried that even if the judge allowed the maximum 42 days at the hearing, I will not be able to secure alternative accommodation quickly enough, which is extremely difficult at the moment. I am supposed to be attending hearing in person on 5th Decemeber. I am not going to be able to attend due to health reasons.

Ideally I would like their accelerated possession claim to be completely dismissed, which would allow me more time to move out, or for the hearing to be delayed and to be considered on paper only, but I would need more time anyway to prepare my evidence.

Do I need to submit any specific application form to the court along with help with fees application? Or do I just write an email to the court?

Should I write a reply to the claimants reply to defence? Should I write a witness statement as well? If so, does anyone have a draft of how it should be presented and set out? Could anyone possibly help me to draft a properly worded document?

I apologise for all of the questions - I am so confused and would really appreciate any help if possible. Thank You

[Malibu1]

Can anyone help with this?