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Hello everyone,
This is my first post so hope I'm in the right place. We have received a summons from our landlord for £10k. We signed a 10 year lease in October last year. At the time, the landlord said in an email it was a temporary lease for one week only until the real version was ready. We kept asking for the real version and we were told it was with their solicitor on three occasions. As soon as we told them our solicitor was wanting to see this lease the landlord suggested a new lease for 6 years (to avoid them having to register it) in December and we agreed. We kept asking for this new lease and it never arrived. We experienced lots of problems with leaks, repairs etc and paid for everything even though we didn't believe the things were our responsibility. The biggest thing of all came when we contacted our electricity provider to ask why weren't receiving electric bills. We were horrified to be told that the supply had been disconnected in 2009. The power has always been on and it seems that someone has bypassed the supply and there isn't even a meter. We left the premises in August and sent the keys back.
We believe we did not have lease at all. The electricity supply is illegal. At the time of leaving we were still trying to resolve the electricity issue.
We have received a summons based on the original document we signed. We have sent a defence form and have to provide that defence by Friday 22nd November. We just don't know where to start. We believe there is some pre action protocol that has not been followed. We have written to the landlord suggesting they withdraw. We have every email we have sent to them and their replies. They are doing nothing to mitigate their losses. They are claiming insurance for the next two years and rent for two years.
This is a really brief summary. The whole thing would take a lot of reading but these are what I believe to be the main issues. Can anyone give us any suggestions or points in law we can look at? Any help would be massively appreciated.
Many thanks in advance
This is my first post so hope I'm in the right place. We have received a summons from our landlord for £10k. We signed a 10 year lease in October last year. At the time, the landlord said in an email it was a temporary lease for one week only until the real version was ready. We kept asking for the real version and we were told it was with their solicitor on three occasions. As soon as we told them our solicitor was wanting to see this lease the landlord suggested a new lease for 6 years (to avoid them having to register it) in December and we agreed. We kept asking for this new lease and it never arrived. We experienced lots of problems with leaks, repairs etc and paid for everything even though we didn't believe the things were our responsibility. The biggest thing of all came when we contacted our electricity provider to ask why weren't receiving electric bills. We were horrified to be told that the supply had been disconnected in 2009. The power has always been on and it seems that someone has bypassed the supply and there isn't even a meter. We left the premises in August and sent the keys back.
We believe we did not have lease at all. The electricity supply is illegal. At the time of leaving we were still trying to resolve the electricity issue.
We have received a summons based on the original document we signed. We have sent a defence form and have to provide that defence by Friday 22nd November. We just don't know where to start. We believe there is some pre action protocol that has not been followed. We have written to the landlord suggesting they withdraw. We have every email we have sent to them and their replies. They are doing nothing to mitigate their losses. They are claiming insurance for the next two years and rent for two years.
This is a really brief summary. The whole thing would take a lot of reading but these are what I believe to be the main issues. Can anyone give us any suggestions or points in law we can look at? Any help would be massively appreciated.
Many thanks in advance
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