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Hello everyone. I am writing to ask for some help in the following matter. I will try to keep it short, although it is a bit complex and has been ongoing since May 2022.
Some background information:
I have been renting privately and living with my family(wife and 2 kids, 15 and 17) in South London, at the same address since 2011, paying the rent always on time and being an exemplary tenant. We were on great terms with our landlord who lives abroad and we looked after his property for over 12 years as if it was ours.
Due to a back injury sustained in a car accident in Nov 2019 and a few other health problems befalling me during the Covid period mid-2020 , I wasn't able to work anymore. Previously, I used to work as an electrician/plumber/general builder multi-trader. However, since I had some savings in the bank, I continued to pay my rent until I eventually run out of funds around December 2021. And since the landlord owed me quite a bit of money(labor and materials around the £15K mark)for refurbishments done at his property, I hoped it would offset the rent and we will find a mutually beneficial solution. He became a different person and started to complain when it came to paying me back and became downright quiet and unfriendly when it came to settling our accounts.
Fast forward to the present time, I am currently involved in a dispute with my landlord, who has issued a Section 8(on 25.05.2022) then followed by a concurrent Section 21(on 06.02.2023) court claim against me. For the Section 8, I have been represented under Legal Aid by SWLLC(South West London Law Centers) until recently. There is a trial date set for this claim under Section 8 on 06.07.2023. The subsequent claim under Section 21 was filed exactly the day my wife's father passed away, on 06.02.2023. It arrived at our home address while we were away to attend the burial ceremony in Europe and since it was never sent to our lawyers, it went unchallenged. Upon my return about a month later, I found the claim and promptly informed my lawyers about it, but they failed to respond or advise/act on the matter. In the meantime, it had gone to fast-track and we received a verdict for possession in favor of the landlord, dated 20.06.2023. While researching the matter, I believe I am in a very good position to ask for the Section 21 notice to be struck out. It wasn't just issued while the Section 8 claim was undergoing, but I believe the landlord's lawyers sent the claim to my home address, instead of my lawyer's office as usual on purpose, in order to avoid it being challenged. I believe it amounts to manipulation of procedure and is also an abuse of process. I also found that it failed the validity of a Section 21 notice checklist on 4 out of 5 points(no valid EPC given, no Gas Certificate, no How to Rent checklist, no Prescribed information). I trust that the Court will also agree with my findings and put things right.
Coming back to the Section 8 claim: recently, I was told via email by my former legal counsel that I won't be eligible for legal aid anymore unless I agree to a settlement with the landlord. I didn't think that the settlement proposal was beneficial to us, hence I did not agree to it in the first place. But she insisted. I told her that I had already decided to go to trial to have the judge decide instead. The paralegal in charge of the case emailed me on 29.06.2023 and told me that I will be struck off their records, as they have been instructed by their legal counsel to discharge my Legal Aid certificate, unless I agree to a settlement. I started writing back to her, in an effort to explain why I believed that the decision was wrong, as there were additional factors that weighed heavily in the decision and that have not been taken into account, despite my insistence. While I was in the middle of replying to her letter, I was abruptly sent an N434 form for a change of legal representative. She signed the form herself and sent it out to all parties, as if it she had been instructed by me to do so. In effect, I was left without a legal representative, as well as legal aid with only a few days to go before the trial.
Since then, I have had no choice but to charge of the defense and in doing so, I was able to identify numerous problems with the way the cases have been handled. I now believe that my former legal representatives have failed in their duty of care towards me. I also believe that they might be guilty of professional negligence and that they have severely hurt my chances of getting a fair trial. There are numerous mistakes that have been made, both by my legal team, as well as that of the landlords'. My legal representatives have failed to act upon the mistakes when pointed out by myself, even while they were in charge of the case. They also failed to act upon instructions received from me. After being struck off their records, the paralegal stopped answering my emails and refused to help me in the matter anymore, thus denying me the right to communication. This is not OK, considering that they have been paid by Legal Aid to help with the case up to the trial date. I had to escalate their complaint procedure to step 2, sending an email to the manager in charge of the complaints department. I have not received an answer or even an acknowledgment to date, which is an additional cause for concern.
After receiving the N434, I did ask for all the documentation relevant to the case to be released to me. I was told by the case handler, to come to their office on 03.07.2023, to have a chat and be handed the documents. As we entered the office, a person I never spoke to before identified himself as the paralegal's supervisor and invited us to sit down. He then took charge of the meeting and started speaking to me, not allowing the paralegal to comment. His attitude was very confrontational and dismissive. He kept interrupting me and would not accept any comment I was trying to make. What I found most incredible is the fact that at one point he forbid me to take any written notes of the meeting. All I was trying to do was scribble down some technical words that he used and I was not familiar with, in order to have them looked up online later, so I can also use them in my defense in court. He told me in no uncertain terms that I am being rude and I should respect the fact that we are having a conversation. I explained to him that I only wanted to write down the terms 'adjournment' and 'abuse of process'. However, he said he will not allow me to write anything down and that he will stop the meeting immediately and ask me to leave if I wrote anything down. It's 100% true, I swear it. My wife, as well as the paralegal present, were staring in disbelief. I did not want to cause an argument, therefore I did not write anything down and committed the words to memory, instead. I would like to point out that at the start of the meeting, this bully-like, overbearing person informed us that due to the fact that he was the case supervisor, everything that had been done in the case had to be agreed upon and confirmed by him, thus taking full responsibility. Good news for the paralegal, when it comes to having them investigated for professional negligence, breach of duty, and refusal of communication somewhere down the line, I guess.
Going forward, my plan is to enlist the help of the duty solicitor on the trial day. Upon inspecting the Section 8 case documents, I found that instructions given by the Judge to the parties had not been followed as they should have been. Due to this, I will ask for an adjournment, in order to gain some breathing space, while I attempt to find alternative legal help from a lawyer registered with the Law Society. I believe I am well within my rights to be asking for judicial review in the matter, seeing that my previous lawyers did not defend me in the best possible way.
Could you please tell me what is best to do next and if it would be possible to have someone look at my case and assess the situation? Although I have learned a lot during the last few days, doing research online, I am sure I could benefit from the advice of a professional in the field, who might be able to identify other problems. Although I am a quick study, I believe one can't become proficient in the legal realm with only a few days of research online under his belt. I just need someone with experience to help me make heads or tails of this convoluted predicament I now find myself in. Any advice and help would be highly appreciated.
Kind regards, Michael
Some background information:
I have been renting privately and living with my family(wife and 2 kids, 15 and 17) in South London, at the same address since 2011, paying the rent always on time and being an exemplary tenant. We were on great terms with our landlord who lives abroad and we looked after his property for over 12 years as if it was ours.
Due to a back injury sustained in a car accident in Nov 2019 and a few other health problems befalling me during the Covid period mid-2020 , I wasn't able to work anymore. Previously, I used to work as an electrician/plumber/general builder multi-trader. However, since I had some savings in the bank, I continued to pay my rent until I eventually run out of funds around December 2021. And since the landlord owed me quite a bit of money(labor and materials around the £15K mark)for refurbishments done at his property, I hoped it would offset the rent and we will find a mutually beneficial solution. He became a different person and started to complain when it came to paying me back and became downright quiet and unfriendly when it came to settling our accounts.
Fast forward to the present time, I am currently involved in a dispute with my landlord, who has issued a Section 8(on 25.05.2022) then followed by a concurrent Section 21(on 06.02.2023) court claim against me. For the Section 8, I have been represented under Legal Aid by SWLLC(South West London Law Centers) until recently. There is a trial date set for this claim under Section 8 on 06.07.2023. The subsequent claim under Section 21 was filed exactly the day my wife's father passed away, on 06.02.2023. It arrived at our home address while we were away to attend the burial ceremony in Europe and since it was never sent to our lawyers, it went unchallenged. Upon my return about a month later, I found the claim and promptly informed my lawyers about it, but they failed to respond or advise/act on the matter. In the meantime, it had gone to fast-track and we received a verdict for possession in favor of the landlord, dated 20.06.2023. While researching the matter, I believe I am in a very good position to ask for the Section 21 notice to be struck out. It wasn't just issued while the Section 8 claim was undergoing, but I believe the landlord's lawyers sent the claim to my home address, instead of my lawyer's office as usual on purpose, in order to avoid it being challenged. I believe it amounts to manipulation of procedure and is also an abuse of process. I also found that it failed the validity of a Section 21 notice checklist on 4 out of 5 points(no valid EPC given, no Gas Certificate, no How to Rent checklist, no Prescribed information). I trust that the Court will also agree with my findings and put things right.
Coming back to the Section 8 claim: recently, I was told via email by my former legal counsel that I won't be eligible for legal aid anymore unless I agree to a settlement with the landlord. I didn't think that the settlement proposal was beneficial to us, hence I did not agree to it in the first place. But she insisted. I told her that I had already decided to go to trial to have the judge decide instead. The paralegal in charge of the case emailed me on 29.06.2023 and told me that I will be struck off their records, as they have been instructed by their legal counsel to discharge my Legal Aid certificate, unless I agree to a settlement. I started writing back to her, in an effort to explain why I believed that the decision was wrong, as there were additional factors that weighed heavily in the decision and that have not been taken into account, despite my insistence. While I was in the middle of replying to her letter, I was abruptly sent an N434 form for a change of legal representative. She signed the form herself and sent it out to all parties, as if it she had been instructed by me to do so. In effect, I was left without a legal representative, as well as legal aid with only a few days to go before the trial.
Since then, I have had no choice but to charge of the defense and in doing so, I was able to identify numerous problems with the way the cases have been handled. I now believe that my former legal representatives have failed in their duty of care towards me. I also believe that they might be guilty of professional negligence and that they have severely hurt my chances of getting a fair trial. There are numerous mistakes that have been made, both by my legal team, as well as that of the landlords'. My legal representatives have failed to act upon the mistakes when pointed out by myself, even while they were in charge of the case. They also failed to act upon instructions received from me. After being struck off their records, the paralegal stopped answering my emails and refused to help me in the matter anymore, thus denying me the right to communication. This is not OK, considering that they have been paid by Legal Aid to help with the case up to the trial date. I had to escalate their complaint procedure to step 2, sending an email to the manager in charge of the complaints department. I have not received an answer or even an acknowledgment to date, which is an additional cause for concern.
After receiving the N434, I did ask for all the documentation relevant to the case to be released to me. I was told by the case handler, to come to their office on 03.07.2023, to have a chat and be handed the documents. As we entered the office, a person I never spoke to before identified himself as the paralegal's supervisor and invited us to sit down. He then took charge of the meeting and started speaking to me, not allowing the paralegal to comment. His attitude was very confrontational and dismissive. He kept interrupting me and would not accept any comment I was trying to make. What I found most incredible is the fact that at one point he forbid me to take any written notes of the meeting. All I was trying to do was scribble down some technical words that he used and I was not familiar with, in order to have them looked up online later, so I can also use them in my defense in court. He told me in no uncertain terms that I am being rude and I should respect the fact that we are having a conversation. I explained to him that I only wanted to write down the terms 'adjournment' and 'abuse of process'. However, he said he will not allow me to write anything down and that he will stop the meeting immediately and ask me to leave if I wrote anything down. It's 100% true, I swear it. My wife, as well as the paralegal present, were staring in disbelief. I did not want to cause an argument, therefore I did not write anything down and committed the words to memory, instead. I would like to point out that at the start of the meeting, this bully-like, overbearing person informed us that due to the fact that he was the case supervisor, everything that had been done in the case had to be agreed upon and confirmed by him, thus taking full responsibility. Good news for the paralegal, when it comes to having them investigated for professional negligence, breach of duty, and refusal of communication somewhere down the line, I guess.
Going forward, my plan is to enlist the help of the duty solicitor on the trial day. Upon inspecting the Section 8 case documents, I found that instructions given by the Judge to the parties had not been followed as they should have been. Due to this, I will ask for an adjournment, in order to gain some breathing space, while I attempt to find alternative legal help from a lawyer registered with the Law Society. I believe I am well within my rights to be asking for judicial review in the matter, seeing that my previous lawyers did not defend me in the best possible way.
Could you please tell me what is best to do next and if it would be possible to have someone look at my case and assess the situation? Although I have learned a lot during the last few days, doing research online, I am sure I could benefit from the advice of a professional in the field, who might be able to identify other problems. Although I am a quick study, I believe one can't become proficient in the legal realm with only a few days of research online under his belt. I just need someone with experience to help me make heads or tails of this convoluted predicament I now find myself in. Any advice and help would be highly appreciated.
Kind regards, Michael
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