Guarantor liability - being taken to county court and looking for lawyer

[ScottDXF]

Hi, I acted as guarantor for my sister in law and her partner in 2014 signing a 12 month fixed term AST. All went well for the 12 month period and they then stayed on under a periodic tenancy agreement. 18 month in the landlord increased their rent without my knowledge. June 2018 my sister in law moved out of the property with agreement from the landlord, at which time the rent was also up to date. The Landlord told her not to worry about leaving the boyfriend there as he would send him a notice of termination, this is all in text messages that my sister in law has provided to me. The Landlord allowed him to remain for a further 3 months during which period the rent became in arrears.
The Landlord then contacted me out of the blue and informed me that I was liable for the rent arrears. Of £3500 I told him that as the terms of the agreement had changed between him and the tenants on numerous occasions without my knowledge that I didn’t feel I was liable under the terms of the original agreement any longer.
he engaged a lawyer, who is a family friend I’m informed, and the lawyer emailed me claiming that I was liable and for the rent and damages to the property. I again tried to argue the case with the lawyer via email at which point he informed me that he would let a judge decide.
i heard no more until July this year when I reviewed a bailiff letter informing me that there was a court order against me and that I owed £11,000 in rent arrears and property repairs. I managed to get a stay of execution granted against the order and am being taken to court in December to defend the claim.

i have agreed that the Landlord has been negligent in informing me of changes the the agreement. I believe that majority of the repairs claims are inflated.
i have numerous texts from the Landlord to my sister in law when she lived there stating he had visited and also with an estate agent at one time but no mention of disrepair had been made at or after these visits.

the lawyer has pointed out a clause in the contract that states “liability remains regardless of negligence on Landlord behalf” it also mentions that the contact is indefinite. Previous advise I’ve had informs me under the consumer rights act, such clause of indefinite ,unlimited liability regardless of negligence would in affect be regarded as “unfair contract terms” and would not actually be enforceable.

i believe that as the terms changed on numerous occasions, and even resulted in the tenancy becoming sole tenancy toward the end that liability would certainly be void?

ive offered to provide the details of my sister in laws ex so that they are able to pursue him directly but they do not seem to be interested in him and are just seeking arrears and compensation from me as the original guarantor.

ideally I need to know if I’m still liable and if not I’m looking for someone to help represent me when it goes back to court in December - ideally on a no win no fee so that I can counterclaim for my expenses to date in defending this matter and any additional cost that I will incur defending it further.

[efpom]

It seems to me that as you only agreed to act as guarantor on the AST agreement, which terminated at the end of the term stipulated therein - 12 months later. Thus, you would only be liable for unpaid rent that occurred during that term.

If that is right, any later agreement between the parties where you did not act a guarantor is nothing to do with you.

[ScottDXF]

That’s what I would have thought, but his lawyer is taking me to court so I need to know what to do about it and how to make a counterclaim for money I’ve spent in getting a stay if execution granted and time spent defending this so far

[efpom]

It would seem from your writing that a default judgment issued because you failed to enter any defence and that you have had that set aside because it issued without a hearing.

You now intend to enter a defence to the claim.

On costs, If you are successful, you intend to ask the court to award your costs in defending the claim. The normal rule is that costs follow the event, but costs are always at the discretion of the court.

That is not a counterclaim.

In consequence, you will find it almost impossible to find "no win no fee" professional representation.

You may wish to retain a solicitor to act for you at it's litigation rate - £450 to £600 per hour + vat.

If you intend to act as a litigant in person, you can claim £19.00 per hour for your work in defending the claim. You are unlikely to recoup any costs you incurred prior to the issue of the default judgment, unless you can prove that your failure to defend the claim prior to the default judgment was through no fault of yours.

To seek help on here, I suggest that you start by posting up the particulars of claim, with the objective of obtaining assistance in crafting a properly pleaded defence.