Be the adjudicator! Take a seat at the adjudicator’s desk and have a go at resolving a dispute! Click on the start button and follow the case through to the verdict ES NOT E CAS START The claim The landlord has claimed £280 for costs awarded by the court in Section 21 possession proceedings and £720 for legal fees paid to their solicitor. ES rt NOT cou E S in A s C 280 fee ing £ licitors IM im A la L is c 0 in so >C lord d n £72 a L sts and co < BACK NEXT > The dispute The court told the tenant to pay £280 in court costs, which they accepted, but they disputed the claim for £720 in solicitor’s fees. ES rt NOT cou E S in A s C 280 fee ing £ licitors IM im A la L is c 0 in so >C lord d n £72 a L sts and t only co ’re d rejec y e h n t E a s T lieve osts ISPU t be ourt c ts >D n a n s c e the legal co he t T le for r o liab ction f u ded < BACK NEXT > THE TENANT’S STATEMENT: “I will pay £280 as the court order said I had to pay that. But why do I have to pay their solicitor’s fee as well? They chose to have a solicitor in court. I didn’t. There was no need to have a solicitor as it was all quite straightforward.” ES rt NOT cou E S in A s C 280 fee ing £ licitors IM im A la L is c 0 in so >C lord d n £72 a L sts and t only co ’re d rejec y e h n t E a s T lieve osts ISPU t be ourt c ts >D n a n s c e the legal co he t T le for r o liab ction f u ded < BACK NEXT > THE LANDLORD’S STATEMENT: “The tenancy agreement says that the tenant has to pay my reasonable costs for ‘professional advisers’ in ‘enforcing or remedying a breach of the tenant’s obligations’. I had to get a court order for possession, so the tenant should pay my solicitor’s costs.” ES rt NOT cou E S in A s C 280 fee ing £ licitors IM im A la L is c 0 in so >C lord d n £72 a L sts and t only co ’re d rejec y e h n t E a s T lieve osts ISPU t be ourt c ts >D n a n s c e the legal co he t T le for r o liab ction f u ded < BACK NEXT > Key evidence Tenancy agreement – clause included as described by the Landlord Invoice for the solicitor’s fees (£720) Copy of the possession order, with the court order instructing the tenant to pay £280 ES rt NOT cou E S in A s C 280 fee ing £ licitors IM im A la L is c 0 in so >C lord d n £72 a L sts and t only co ’re d rejec y e h n t E a s T lieve osts ISPU t be ourt c ts >D n a n s c e the legal co he t T le for r o liab ction f u ded nt CE eme IDEN e V r g E > y a nanc e oice T s inv > r o it Solic r > orde t r u Co > < BACK MORE > Now it’s your turn to be the adjudicator ES rt NOT cou E S in A s C 280 fee ing £ licitors IM im A la L is c 0 in so >C lord d n £72 a L sts and t only co ’re d rejec y e h n t E a s T lieve osts ISPU t be ourt c ts >D n a n s c e the legal co he t T le for r o liab ction f u ded nt CE eme IDEN e V r g E > y a nanc e oice T s inv > r o it Solic r > orde t r u Co > MAKE YOUR DECISION In this scenario, who would you award to? TENANT ES rt NOT cou E S in A s C 280 fee ing £ licitors IM im A la L is c 0 in so >C lord d n £72 a L sts and t only co ’re d rejec y e h n t E a s T lieve osts ISPU t be ourt c ts >D n a n s c e the legal co he t T le for r o liab ction f u ded nt CE eme IDEN e V r g E > y a nanc e oice T s inv > r o it Solic r > orde t r u Co > LANDLORD SPLIT DECISION HOW WAS THIS DECISION REACHED? The court order was made under the Section 21 “accelerated possession procedure”. The landlord was awarded £280 in court costs which the tenant agreed to pay. The landlord employed a solicitor to conduct the court proceedings for him, relying on a clause that said the tenant should pay their “professional adviser’s” costs. The tenant is only liable for solicitors fees if they breached their tenancy obligations. Section 21 is also known as the “no fault” procedure, where no reason needs to be given when recovering a property. All the landlord needs to show the court is that the tenant has been given notice and due process has been followed. Therefore, as the tenant hadn’t breached their contractual obligations, the clause didn’t apply and only the court costs were awarded to the landlord. ES rt NOT cou E S in A s C 280 fee ing £ licitors IM im A la L is c 0 in so >C lord d n £72 a L sts and t only co ’re d rejec y e h n t E a s T lieve osts ISPU t be ourt c ts >D n a n s c e the legal co he t T le for r o liab ction f u ded nt CE eme IDEN e V r g E > y a nanc e oice T s inv > r o it Solic r > orde t r u Co > < BACK NEXT > IN SUMMARY When a landlord wants to recover their property from a tenant, they need to choose between a Section 21 “no fault” procedure or Section 8 “fault based” procedure. Section 21 is far more straight-forward and quicker (without a court hearing). The deposit will need to be protected before any section 21 notice can be served. Outstanding rent can’t be recovered through this process but a separate claim can be made to the deposit protection scheme. Section 8 will take a lot longer, with a number of court appearances. And a judge will need to be persuaded that the tenant was “at fault”. Also a tenant can pay the rent arrears at any point before the court hearing. Whatever the claim, the court will usually only award fixed costs and not solicitors fees. Section 21 is used more often, even when the landlord believes the tenant is at fault. ES rt NOT cou E S in A s C 280 fee ing £ licitors IM im A la L is c 0 in so >C lord d n £72 a L sts and t only co ’re d rejec y e h n t E a s T lieve osts ISPU t be ourt c ts >D n a n s c e the legal co he t T le for r o liab ction f u ded nt CE eme IDEN e V r g E > y a nanc e oice T s inv > r o it Solic r > orde t r u Co > FINISH > AS THE HOME OF DEPOSIT PROTECTION, WE’VE GOT IT COVERED We hold over 1.2 million active deposits. We’ve repaid more than £1.9 billion deposits. We’ve adjudicated on almost 10,000 deposit disputes in the last 12 months. We’re the largest provider of tenancy deposit protection in the UK. WANT TO HAVE ANOTHER GO AT BEING THE ADJUDICATOR? DPSCS0007v1F Download our other case studies
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