I’m thinking of doing some development work on my Tenant-Law website.
Working for tenants
I suppose I am known mainly as a landlord’s lawyer. However I also enjoy advising tenants and over the years I have done a considerable amount of work and advice for tenants.
Indeed, until about a year ago, there was a large tenant’s section on Landlord Law.
It never did very well, mainly I suppose because the site is perceived (due to its name) as being a landlord one – which it now is. But the content is still there, mothballed and flagged up with messages (for any who have access to see it) that it is an archive only and not being updated.
But yesterday I splashed out on some membership software for the tenant site and have started the long and probably slow work of moving it all over and updating it.
I have also put the tenants’ free e-course behind a membership firewall, albeit a free one.
Letters anyone?
The other thing I am thinking of doing, which I could get online quite quickly, are some letter templates for situations where tenants need a bit of drafting help.
For example
- A notice to quit – for when tenants want to end their tenancy (with guidance on when they can use it)
- A letter to send to landlords who keep entering without consent
- A letter asking the landlord to carry out a gas safety inspection and provide a certificate
- A letter asking the landlord to protect the deposit paid
Do you have any other ideas? If you are a tenant – has there been any time when you were desperate for a bit of help with a particular (standard situation) letter?
Any other suggestions for useful tenant content and forms, let me know and I will see what I can do.
Preparing a structured defence to a s.21 being invalid:
1. Method of service and unknown date of receipt
2. Prescribed information not served correctly
3. Revenge eviction, contract signed prior to new law
4. Undue hardship
Yes, guidance on defending eviction is something I have in mind long term. However I need to make the site pay for itself so I’m going to try with the forms first.
I’d actually say your blog is invaluable to tenants as it stands. The primary starting point for both landlords and tenants is to understand the law, and in the main your posts on these subjects are as relevant to tenants as they are to landlords
Also, do you really need a separate site? I think “Landlord Law Blog” is a fine name for a site on tenancy law for both landlords and tenants! Sure, separate sections aimed at landlords and tenants, but one site under one name.
After all, the whole subject is as much about landlords’ obligations as it is about landlords’ rights – and anyway, if a tenant has a problem, who do they have a problem with? Their landlord! They want to know what the law is regarding what their landlord is (or isn’t!) doing.
Also, everyone knows what a landlord is, whether you are one or you have one. ‘Tenant’ though, is a more technical word used much less in everyday language than ‘landlord’ and it wouldn’t surprise me if a tenant was actually more likely to use the search term ‘landlord’ than ‘tenant’.
I’m a tenant and have found the “Landlord Law Blog” as it stands perfectly useful and interesting from my point of view. As Roy pointed out, the law is the law. If a particular article says as a landlord you’d need to do X, then being a tenant I can easily enough translate that to “did my landlord do X”.
In respect to your original question, I have had needs for templated text for:
1. Pre action letter on a tenancy deposit non-compliance claim
2. The particulars of claim on the court claim form
The first one is available from Shelter so that may not help you to pay for the site, but the only one I have found for the second one are out of date information from the NUS which I had to adopt and modify.
Related to that are possibly information on step by step for making such a claim. You have information pack for evicting a tenant, why not an information pack on making a deposit claim against one’s landlord.
1. How to actually issue the claim.
2. What are the fees involved, and no it’s not a Money Claim, it’s Part 8!
3. Servicing the claim form, and communicating with the court if the landlord ignore you.
4. What happens at a Directions Hearing.
5. …..
There is a post with some basic guidance here http://www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/2011/04/18/tenants-legal-making-tenancy-deposit-claim/
I did subsequently attempt to draft up a kit but I became worried by the huge court fees involved with a part 8 claim – not so much at the start (although they can be very high) but on setting down the case for hearing.
Also, it is not a type of claim I brought myself when I practised as a solicitor so I am not as familiar with the procedure as I am with eviction claims.
I would prefer to refer tenants on to solicitors who would act on a no win no fee basis but have not been able to find anyone.
I understand if you don’t feel you’re in a position to give guidance as it’s your experience but it’ll be nice if there’s some such advice somewhere.
For example fees. Everyone agrees it’s high, but there’s no specific guide I can find that state clearly exactly how high. Personally I was in the strange situation where I was expecting to pay the variable amount based on how much money I’m asking for, a position concurred by the county court desk staff who helped me filled in the fee box. However, not so according to the court clerk on the phone who was taking my money who insisted on taking less (because it was on a Part 8 form), but also insisting based on their experience of seeing thousands of claims that I was using the wrong form and that I should be sending it in on the N1 (i.e. Part 7) form. Given how long it took for the issued forms to get back to me, I’m convinced that he referred it to a judge to determine whether I used the right (or in his opinion, wrong) form.
Court fees are here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fees-for-civil-and-family-courts/court-fees-for-the-high-court-county-court-and-family-court
The hearing fee is £1,090. Which is a bit steep.