Scumbag lettings agent is suing for two months' rent even though he received the deposit and didn't give me two months' notice. So in reality, he's owed about £100. And I have a counterclaim for an indeterminite amount based on various shortcomings in relation to the property and the agency. Harassment is one of the claims. Not in the bum touching sense but he really wanted to do a three month inspection and wasn't shy of expressing this.
So this nonsense litigation is another example of harassment. It's great. All plays into it. I could be looking at thousands. But probably considerably less than that. Still, if I get a judgement, I'm going to send a copy to the council and his regulatory body to help build a case to shut him down.
Anyway, I was at the court. Bunch of people there. They all had cases too. Small claims cases. They were getting sued by lettings agents or credit card companies, stuff like this.
So the first guy goes up and the judge asks him what his defence was. This is just a pre-hearing, by the way. Only takes a couple of minutes. It's some Polish guy or something. Owes £2000 on a credit card. And he starts talking about the Human Rights Act or something. He was quoting a bunch of case law. It's how people think court cases are conducted but it's not actually like that. He did say something about having to prove that he was the person who owed the debt so that was valid, at least.
Then it's my turn. I think I was bumped up the list because they know who I am at the court. So I didn't have to wait around for everyone's case.
By the way, I was the only person in a suit. Very classy. There were also three young solicitors just out of law school dealing with all of the cases. So I probably had more experience than the three of them combined.
So my case gets called and I go up and introduce myself. I knew the judge. He said, "Oh, yeah" in recognition. This solicitor tells the judge that I've submitted a defence and counterclaim that he should look at. The judge reads it and says, "This looks like a case that should be settled between the parties. Have you considered that?" The solicitor also strongly suggested that she had a weak case. I said that I offered to have the case discharged as soon as I got the summons and this offer was rejected. So the judge set a date for the trial. It's in a couple of months.
So the judge gave an indication that the agent is owed, effectively, nothing. So he confirmed my belief. And if I can demonstrate the gross level of failures by the agency, I could be awarded some money. And this idiot agent is paying for all of this. He's paying the court fees, et cetera because he's the one who raised the action.
In any event, whether I get thousands or £1, at least I'll get a judgement that I can give to interested parties. I think. And I'll be able to really lay the proverbial smackdown on that scumbag agent in the witness box. Make him answer for his bullshit.
