what is tenent at will
"I could be a lawyer with stratagems and ruses"*
Wasted costs orders are scary things. There is the censure by the Court, of course, but worst of all, the solicitors then have to pay and, no matter how much or how little, that rips shreds out of the very essence of their being.
Threats to pursue wasted costs tend to be waved around rather too often by some solicitors, perhaps overly convinced of their own rightness. Usually what is at issue is actually a valid point of dispute. Personally, I think these threats tend to backfire, at least if the recipient is reasonably sure that an application would fail. Nothing shrieks of a lack of strength in a position so much as a big blustery threat.
However, there are times when a wasted costs order is certainly merited and where the solicitors have been really very naughty indeed. One such case has landed on the NL virtual desk and, although not strictly housing related – being a business lease – it is an opportunity to remind ourselves of the criteria for wasted costs orders.
Odihambo v Gooch Birmingham County Court, 24 October 2011 [Not available on Baili. We've got a transcript]
Mrs O had a commercial lease of a property, trading as a restaurant. The lease was excluded from protection (and renewal rights) under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 and Mrs O had signed a statutory declaration stating that she was not entitled to claim compensation for loss of the premises – this was agreed to be the case by Ms O's previous solicitors in discussions about remaining in the property. It was a 3 year lease and expired in October 2009.
Mrs O stayed on, paying rent as before. She was a tenant at will, as accepted by her previous solicitors. Discussions on new terms took place but failed. In November 2010 a notice to quit was served, taking effect in March 2011. By March 2011, IEI Solicitors were acting for Mrs O. Come the date in March, Mrs O did not leave. After further letters, the landlord, Mrs G, made a peaceable re-entry to the property on 5 April 2011.
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