Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Peabody DAY 11: Declan and I are still not legally protected from a 'no fault' eviction in proceedings against the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's currently before a senior circuit court judge. We are in a flat that falls under the Mayor's Rough Sleepers Initiative

DAY 11 IN A WEEKLY PERIODIC TENANCY
SUBJECT TO A SECTION 21 NOTICE
MAYOR OF LONDON RSI PROPERTY

14/04/20

With the background as provided above, the Heaveys now are facing an eviction notice from their landlord, Peabody Trust housing association. The tenancy is a flat, which falls under the Mayor of London's Rough Sleepers Initiative. Pardoning my intrusion into English law, but in fairness there does not appear to be any reason for the eviction, relying apparently entirely on the discretion of the landlord.

Joseph R. Carvalko, Esq., American lawyer (full letter here)

Our Church and State website has no less than 59 Nobel Laureates on it despite the never-ending assault on our email; see paragraph 2 under "Church and State" on this blog's sidebar (updated today).
Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms formulates what is the core of free speech. "Everyone has the right to freedom of expression." In an important interpretation of this article, the European Court of Human Rights in Handyside v. UK (1976) indicated that this "freedom of expression" should be construed as follows. It "is applicable not only to 'information' or 'ideas' that are favourably received, or regarded as inoffensive, or as a matter of indifference, but also to those that offend, shock or disturb the State or any sector of the population". Such are the demands of that pluralism, tolerance and broadmindedness without which there is no "democratic society" (see Cliteur, 2010).


The Mayor of London is Sadiq Khan. We live in one of the Mayor's Rough Sleepers Initiative (RSI) designated properties and have no legal protection against a 'no fault' Section 21 eviction notice so long as we do not sign the appalling new fixed-term tenancy offered. Unless or until we sign a new fixed-term tenancy, our tenancy continues on a weekly periodic basis.



The Central London County Court is based at the Royal Courts of Justice. The hearing of the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's application to have Declan's claim struck out before Senior Circuit Judge Marc Dight CBE has been adjourned to a date to be fixed.

This eviction matter has come before Senior Circuit Judge Marc Dight CBE at the County Court at Central London. The Court will notify of a fixed hearing date in due course, when both the legal representative for St Mungo's (who is in effective control of our tenancy) and Declan will present their positions. In the meantime, Declan has prepared his pleadings against our landlord, Peabody housing association. In our current weekly periodic tenancy, we are making a calculated decision on a daily basis as to whether or not he will file against Peabody on the day.

Claimant: Declan Heavey
Defendant: Peabody

Brief details of claim

Since 17 May 2014, the Claimant has been living in a Mayor of London's Rough Sleepers Initiative (RSI) property that is owned by the Defendant. The Defendant has twice renewed the Claimant's tenancy like for like as requested. On 27 April 2020, the Defendant asserted in relation to the third renewal of the tenancy on 17 May 2020 that "the terms are the same and a like for like as requested". The Defendant further affirmed on 27 May 2020 that it will not be making any substantive changes to the tenancy on offer. The Claimant avers that the tenancy offered is not remotely a like-for-like agreement. He further contends that the Defendant's insistence that it has offered a tenancy "like for like as requested" confers an obligation on it to produce such a document. Instead, the Defendant has falsely accused the Claimant of not signing a like-for-like agreement. The Defendant's reply to the Claimant's pre-action letter dated 4 May 2020 is in effect a reiteration of its former and current position. Consequently, the Claimant has no legal protection from a 'no fault' eviction in a weekly periodic tenancy. This has destabilised his tenancy, inhibits his and his wife's ability to exercise their rights, and poses a threat to his life. The Claimant therefore makes an application to the court for a declaration that the Defendant has acted unlawfully and in dereliction of its duty. The Claimant seeks damages for distress and costs.

29 May: Threat to life: Declan has beefed up these full pleadings against Peabody to make clear that their conduct has destabilised our tenancy, inhibits our ability to exercise our rights, and poses a threat to his life. We are in a flat that falls under the Mayor of London's Rough Sleepers Initiative (WITH UPDATE 30/05/20)

Comparative screenshots

Peabody continues to insist that we have been offered like-for-like terms. Really? Their new clause 24 from section D, by no means our only concern, could force any RSI tenant into declaring bankruptcy in any number of scenarios.

Our existing tenancy specifies one month's notice or four weeks' rent when we want to end the tenancy:

The tenancy on offer states that if we do not give Peabody one month's notice before we want to move out, or they do not explicitly accept a surrender of our tenancy in writing after we have given them a month's notice, we will remain liable for rent and service charges until the end of the fixed term:


Like for like? More comparative screenshots:

3 May: Peabody: The appalling terms of tenancy on offer. Today Declan is working on a pre-action letter to Peabody CEO Brendan Sarsfield under the Human Rights Act 1998 (WITH UPDATE 27/05/20)

Who can say that Declan does not have opposition?

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group Headquarters in Gogarburn. The RBS owns National Westminster Bank (NatWest).


Declan currently has the Royal Bank of Scotland (along with NatWest Bank) before the Financial Ombudsman for the cancellation of a standing order on the Network for Church Monitoring business account without his knowledge or consent. And this after he received £100 compensation from the RBS in recognition of his time, travel costs and inconvenience in setting up this and another standing order on 12 February. He has been waiting since 25 February for NatWest to confirm who subsequently cancelled the standing order and why his salary wasn't paid. His salary continues to be paid online by quick transfer from the business account to his personal account.

15 May: Royal Bank of Scotland: Despite his earlier dealings with the RBS Executive Response Team, Declan has been waiting almost three months to learn from Natwest Bank who cancelled a standing order on the Network for Church Monitoring business account without his knowledge or consent (Financial Ombudsman case ref. PNX-3576860-D6B8)




From My Picks:

21 May: Will the court decide that Declan and I should live under the threat to life of a 'no fault' Section 21 eviction notice rather than the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's even take a phone call to confirm that we are clients of theirs? (WITH UPDATE 27/05/20)
What the issue in these court proceedings boils down to is whether the court will decide that Declan and I should live in a destabilised tenancy that inhibits our ability to exercise our rights and poses a threat to his life, simply because the Mayor of London-commissioned St Mungo's Tenancy Sustainment Team in North London (TST North) will not even take a phone call to confirm that we are clients of theirs. The court must surely find that this is not proportionate and lawful.

Our need for this support continues to escalate?

"Let me recommend an important web site churchandstate.org.uk. Operating out of London this well-designed and exciting web site covers church-state, population, climate change and other issues. Check it out." Edd Doerr (1930-2020), (then) President, Americans for Religious Liberty

at 6:21 pm