Can anybody help with some advice please?

I bought a flat in Oct 2000. One month before I moved in the block was painted externally. The cost was over £700 per flat.

This cost was not invoiced to each flat until a year later. I had to pay it and reclaim it from the guy I bought the flat from. I asked my solicitor from the flat purchase to contact the sellers solicitor to request payment back to me. They have refused and dragged it out for months.

Got fed up and so I decided to take them to the small claims court. First attempt I addressed it to his solicitors but his solicitors refused to accept the court documents on his behalf. I then reapplied using the home address he had used during the sale process. I have just received a letter from the address saying that this guy had not lived at that address for 5 years. The letter was signed with an unreadable signature and no name.
The court says I now have to serve the documents myself. The telephone number for the address is ex-directory.

What are my options? is it worth going to Citizens Advice Bureau? Should I hire a private investigator to serve the documents or are there any companies that specialise in that sort of thing? Is there anything I can do to track him down - any websites, etc?

Thanks for any advice. I want to pursue this out of principle as much as anything else now...

Ta


Marc

A PI would cost far more than the 700 quid you're trying to get back, so forget about that....

There is a people finder on 192.com From memory this allows you to check the electoral register so you'll be able to at least see if he really lives at the address you have... It is also useful for finding people in an area... Might be worth a try and it's free...

Not really sure why you accepted the invoice in the first place. Couldn't you just talk to the painters and prove to them you are not the person to invoice as you didn't live there?

MarkO - could I add the cost of a PI to the amount I'm claiming from him in the small claims court? I presume not.

Alpine - nothing comes up on the free search at 192.com. i need Gold membership to do an electoral register search but thats £30 for a one-off search - anyone a member?!

I had to pay the money as it was paid for by the management agents who then billed each flat. Believe me, I tried to avoid it as I knew this would happen.

Marc

[Edited by Marc W - 5/30/2002 10:31:03 AM]

I have info dick 2002(electoral roll).Mail me with details.

do your own pi work

go round to the last address - knock on the door
ask to to speak to mr so and so - explaining that you are from a market research company offering a free trial of pre production products from major manufacturers etc ....

once he says yes that me - ask for some id from him - then serve the court documents - easy.


sounds like he still lives there - he is just ducking!

Ok I've found out that the person who replied by letter to the court has the same surname. I'm guessing therefore that he's used his parents address.

I'm going to contact them and if they don't offer forwarding details pop down and visit them.

Like i said mate.....i have info disk 2002......the whole electoral roll on disk.......its up to you.

Let the flat management company take you to court, they haven't got a leg to stand on. You can't be invoiced for work carried out on property that wasn't yours at the time.

Also, if you knew this was going to happen, why did you not make provision for it in your contracts at the time of purchase? Your solicitor should have definately suggested that.

Paulr - I have already sent you an email! Did it not get through?

N-REV - don't talk to me about my solicitor. Bit of a useless git all round. Yes with hindsight...., etc but too late now.

Sorry Mark........give me 10 minutes.

Mark YHM

Paul - very interesting! Cheers mate.