Advice please!

edthedead

I hope this is in the right place... it's not really money saving, more advice seeking!!

I own a lease hold flat which i brought in 2004 and rent out. The ground rent of £50 every 6 months is collected by a company on behalf of the buildings owners.

Last December I recieved a letter from this company that had been sent to the flat addressed to the 'leasee/occupier' (the tentant kindly forwarded it) stating that i owed them £100 ground rent and also approx £50 in various 'letter comptemplation fees' etc since they had sent a number of letters to the flat chasing the late payment. Fair enough i thought since i had not notified them of my home address and i could not be sure the tenant would pass on any mail. I sent a cheque and with it a letter asking any future correspondance to be sent to my home address.

This December the same kind of letter gets forwarded to me by the new tenant, again from the company collecting the ground rent. This time the bill is over £270, made up of £100 ground rent and then a number of other charges relating to debt colection... completely different to the previous year.

I telephoned the company and asked why they had not sent the bill to my home address. They said that they had my home address on their computer but had never recieved written confirmation of it (strange since they managed to bank the cheque that was in the same envelope). I asked what attempts they had made to contact me, if they had sent any recorded delivery letters etc but was told it was up to me to pay the ground rent. I am sure that the new tenant would have forwarded any mail recieved for me at the flat and surely they should send some kind of bill if they want payment.

I told the lady on the phone that i would pay the £100 ground rent but that i would not be paying the other charges. She said that they would stay on the account untill i sell the flat and that i would have to pay them then, plus x number of years of interest.

I have confirmed this in writting to them alomg with the cheque.

My question is... can they do this! I want to get it sorted out now (through the courts if necessary) rather than in 20 years time when i sell the flat. Since i am the alledged debtor i don't think i can initiate the court proceedings... is this correct?

I am pretty sure that i have a good case and would win in court!

SaraSeahorse

If you know you need to pay £50 every six months I do not understand why a debt has occurred with this company? I understand you told them a different address for correspondence and due to soem stupid hiccup they have failed to use this but you knew that you needed to pay £50 every 6 months.

Am I right in what I have read, that you have been late paying so they have added charges?

edthedead

Yes, i need to pay £50 every 6 months and yes i was late paying. But... i was late paying because they do not offer the option to set up a direct debit or standing order... and... i never recieved a bill to pay, because either they never sent one or they sent it to the wrong address.

Plus the fees they are charging are for letters which i have never recieved and instructions to debt collectors who have not contacted me, it seems odd that they say they have sent numerious letters this year and last year, yet the only ones that get to me are the ones with the charges and fees on!

It seems that they are deliberately not contacting me and then charging me for non exsistant extra letters and services to get the money that i would have paid to them if they had only asked for it!

deary65

Firstly look at your lease.Ground rent is a token payment to your landlord in recognition of their reversion
This sounds like punitive charges and only the courts can levy a punishment or fine.The action for none payment of rent is usually forfeiture,and the courts rarely enforce this action.
have you though of setting up a p.o. address and send it to them recorded delivery.
Have a read of this thread the same legal aurguement is involved.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=115112

edthedead

Thanks for the link!

I had a quick read through it.... are these charges that they have made un-enforcable then?

deary65

If as you say, you want to settle the matter quickly then fristly,write and tell them you consider the charges punitive in nature and therefore unenforcable.Next take the papers,lease,letters ect;to your local CAB office and explain the promblem.