Maintenance charges for previous tennant

Legacy_user

Hi all, I need some expert advice.

In April 2007 I bought a flat which formed part of a block managed by a housing association. As such I pay my mortgage as usual and I pay annual maintenance costs to the housing association. I'd imagine so far this is all pretty standard stuff.

In Septetmber 2007 I received a bill for maintenance charges for the period of April 2006 -> March 2007 (you're probably seeing where I'm going with this now).

Obviously that debt isn't mine, and I assumed it was an honest mistake, phoned the previous owner and he came and collected the bill from me. It transpires his solictors held back some money when the flat was sold to me for paying this bill, and the housing association were informed of this and told to submit the bill directly to them.

What happened afterwards I'm not sure, the bill for that particular year was 3 times higher than any previous year, and I believe the previous owner asked for a detailed breakdown of the charges to find out why it was so high yet never received it. What we both suspect is that the HA thought they could rip off the naive new owner and made a massive mistake.

Fast forward to December 2007, as far as I'm aware it's all settled but then a final notice appears in my doormat for the same bill, theatening to refer me to a county court judgement.

Feeling a bit peeved now, I write a snotty email to the woman who sent it telling her the situation and that threatening to send me to court was laughable. I received another letter a few days later which said something along the lines of "Prior to your email we contacted [the previous owner] but were unable to speak for very long, please could you ask him to phone us".

So, now they've gone from theatening me with court to asking me for my help. Nevertheless I obliged and once again I heard nothing more, until...

Feburary 2009, an impressive 14 months later, ANOTHER final notice appears on my doormat from the same person for the same debt. This time it's not an honest mistake, it's either ineptitude or someone trying to bully me into paying someone elses debt. Once again I have phoned the previous owner and he is trying to get in contact as I have been doing all day but this person who sends the letters only seems to work for 10 minutes a day.

During this period between the first letter and this one I have of course paid my own maintenance bill of around £550 (reasonable in my opinion). Technically of course, as it's the bill for April 2007 to March 2008, 26 days worth of that wasn't mine either, but considering the HA is having difficulty with entire years it's fair to say that that would have blown their tiny minds.

Apparently, as the HA tells me, once the property is sold to me the debts become mine as well, is this true? Even though the solicitors have instructed them how to get their money?

I'd also like to note that I have no doubt that the previous owner is doing everything he can to resolve this as well, but quite rightly he continues to contest a mysteriously high bill which the HA cannot justify.

Does anyone have any ideas how I can resolve this and what the real laws are?

sooz

Joeskeppi wrote: »

Apparently, as the HA tells me, once the property is sold to me the debts become mine as well, is this true?
Yes.
Even though the solicitors have instructed them how to get their money?

Not ALL the debts, you are not responsible for ex-owner's old utility bill for example, but any bills which are due under the lease, you have bought.

Speak to your conveyancing solicitor. This should have been dealt with when you bought the flat.

System

Thanks I've phoned them and my solicitor will call me back.

mlz1413

Write a LETTER to the HA and send it recorded delivery, in the letter state :
that you purchased the flat on X date, and as far as you are aware the previous owners is responsible for all maintenance bills prior to that date.
Say that you know the solicitors for the sale kept a sum of money for maintenance and therefore you wish for the HA to deal direct with the solicitors regarding any bills prior to your purchase.
Ask for an acknowledgement of you letter within 14 days.

Don't get involved any more, the HA clearly has no idea what is happening from one day to the next and you have been as helpful as possible, but you are now nearly 2 years on and its time for the HA to deal with the solicitor or the vendor.

If you do owe any money because of unpaid bills being purchased with the flat price then the vendors solicitor will tell you, but as they withheld money in the first place I'd say the princple is set that it is the vendors responsibility.

System

Me again.

I called my Solicitor on Thursday, sent them faxes of the letters on Friday and am waiting for them to call me back.

I tried to speak to someone at the HA but they don't seem to want to help and would rather get me off the phone as soon as possible. I am now overdue my 48 hour callback time and no one is responding to my emails. I want to speak to a helpful person who can pull up my file and tell me if there are any letters from the solicitors regarding these charges, or maybe if someone can tell me why the bill is so high.

If I do get referred to a county court thingamy, does that mean I have a CCJ against my record? No more finance, mortgages etc? If so I'll just send a cheque tomorrow as that will cost me a lot more than £1143 over the course of my life.

Rick62

I thought that service charges were specific to the particular leasee, after all a leasehold is not a legal person? This is why, I thought, lawyers have to get permision from the freeholder to transfer a lease to a new lessee.

If they take you to court you do not automatically get a CCJ. You only get a CCJ if (a) you lose, (b) you then don't pay within the required time (28 days?).

I think you are in the right not to pay. I don't think it is your liability, they had a duty to quantify and get from the old lessee and they have a duty to account for the charges.

System

Rick62 wrote: »

I thought that service charges were specific to the particular leasee, after all a leasehold is not a legal person? This is why, I thought, lawyers have to get permision from the freeholder to transfer a lease to a new lessee.

If they take you to court you do not automatically get a CCJ. You only get a CCJ if (a) you lose, (b) you then don't pay within the required time (28 days?).

I think you are in the right not to pay. I don't think it is your liability, they had a duty to quantify and get from the old lessee and they have a duty to account for the charges.

Thanks for your post.

So even if I get taken to court, and by some freak happenstance I lose, I can still pay the debt within a month and not have it affect my credit rating?

No offence to you but if a couple of people can confirm that's the case as well I'll be able to sleep easier tonight.

rl290

What's the name of the management company? (Feel free to private message me if you don't want to name them here). I have had some somewhat similar experiences

System

rl290 wrote: »

What's the name of the management company? (Feel free to private message me if you don't want to name them here). I have had some somewhat similar experiences

PM sent

mlz1413

joeskeppi I bought a flat that was being sold as part of an estate, the vendors solicitors kept back £300 for the management charges (standard 6 months costs) and when the bill came I forwarded it to my solicitor who sent it on to the vendors solicitor the bill was paid, But the management company chased me for the money 6 months later after I paid the next lot of fees.

I wrote to them stating that I was not liable as I hadn't owned the flat and that they had been paid, that all further communication should be direct with vendors solicitors. I got a letter apologising for error and have not been contacted since.

That is why I said earlier to write to HA, if you want copy your solicitor and vendors solicitor too, sent them recorded delivery so you have a signature to prove they got letter and then if you for any reason end up in court you have proof you have tried to contact them and sort out the problems.

Good Luck

Richard_Webster

A lot of this turns on the terms of the arrangement whereby the money was held back by the seller's solicitor. They should have simply been required to pay any excess service charge demanded by the Housing Association without any option to query it. The seller should not have had the option of arguing about it.

If you were buying and an amount of service charge was known to be outstanding your solicitor would insist on it being paid. He and you would not be interested in the seller saying the sum was unreasonable, you would simply want it paid, because you would not want to be stuck with the argument.

So the same thing ought to apply to any arrangement about paying excess charges that subsequently appear, but are really the seller's responsibility.