Am I liable for the debts of a previous occupant of my flat?

wwarby

Hi all,

I recently received a threatening letter from the maintenance company of the flat I have lived in for 5 years, demanding payment of an old debt, which I have traced back to some exterior decoration work that was billed to the previous occupant of my flat and went unpaid. I have documentation proving this, and the company have acknowledged it, but they are claiming that "all debts remain with the property not the owner. As you are the legal owner, you are liable for all charges relating to this property".

I have written to them several times to complain and request proof that there is some law which mandates that I pay the debts of previous occupants, and when they do respond it is with a curt brush-off that doesn't address any of the questions I asked.

It is a small amount of money (£73) that really isn't a significant amount to me, but I have so far dug my heels in because I feel like they probably don't have any right to ask me for this money, and they are essentially trying to bully me into paying up by threats and intimidation, using my very real fear of damage to my credit rating against me.


I have already posted on Yahoo Answers about this and got a strong consensus view that this is a scam and they are relying on me not being bothered to properly investigate, so as a matter of principal and feel like I need to at least need to take it a little further before caving in.

My question is (1) do you guys agree that there is no law shoves debts of previous owners onto the new owner, (2) what should I do to fight them, and (3) how badly can they damage my credit rating if I refuse to pay, and is there anything I can do to recover my credit rating if I fight them and win?

I am going to be contacting the citizens advice bureau later today, but I'd be grateful for a wider view on how to play this.

JayZed

I don't know the answer to the question, but you may want to have a look at this thread:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1485879

Imp

If it is anything like the flat I am selling at the moment, then the debt is with the property, not the owner.

It is something your solicitor should have sorted out when you bought the flat, obtaining a letter from the freeholder/maintenance company that there were no outstanding debts on the property. Speak to your solicitor and obtain a copy of this letter from his file.

BlameTheGame

They have an agreement with the previous owner and not you so the debt isnt your responsibility. I would write and tell them if they carry on sending letters then you will have no choice but to report them for harassment.

Icey77

I had a similar situation when I bought my flat, the seller had not been paying her monthly direct debit for the management fee. The lease contract clauses meant that the debt flows through to the new lease holder which was quite worrying for me!

However my solicitor made sure that the solicitor representing the the seller was aware of these and that I flatly refused to pay them. Lots of too-ing and fro-ing between the management company and me - each time telling them that I would not pay the debts of the previous owner.

Eventually the seller paid up, the management company didn't say anything to me, I just saw the payment on the next statement.

I would suggest going back to your solicitor that dealt with your purchase as the management company would have had to provide account details of the lease and management fee when you bought the flat. From there you could get advise of how to deal with it.

Hope you get it sorted!

Troubled_Joe

When was the debt incurred?

If it was over 6 years ago then it's statute barred by limitation so there should be no argument.

pinkshoes

I believe that in this case the debt is with the flat, and because of this your solicitor should have obtainted proof that all outstanding debts regarding the property were paid before you exchanged.

If they pass it to a debt collector it could end up costing you rather a lot.

wwarby

@Imp: My solicitor did know about it at the time - the last letter I have from the solicitor on the matter states that she will continue to pursue the issue. Of course this was 5 years ago so my memory is somewhat vague, but I seem to remember telling her not to hold up the sale for the sake of £73. If I am liable, I'm quite happy to pay, I just don't want to think that I'm being fleeced for something that I have no business paying for, as BlameTheGame suggests.

@Troubled_Joe: Unfortunately it was only 5 years ago.

princeofpounds

You leave out much vital information. Are you renting, a long leaseholder, or a freeholder where a management service was employed?

Whether the debt is attached to the individual or the property probably rests on this and exactly what work they did.

Once you know all this, pop over to landlordzone forums and post in their general advice or long leasehold sections as appropriate. And update us here too.

wwarby

princeofpounds wrote: »

You leave out much vital information. Are you renting, a long leaseholder, or a freeholder where a management service was employed?

Whether the debt is attached to the individual or the property probably rests on this and exactly what work they did.

Once you know all this, pop over to landlordzone forums and post in their general advice or long leasehold sections as appropriate. And update us here too.

Ok, I am a homeowner of a leasehold property on which the remaining lease is about 90 years. The maintenance company is CPM Asset Management Co. Ltd. and the work that was carried out was the painting of all external windows and doors across a block of about 100 properties over the entire estate. Each resident was billed £250 in addition to their annual service charge for the work, which was supposed to be paid before I left the property according to the invoice, although the actual work wasn't carried out until I had already taken ownership.

Imp

It sounds like you are liable for the debt and that it should have been resolved (and you were aware of it) when you bought the property.