72 yr old with Invalid leasehold after 23 yrs Please help

SouthCoast

Leasehold Advisory Service as above.

Details of the management company can be obtained from Companies House:

http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/

Copy deeds of the property can be obtained from Land Registry:

http://www.landreg.gov.uk/

Try not to worry.

elsieraven

Thanks Southcoast. Fingers crossed.

sunnysea83

The landlord would need to make an application to the LVT for breach of lease to get a decision that the breach has occured (or in some cases that a breach has not) and then he would have to go to the County Court for forefiture, the LVT does not grant forefiture just decides whether or not a breach of the lease has occured.

The LVT is user friendly espically towards lay people like your self and your mother. I think seeing a solicitor is the next step for you and your mother to take.

elsieraven

As an ordinary lay person my mother bought a 125 year lease on her flat using a solicitor to deal with the legal side as per normal, the flat was being sold be the developer. She paid the full purchase price asked at the time.She has a set of deeds produced at the time of purchase, I just don't understand how this can happen.


Unfortunatley to add to the problems the original acting firm of solicitors, from 23yrs ago is no longer in trading.

The appointment at the solicitors can't come quick enough, though considering she used a solicitor when she bought the flat.....hopefully we will get a more competent one to deal with this mess. I dread to think of the bill.

Oh why do problems like this always happen at weekends when everywhere is closed?

PasturesNew

It'll probably turn out to be that some old paperwork has turned up in a bundle, bought by somebody or found in a drawer when somebody died ... and they're just issuing standard paperwork to find out if anything's due to them.

The end result will probably be that they find out there's nothing due and their dream of finding out their old aunt/uncle really had a £10million property portfolio squirrelled away will have come to nothing.

Richard_Webster

We do need to get to the bottom of what actually happened but it looks to me as if it could be something like this:

Builder coverts flats and sells off on leases. He is freeholder. He can't bothered with the admin so the residents set up a management company to manage the flats and it collects the service charges and pays for work, insurance etc. Or Builder sets up management company with intention of transferring freehold but never actually gets round to it. He doesn't remember what he did and sells freehold to somebody else who now wants to collect service charge etc that should have been paid to him rather than management company.

When the freehold was sold there should have a been right of first refusal notices sent to the lessees.

Also remember there is a distinction between a managing agent and a management company. The first is merely an agent doing the work on behalf of a landlord a management company who may or may not be a landlord as well, whilst th other will have certain legal responsibilities in its own right, which it may or may not delegate to a managing agent.

elsieraven

Many thanks to all who have responded. Its certainly not sorted yet but is in the hands of a solicitor, who is doing his best clear up this mess. The Solicitor has explained what has happened and at least I do now understand it. I'm not going to post anymore details until we know whats going to happen, but I will let everyone know the outcome.

Thank you once again