Urgent help please I am buying a repossesed flat.

chopra

I am purchasing a repossesed flat in Manchester and now my sloicitor has written to me to say that;

(1) I will be liable to pay last 18 months service charges for the building,
(2) also last 3 years electric charges for communal areas because there was a deficit.

I have tried everywhere but nobody seems to know the answer, So please help or direct me to the right forums/websites etc

In short, do you have to pay previous Communal bills if buying repossesed property?
Thanks in advance

Pl, don;t shout cause as i hv posted this in 2 threads

CarineG

I would imagine that you would have to pay for these arrears as you are getting the repossesed flat and the previous owner has defaulted on these amount.

When buying a place, you sollicitor would ensure that there is no money outstanding. If there is, I would think that you would have to take a view on it i.e. buy the flat and pay for these sums or not buy it at all.

opinions4u

I find this quite strange.

I'm no legal expert, and I really think that you should challenge your solicitor on the rights and wrongs of this.

My sense of "fair play" is that this is a liability of the previous owner and those responsible for running the management company should be pursuing previous owner / the mortgage lender for the funds.

There may be something in the lease that forces this liability on to the next buyer, but it doesn't make sense to me that there should be.

I wonder if somebody is trying it on?

Kimitatsu

Why should you be responsible for the charge for the last 3 years? As a new owner your liability begins when you take over the property - I would most certainly challenge it, it is the electricity companies as well as the management companies that try it on!

Conrad

Of course you are not liable, unless you chose to be.

This is a simple matter of negotiation. Onoly you know whether or not the price of the property is so juicy that paying these other costs is 'worth it' to ensure they don't sell to another buyer.

Obviously if you think you have the whip hand, then refuse to pay them and threaten to pull out.

Again only YOU can make this judgement as only you know what the value premium is.

dexter_fan

Or work out the cost of these debts, and take it off the offer price

happywarmgun

Have you exchanged? Did you buy it at auction? If you did buy it at auction you may be stuffed.... if you haven't finalised then like others say - work out the debt and reduce offer price accordingly.