what can i do?

lukemed1

Hi everyone,

I have a leasehold flat which is run by a management company. If they broke a covenant in the lease what action could i take?

Any advice gratefuly received!

Best Wishes

Luke:beer:

Debt_Free_Chick

It depends really, as maybe they can put it right or "undo" what they did.

Let us have some brief details, please

lukemed1

Debt_Free_Chick wrote:

It depends really, as maybe they can put it right or "undo" what they did.

Let us have some brief details, please

Hi, basically I purchased my leasehold flat back in 2003 which when I had the survey done it was found that the roof needed extra support for the weight of the concrete tiles, the then vendor was locked in battle with the management company for them to get the work done but they didnt want to play ball,so the vendor knocked the price of the work off what we paid him however, it clearly states in my lease under the service charge covenants that ;

The manager shall keep the main structure supported and indemnify the Lessee from any costs incurred so long as the Lessee pays the service charge

cheers

Luke

Debt_Free_Chick

This is quite an interesting situation ....

As the vendor reduced the price of the property, to reflect the cost of having the work done, YOU effectively have that money (otherwise, you would have paid more for the flat).

So ... you have the money to get the work done, but the lease clearly states that the cost is down to the management company.

It would be interesting to know what the vendor actually agreed with the management company.

However, this doesn't really help with your situation.

I think the first thing you need to do is to write a carefully worded but polite letter to the management company. Tell them that when you bought, the vendor was in discussions with them (man co) regarding work to strengthen the roof and ask them to confirm what was done. Your next step really depends on their reply ..... which you can post back here when you get it.

I have to say that it sounds like the vendor agreed "compensation" equal to the cost of the work and then passed that on to you. But let's see what the management company have to say. Remember, there are always two sides to any story!

One final thing ... is there nothing in the papers from your solicitor about this?

lukemed1

Debt_Free_Chick wrote:

This is quite an interesting situation ....

As the vendor reduced the price of the property, to reflect the cost of having the work done, YOU effectively have that money (otherwise, you would have paid more for the flat).

So ... you have the money to get the work done, but the lease clearly states that the cost is down to the management company.

It would be interesting to know what the vendor actually agreed with the management company.

However, this doesn't really help with your situation.

I think the first thing you need to do is to write a carefully worded but polite letter to the management company. Tell them that when you bought, the vendor was in discussions with them (man co) regarding work to strengthen the roof and ask them to confirm what was done. Your next step really depends on their reply ..... which you can post back here when you get it.

I have to say that it sounds like the vendor agreed "compensation" equal to the cost of the work and then passed that on to you. But let's see what the management company have to say. Remember, there are always two sides to any story!

One final thing ... is there nothing in the papers from your solicitor about this?

Hi there,

no there's nothing in the solicitors papers about this and i've already wrote a carefully worded letter to the management company pointing out the service charge covenant that I posted earlier, I have been in contact with the management company when I first purchase the flat about this but they just said that I am responsible for the interior of the dwelling but I didnt take this to mean the roof as it clearly states in the service charge covenants that the manager is responsible for the main structure!

cheers and thanks for your help so far!

Luke