Urgent Advice-Leasehold service charges

hannah-j_3

Hi, I wonder if anyone could advise 3rd party, my friends daughter who is currently on maternity leave is in tears after receiving quite a demanding letter from the leaseholder of the flat she owns. It's in a block of four, the leaseholder rents out two of them and the other two (one of which my friend's daughter bought 3 years ago) seem subject to annual service charges.
She received a letter today firstly apologising for not receiving the service charges for last year but now 2 years were due, £1500 in total and due within 2 weeks, at the bottom of the letter it states if theses are not paid within 2 weeks 'further action' will be taken.
The charges aren't itemised specifically, but are inclusive of hedge trimming and painting of the building neither of which have been done.
I'm at a loss how to help her but she has asked if I can find out if there is anything she can do, the CAB apparently were no good and advised her to make an offer to pay monthly, but this isn't an option according to the letter, apparently the leaseholder is not an easy person to deal with!
The main issue for her is the 'demand' of immediate payment and the way the letter is written is pretty intimidating. I would really like to be able to offer her some advice and wonder if anyone can point me in the right direction.
Thankyou in advance for any advice given.

gorgeouslatinrose

Im pretty sure you can request an itemised list, but someone will be along soon with much more advice.

Fire_Fox

This website tells you everything you need to know about the rights and responsibilities of being a leaseholder:
http://www.lease-advice.org/publications/
It is also important to read the long lease to see when service charges are due, whether installments are allowable and what is chargeable. Hasn't your friend's daughter set aside money for last year's bill?? Unfortunately being skint is not an legitimate excuse, she is contractually obligated to contribute to the repairs and maintenance and can be taken to court if she fails to do so. To stall for a bit more time communicate with the freeholder in writing by recorded delivery and ask for a breakdown of the charges and copies of all service contracts.

SouthCoast

This site is excellent:

http://www.lease-advice.org/