Paying Leasehold charges

michaelkav36

Hi there, i was wondering if anyone could help.

I have recently bought a leashold flat, upon completion no service charges or ground rents were paid to the freeholder. There was also arrears on the flat, which the other party indicated they will pay. I recived the money from my solicitor last week saying put it in the bank until the freeholder asks for it.

To date i have not got a bill for the service charges or the ground rent. Also the same for the arrears. As this is my first place i have no idea, will i recieve a bill as such from the freeholder asking for x amount? I have been in contact with the freeholder via email, he said the charge was £500 but after talking to the flat above they paid £300 on completion. I emailed him this and he apologised saying it is £300 and send it to him to x address. This sounded dodgy so i asked for a invoice as such, but again no response.

any thoughts and help would be great.

pie81

keep asking for an invoice, breakdown, etc. He has to demonstrate that the money is owing, you're not obliged to take it on trust.

michaelkav36

is that the norm then. the problem i have is that the property was a repossesion and has no evidence of any service charges etc, my solicitor told me upon buying it is unmortgagable, hence we had to buy cash. I am not looking to sell straight away but want to get this evidence set up asap so we can if required. Anyone had this before?

BitterAndTwisted

Normally any arrears owed to the freeholder would be paid from the proceeds of the sale. Is this not the case in your situation? What sort of sum are we discussing here?

michaelkav36

thats what i didnt understand. my solicitor said that the bank who reposessed the property would pay the freeholder the money owed. about 3 months after completion my solicitor sent me a cheque with a letter saying that the bank had passed the money on to me to pay it, but not to, until requested by the freeholder, and to put it in the bank. its around £700. as i said, i have had to try and chase the freeholder to get the service charge sorted, and i havent even mentioned the money owed to him.

Fire_Fox

Formal communication is in writing not via e-mail, no charges are due until an invoice has been raised:
http://www.lease-advice.org/publications/

BitterAndTwisted

One slight complication could be that the managing agents might be reluctant to send you a demand which has not been issued to you, but to the previous leaseholder, so it will be on a completely separate account to yours on their records.

As FireFox says, you need to communicate with the agents solely in writing ensuring you correctly identify the property in question explicitly so they can locate the records you're requesting.

michaelkav36

thanks for the help so far. there is no management agency or anything like that set up. it is just the freeholder at the min, does this change anything?

G_M

The lease will specify what the ground rent is each year.
The service charge may vary, but you should get a copy of last year's accounts showing how it was spent and/or a breakdown of this years expected accounts so you can see where the money is going.

Everything in writing. Nothing by email. If there is no managment company then the freeholder is the management company!

Until you receive a formal invoice you do not have to (and should not) pay anything.

Check the link Firefox provided above.

clutton_2

wait for an invoice - if you do not get an invoice for 7 years you dont have to pay and you get to keep the £700 !!


but when you do get the invoice check that the amount on it is the same as in the lease.....

michaelkav36

thanks all