End of year balancing charge from the Management company. is it fair?

Richard_Webster

I am sure she actually retained £250 just in case there are deficit. I do remember she definitely mentioned about this retention. I spoke to her today about this excess charge demand and she said that she has to open my file and it's a lot of hassle. She said it's not worth it to go through all this as it's only £48.82. So I am afraid I have no option but just to pay it.

Er....why did she retain the £250 then? That's the point.

I tell people beforehand it is a hassle and I will charge them - but here she retained the money and presumably didn't tell you before exchange of contracts would be an extra charge down the track for fiddling about with it.

She should get her file out and do the recalculation and pay you the part of the £48.82 that's down to the seller and pay the seller's solicitors the rest of the money.

What is she going to do with the £250 now then if she doesn't send it to the seller's solicitor?

clutton_2

""What is she going to do with the £250 now then if she doesn't send it to the seller's solicitor? "

spend it on sun-tan lotion and G&Ts ??

sounds like she may have forgotten that she kept a retainer for this very reason.. so hopefully no more bills to OP methinks

kiwi07

Richard_Webster wrote: »

Er....why did she retain the £250 then? That's the point.

I tell people beforehand it is a hassle and I will charge them - but here she retained the money and presumably didn't tell you before exchange of contracts would be an extra charge down the track for fiddling about with it.

She should get her file out and do the recalculation and pay you the part of the £48.82 that's down to the seller and pay the seller's solicitors the rest of the money.

What is she going to do with the £250 now then if she doesn't send it to the seller's solicitor?

I have no idea where £250 gone. She even didn't give me an answer. I assume she could open my file but for an extra charge.:(

Richard_Webster

1. Unless she clearly told you beforehand that you would be charged extra for dealing with the retention she can't charge you now.

2. She can't just keep random amounts of other people's money in her client account for no good reason. If that money stays there for any length of time for no good reason the solicitors' accountants might report it to the SRA.

Write and insist she sorts it out at no cost to you and threaten to complain if she doesn't.

As I said my point is that, yes it is a hassle and extra work, but she should have told you that before she kept back the money, explained what it was all about, and what might happen, and given you the option. You might have decided that the discrepancy was probably only going to be small and it wasn't worth bothering, but you should have had the choice.

Fire_Fox

oki1875 wrote: »

thank you all. The covering letter states that "accounts show a year end deficit of £1.173, an invoice for £48.82 is your proportion of this loss". There are 24 apartments in the building. In the same time they just recruited one more Estates Coordinator.... I still think £83 per month is a lot!!

You may think it is a lot because the service charges are not "reasonable" (Landlord-Tenant Act 1985) OR you may think it is a lot because you have no understanding of what you are paying for and what those services cost. Being a homeowner is an expensive business and it is a shock to an FTB, that is why some choose to live in rental property for life.

There is no point in thinking, find out - what are similar blocks in the area paying? What specific services are listed in your long lease and what are on the service charge breakdown? Are the cleaners contracted to come twice a week, twice a month or twice a year? How often are they actually coming? Etc. etc.

Twenty four flats is a small block so there will be no economies of scale but you probably have a lift (very expensive to maintain), you should expect your service charges to be slightly higher than for a larger block. As I asked
"Do you have a lift, gardens, car park or private road, heated communal areas? Do you have a breakdown of the overall charge levied? If not write and ask for one, you may as well use the opportunity to ask for copies of all the service contracts too, so you can see exactly what should be done and when."

kiwi07

I e-mailed the Management company and received reply...
Many thanks for your email. As the current Leaseholder for the property, I am afraid that the levy amount falls to you for payment, however it may be the case that your solicitor held a retainer from the prior leaseholder, when the sale was processed – we recommended that they did…!

Please discuss this matter with the solicitor involved, as we do not have any other option but to invoice the outstanding balance to the current owner of the property, as per the terms of your lease.

Yes, I have a garden, car park, private road, heated communal areas. I dont have a lift.