Chief rent is this a scam

G_M

Your matter is welcome.

I mean, you're welcome to forum.

No errr - the forum matters (to you).

TrickyDicky101

Spam, spam, spam, spam!

nightingale2

julies43 wrote: »

We have had the same situation, same company, same solicitor and being asked for over £300. We have been receiving invoices for years but haven't paid because the company doesn't look genuine, UK Property Trust, doesn't use proper headed paper and isn't listed at the same address as on the letterhead. When I asked them about 5 years ago to supply proof of who they were and who they were collecting on behalf of I heard nothing for a couple of years and then received the invoices again. I really am not convinced about this, but cannot enlighten you. I am going to Citizens Advice so will post what they say. Meanwhile if you find out anything let me know.

If you are not sure about the company asking for the payment of your Chief Rent/Ground Rent get in touch with the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) - it is this department that you can pay money to to buy up the rent and so be totally free, it is worth paying the couple of hundred pounds to clear all the hassle. But they may also direct you regarding the company that you are querying. Both Ground and Chief rents will be phased out totally by the year 2037

woowoomummy_2

HI I am in EXACTLY the same situation. Same companies. I live in Rochdale.
I phoned UK Property Trust today - no answer, I then called Justified Properties, she looked for my info but had never heard of me/my house, and the refs they use were different to what is quoted on the ''demand''. We got one of these last year and they were asking for more money then they are this time, and they were using a solitcitor in Blackpool - when I looked for him on the Law Society website I found he was no longer a registered solitcitor, and their fraud squad took the case!
It does look dodgy.
The ''demand'' date brackets are wrong, ie, 25-25th of month instead of 25th-24th of next, the grammar is very poor and the date is spelt wrong.

I faxed the documents to Justified Properties and the lady is getting back to me tomorrow to tell me if it is from them or not.
Hope this helps, I certainly wont be parting with my hard earned!! H :-):beer:

Knightwaker wrote: »

I have lived in my house for 15 years and at the time of buying it the solicitor said that he did not know who the chief rent of £15 per year was payable to. I have just received an invoice from a company called UK Property Trust Linited for 8 years outstanding chief rent. They say that the lessor is Justified Properties Limited. I have also received a letter from a solicitor in Blackpool with a copy of the invoice saying that I can redeem the chief rent for £330 but that any cheques should be made payable to Justified Properties Limited (I would have thought that I should have made the cheque payable to the solicitor). How can I find out whether this company owns the cheif rent or whether it is just a scam.

National_Rentcharges_Unit

I would recommend either the checking the deeds to your property or contacting the Land Registry to see whether there is any reference to either the payment of a Rentcharge or Chief Rent. If they do then you are legally required to pay it until it is either extinguished or redeemed.

You can apply to the Department for Communities and Local Government to redeem (buy out) a rentcharge or a Chief Rent at [EMAIL="rentcharges@communities.gsi.gov.uk"]rentcharges@communities.gsi.gov.uk[/EMAIL]

bettyjmaar

This is totally a scam one should avoid it.