Unsold property

LMCD

vaio wrote: »

As others have said the estate is responsible for the charges and can be sued just like any other non payer which could ultimately result in the flat being forcibly sold plus a heap of costs and hassle.

Might be worth thinking about borrowing against the value, dropping the asking price or renting it out

How can it be forcibly sold if it is not being sold already bein on the market? you mean to any seller etc? You would just think given the fact its retirement flats this kind of thing would crop up alot... no disrespect for the OP's loss but surely management would of thought of this scenario!

Jus think its majorly thoughtless!!

meritaten

I would actually put it up at auction hun - just to get it off your hands! it WILL sell at less than market value - but you may think its worth it to avoid the hassle.

Clarieloo

Just read this out to my husband who knows about these things. His exact words were "just reduce the price to get it sold".

Good luck x

spiritedduchess

The flat is currently on the market at considerably less than it was valued as are the others in the block. I havent had one viewing and neither has any of the other flats. I hadnt thought about auction and will look into that option. It seems that the market is so stagnant at the moment that nothing is moving. Thankyou for your replies.

dzug1

spiritedduchess wrote: »

The flat is currently on the market at considerably less than it was valued as are the others in the block. I havent had one viewing and neither has any of the other flats. I hadnt thought about auction and will look into that option. It seems that the market is so stagnant at the moment that nothing is moving. Thankyou for your replies.

Then to be blunt all the flats have been overvalued

Just remember they cannot get at you personally - only at the estate.

Mojisola

What stage are things at? Is the flat still part of your mother's estate or are you now the owner?

spiritedduchess

Its still part of my mothers estate

Mojisola

Then the debts are part of your mother's estate. Maybe the threat of legal action is an attempt at scaring you into paying. If you don't have the money, they will have to wait until the flat is sold.

vaio

Mojisola wrote: »

Then the debts are part of your mother's estate. Maybe the threat of legal action is an attempt at scaring you into paying. If you don't have the money, they will have to wait until the flat is sold.

I presume that means "if the estate doesn't have the money" and as for waiting, that's true but they can & will force a sale, probably at auction along with a pile of mortgage repossessions where the value might not be maximised

Say it's valued at £100k and on the market for that. at forced auction it might make £60k in which case the OP would be better putting it on the market and selling for £80k, she'll get more and won't have to pay a heap of legal costs either.

The other option might be to get bank loan/mortgage to clear the debts and cover say the next couple years service charges

Tuesday_Tenor

(Sorry, bold not intentional; just can't get rid of it....)

I know the following (see below) is a different scenario (IHT), but the there are parallels to be aware of. Having read this, I think the OP should take legal advice as to whether the estate COULD be successfully sued for non-payment by the management company.

In OPs situation (and I was an executor selling a property this year) I would definitely reduce the price drastically to be rid of the hassle and on-going payments. I agree with the poster who said all the properties in the block must be over-valued for the current market. And if it doesn't sell soon, he/she may have to arrange a loan to cover the payments.

So, the possibly parallel situation:

Contrary to what most people say and write on this board there ARE instances where money HAS to be found by an Executor to pay bills due from the estate even when there is currently no ready cash left in the estate. The main one I know of is the payment of Inheritance Tax by installments where the estate is completely tied up in a property that is to be sold, but hasn't sold yet. It is accepted that the full amount of IHT can't be paid so payment in installments over 10 years is allowed. However, the first 10% installment is due within 6 months. If there is no cash in the estate then the Executor either has to pay it themselves or a loan be taken out to do so. (I'm not clear whether this is a loan to the estate or the Executor personally). In both instances, of course, the payments, plus any interest incurred on a loan, are taken out of the estate when the property is eventually sold.

HTH
TuesTenor

Full details from the Directgov site:

When the executor pays Inheritance Tax

Usually, the executor, personal representative or administrator (for estates where there's no will) pays Inheritance Tax on any assets in the deceased’s estate that are not held in trust.

The money generally comes from the deceased person’s estate.
However, because the tax must be paid within six months of the death [ .....] sometimes the executor has to borrow the money or pay it from their own funds. This can happen if it hasn’t been possible to get the money from the estate in time because it's tied up in assets that have to be sold.

In these cases, the executor or the people who have advanced the money can be reimbursed from the estate before it's distributed among the beneficiaries (see the section below on ‘Recovering Inheritance Tax if you have paid it for someone else’).