Renting apartment no contract, paying service charge

Northernrenter

Hi,

I have been renting my apartment for 4 years and have only ever been renting via a verbal agreement of rent amount with the landlord, which I have always paid on time.

The apartment was originally sold to a company that buys property quickly for substantially lower than market value. It was then rented to myself by them.

Recently the leader of the Residents Association told me that a service charge payment was owed. This is the first time I have been asked to pay the service charge as I thought it was the owner's responsibility, and the original verbal agreement with the landlord didn't include me paying the service charge.

I have therefore paid the service charge and deducted it from last months rent.

Where do I stand legally with this ? I have no tenancy contract and I am now having to pay the service charge.

princeofpounds

Don't be an idiot. The service chare IS the responsibility of the landlord. You should have referred all queries to them.

You DO have a tenancy contract. It is just a basic statutory AST, but it is defined in law.

olly300

OP you don't need a written contract in England to have a tenancy agreement. It's better to have one as it sorts out all sorts of problems.

However one thing you must do in future is give any person from the Residents Association your landlord's details if they ask you for money.

It's not your legal responsibilty to pay for any building maintenance.

G_M

Why on earth did you pay it?

However, having done so I guess deducting it from the rent is the best thing to do. But DO contact the landlord, in writing (by all means phone as well to keep things amicable, but follow up in writing) to explain what you have done and why.

Include a copy of the service charge bill and your receipt.

Northernrenter

G_M wrote: »

Why on earth did you pay it?

However, having done so I guess deducting it from the rent is the best thing to do. But DO contact the landlord, in writing (by all means phone as well to keep things amicable, but follow up in writing) to explain what you have done and why.

Include a copy of the service charge bill and your receipt.

Thanks, that's exactly what I did. The reason why I paid it was because the leader of the Residents association was immediately demanding it with threats of having me evicted due to breach of lease. They also stated that they could take ownership of the apartment due to non payment of service charge.

This has led to a lot of bad feeling as I don't like the intrusion of my privacy by the Resident Association, I told them to stop hammering on my door and just decided to pay it for peace and quiet.

I now have the feeling that the landlord / owner may not have paid any of the service charge for the last 4 years. The new leader of the R.A. advised that the previous leader was way behind on keeping up with who had paid what.

ethansmum

Northernrenter wrote: »

. They also stated that they could take ownership of the apartment due to non payment of service charge.
t.

Well speaking as a director of a residents management co. I can assure you that they cannot do that. The worst that the can do if put a charge on the property at the Land Registry, so it has to get paid when the property is sold.

Northernrenter

Ok, thanks to everyone who has replied.

I have just found out via companies house that one of my landlords companies has gone in liquidation (he has three) One of his other companies has been very late filing the return (there is a note on this company with a 'diss' code) The third company seems to be operating normally.

I don't know which one owns my rented property, but I am now very worried as I wouldn't want to come home to find the property repossessed and my contents gone. I currently can't get hold of my LL.

princeofpounds

You won't find your property repossessed without a court order. A letter would come through with info about a court date several weeks in advance and if you went to court you are entitled to ask the judge for two month's notice. Even if you did somehow miss that a copy of the possession order would arrive addressed to the occupants. So don't panic.

propertyman

I would reply to the RA

Dear X

I recently made a payment of the service charge after your visit demanding payment. I want to make it clear that I have a tenancy with my landlord, the flat owner, that is for the payment of rent only.

The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 bars a tenant such as myself from having to pay the majority of items included in the service charge, and to the extent that it does not do so for example for common parts cleaning or lighting gardening and the like, I am
1; not obligated to do so to my landlord, as above
2; have no contract or obligation to do so with the group that you represent

While in this instance I have deducted the payment from my rent I must reserve my right to
a; insist on the amount being repaid to me
b; to seek prosecution and civil damages against you and your group for harassment and breach of quiet enjoyment under the 1988 Housing Act and The Protection from Eviction Act 1977


While I understand that non-payment represents to you and your neighbours having to make up the shortfall, I am under no obligation to pay twice through my rent and to you, nor to make good any non payment and deduct it from my rent when I am obligated to pay the rent in full. I do not appreciator being approached in a threatening manner.

I am also not in a position to know if there are any legitimate disputes between you or if he has a legal right to withhold if for example your service charge bills are not in accordance with the lease or do not include the Summary of Rights. http://www.lease-advice.org/publications/documents/document.asp?item=89

I would ask that you take up any concerns with my landlord with whom you have a contractual relationship through the lease of his property. The contact information I have for my landlord is ......


it a very polite way of saying on your bike.

Good luck