Ground Rent Arrears - Legal Proceedings - HELP

Rachel_Elkin

Apologies for not catching your reply sooner. I have been away -and wifi-less for a few weeks. Really good to hear from someone who sees the story from the lessee's point of view. The whole arrangement seems unbelievably one-sided. Surely, when a lessee enters an agreement with a large company like Bigwood they should receive an introductory letter with details of service agreements, payment schedule, contact details etc? Finding your way around their systems as a new lessee is a nightmare because they are such a large organisation.

What I find particularly objectionable about Leitch is their approach. They are just rude from the outset. When I first rang them I was totally willing to cooperate, but they speak to you as though you are a seasoned criminal with a folder of dodging tactics. Their methods are bullying and extremely stressful to those who have made an innocent mistake - and ought to be regulated in this day and age.

I tried the CAB, but they told me they didn't have any expertise in this field and were unable to help.

caselk

Hello I am having the same issue with homeground. I had not received any notification for payment of ground rent as as such was not aware it was due. They send in letters to which i did not received. I have now received a letter from their solicitors demanind payment of approx £500 ...... I have sent an email to homeground stating this and yet to hear from them. They really are unhelpful. How can they get away with treating people the way they do ...they just want to take money

A_mac_2

Hi this is my 1st post on MSE, I hope I'm doing it right. I'm having major issues with Homeground. I own a leasehold flat that's ground rent used to managed by Remus. For some reason this got taken over by Homeground and the problems started. Essentially they are saying that I need to pay £250 arrears (GR) from the previous owners time there. No amount of me sending cleared Remus bills for the time in dispute. The clear completion statement from my solicitors or anything else (including a balance of £0 from themselves in Sept '15) seems to show them that this money isn't owed. ( this dates back to 2013) I find them useless. I thought after wrangling with them over this last year that it was all over when I got my clear September statement but they just seem to send what ever bill they like when they like, even though the paper trail ends up making no sense. They are now telling me to just pay this years GR and ignore the fact the account is in arrears but I don't want to pay what I don't owe or end up with big charges and it's going to cause problems if I sell. I want to report them, please can someone tell me who would be best? Also any opinions on this matter would be gratefully received thank you

Jenny_Penny_SA

Please can you help me as I am also having a nightmare with this company. Having paid my ground rent on time every year for 7 years, I got married and rented out my flat last year and sent a letter to update them of my new details. Then I get a call on 1st June from SLC solicitors Trevor Russell saying that I owe a huge amount for ground rent. Apparently they have sent letters to my flat (my tenant has been away for a few weeks) from 1st April and the matter has since been escalated to their solicitors as a result of me failing to pay. Both companies have been very rude and as stated in previous posts - they blind you with legal jargon and talk over you. They claim to never have received the letter stating that my details had changed - and tell me to prove that it was sent (which of course I can't - stupid of me I know - I should have sent it recorded post). They refused to take payment for the ground rent (which I have now paid by bank transfer). Having collected the letters from my tenant, only the letter from the solicitors has actually arrived (unless the tenant is being dishonest with me but I don't see why he would do this). When I asked E and J why they did not call me the guy said that they are not allowed to call to chase payments - but escalating to a solicitor (who called me - clearly using the mobile phone number provided to him by - you guessed it - E and J Estates). What can I do? I didn't actually received four letters as they claim - there is only that the tenant has received. Really upset by it all as they don't seem to care that I have paid on time for all of these years. When I said that to the guy at E and J his response was "what's your point?" Is it true that they can not call me to remind me to pay?? Surely using "reasonable means" includes a phone call?? Please advise.

tommyrc

Did you get a resolution to this? I have just had this same issue with the address being wrong ....

JB and Freeholders that is...

BarneyGumball

Hello All,
I'm also having ground rent issues with JB Leitch and a landlord, but not Homeground - in this case Elmdon Real Estate, based in London.

When I originally bought my flat (buy to let), it was from a company that was in receivership, so the purchase was done via an administration company. In short, at that time there was no landlord and therefore no-one to receive the ground rent.
That was back in Jan 2014. Since then I have heard nothing and had no contact with any landlord of any kind. I spoke to the Block Management company a while back and they told me they didn't have a clue who the landlord was either.
Anyway, on Thursday (Oct 13 2016) I received a letter from JB Leitch saying that 'Despite formal requests, you have failed to voluntarily pay ground rent and fees due.'
The total is £200 ground rent, plus fees of £216.
Like the rest of you, this was the first I had heard of the new landlord. I can only assume letters were sent to the property I let and not where I live. I told JB Leitch this and they told me to speak to my Solicitor as I had to provide proof that my address was provided during the purchase.
I went to the Solicitor and told the receptionist about it and she sent an e-mail to the Solicitor (he was on holiday). She also took a photocopy of the letter from JB Leitch. I'm hoping they can provide the proof needed.

I spoke to JB Leitch again after this and they agreed to put the case on hold for 7 days. I asked them to provide details of the Landlord so I could pay the outstanding ground rent, but they refused saying that while there was a dispute, this wasn't possible.

It doesn't look like the Landlord is as unreasonable as some of the others in this thread as the outstanding payments date back to 01/01/2015, but surely it must have occurred to them that maybe I wasn't living at the address they were sending correspondence to.
I have no problem paying ground rent. It says clearly in the Lease £100 per year. Not being psychic, however, makes it difficult to know exactly who to pay and when.

One thing that is really bothering me - What if my Solicitor didn't give my home address at the time of purchase? Where does that leave me? Would they pick up the £216 fees?

BarneyGumball

Just wanted to provide an update. I've spoken to my solicitor who has proof my address was provided at the time of purchase. It's on the lease and throughout all the purchase documentation.
He described this whole thing as 'outrageous' and a 'sharp practice' and is baffled why the landlord has failed to contact me. Apart from my address being clearly visible, he has asked why the landlord also didn't get in touch with him as he had my contact details, same goes for the block management company.
He's asked JB Leitch to provide a copy of the letter the landlord originally sent to me. That was on Thursday morning (20 Oct 2016). We are yet to receive this.

I am concerned what will happen regarding the legal fees. I have done nothing wrong here, so don't think I should be paying anything other than the outstanding ground rent, but only when the landlord has sent a demand to the correct address.
What Jb Leitch and the landlord are trying to do here seems like a mugging.

alvinc

These scams really make my blood boil. We're often told to look out for scams but these legal ones are probably the most profitable. I wouldn't be surprised if these ground rent fines netted hundreds of thousands of pounds or more annually.

Our legal system protects these sharks who know how to abide by the letter of the law in order to fleece us consumers. Fines should be fair and proportionate. I have now had these late payment charges twice in three years. A £50 fine on a £250 payment (25%) is completely excessive. Our court system needs consider this, a £10 fine on a £250 payment seems reasonable. There should also be at least a 1 month window to settle up, this is standard procedure in the business world and people are usually paid monthly so if they are struggling one month they should be given 30 days notice before fines are introduced.

If you have the energy to fight these charges legally then go ahead, but there needs to be some basic protections because the majority of people don't have the time or will to go through lengthy legal proceedings to fight these charges. Even if you do, these companies follow the letter of the law and are allowed to get away with these ridiculous charges because they are backed up by the courts. I would love to hear how they justify these charges of 25% plus over a couple of weeks of non-payment.

BarneyGumball

Further to my ramblings above..

The Landlord has an obligation to send a demand for ground rent to the property or properties of which he is the freeholder.
The landlord doesn't have to send the demand to the property owners actual abode, unless you have informed them in writing to send correspondence elsewhere. However, the landlord has no obligation to respond or even acknowledge this request and can continue to send correspondence to the property or properties of which he is the freeholder rather than the property owners actual abode.

So, in my case, if my landlord continues to send correspondence to the flat I own rather than where I actually live, I have no way of getting this correspondence as I can't go and root through my tenants postbox. I have to rely on my tenant passing this mail on to the managing agent, which they don't have to do.
I have no protection should my landlord charge me for anything else, send me a bill for anything else or demand payment for something else in the future.

In my case, I had no idea there was a landlord as when I bought, the company from which I bought the property was in administration.
At some point, the administrators sold the freehold. I assume they are under no obligation to tell any of the property owners about this at their actual living address.

This isn't fair, even though it isn't illegal. I would have thought in cases like this, where a new freeholder takes over, some effort must be made to contact the property owners at their actual address.

I've done nothing wrong but now have to pay the outstanding ground rent (which is fine), whatever JB Leitch are going to charge - god knows how much that'll be - and any additional charges applied.

BarneyGumball

Final ramblings on this subject from me....

If anyone is intending to buy to let and it's a leasehold property, as part of the purchase ask your solicitor to write a letter to the landlord telling them where to send correspondence.

If the landlord sends anything to your let property (i.e ground rent demands) that you don't see (and why would you - you don't live there) and then instructs solicitors to chase you for it, you at least have a defence that you instructed the landlord to send correspondence elsewhere and that should be the end of it.

If you don't have this written evidence, you are asking for trouble.