seller threatens to sue freehold/management co for "taking too long"re questionnaire

japonicaf

I am secretary of the freehold/management company that manages our house of five leasehold flats, each leaseholder having a share of the freehold. A troublesome leaseholder/freeholder is selling his flat and I was sent a very detailed questionnaire by his solicitor on behalf of the buyer's solicitor to fill in. I already posted in this forum a few days ago a question about the fee and whether we need a solicitor to help with the questionnaire with all its technical questions, and got helpful answers.

This is a follow up. We have spent the past yr with him sorting out breaches of the lease before he sells - he took non-demised loft space, took up carpet and putting down wooden floor, did not get our permission for any alterations. Anyway, I was at a loss as to how to deal wtih questionnaire but after advice here and from others too I am going down route of getting a solictor to help while providing max. amount of info I can in advance to assist said solicitor. Any fee we charge the seller will go solely on the legal expenses; we are not seeking any fee above that for the management company. Since getting the questionnaire three weeks ago I have spent a lot of time thinking, researching, trying to find a solicitor and so on, and retyping and filling in as much of the detailed (around 60-points including sub-questions) info as I can. I am now at the stage of having identified a solicitor, within walking distance, and am going to deliver the "dossier" of info and the questionnaire to this solicitor tomorrow.

I have now received an aggressive email from the seller saying his buyer is threatening to withdraw from the sale because it is taking so long for the questionnaire to be filled in. I pointed out to the guy (who has refused to even say hello on the stairs for more than a year, such is his dislike of me for daring to point out his breaches of the lease; he has been completely sidelining me as secretary) that I have actually been quite busy on business related to the questionnaire ever since I got it - I was not expecting such a detailed document - and that I was so concerned about it I was even missing my own freelance writing deadlines.
He says that the pack needs to be completed this week, that the fact it has all taken three weeks so far does not suggest any priority or urgency is being given to it, and if the buyers withdraw their offer he will take legal action against our freehold/management company for any financial loss he suffers as a result. I don't think he has a leg to stand on -- has he? I would not say I have been negligent - it took me time, as someone with no legal expertise whatsoever, to navigate a path through this. and as I said I am delivering the dossier of material to help fill in the questionnaire to the solicitor I am another director have chosen tomorrow, by hand. Surely if a buyer really wants a property they will not be put off by a questionnaire taking more than three weeks to be filled in...

patman99

The seller needs to be reminded that you are only doing your duty on a part-time basis and that these things take as long as it takes.

When I changed my mortgage to a new provider it took the ManCo for my development 5 weeks to deal with the questionaire.

pinkshoes

I'd return it with unanswered questions stating that insufficient time was given to answer all questions.

princeofpounds

No he doesn't have a leg to stand on.

Take it to the solicitor as planned. You may as well ask about the merit of pinkshoes' suggestion while you are there.

Meanwhile, tell him it is a detailed questionnaire and you are taking legal advice which takes time. A brief reply is a courtesy, but you don't have to rise to his aggression.

moromir

Had you acknowledged receipt of the questionnaire / explained the difficulties to the Solicitor that sent it to you?

If not I do kind of understand the seller's frustration.

Previous breach of leases aside, if I were the seller I would be questioning what you had been doing with the questionnaire for the last three weeks if you hadn't mentioned there was a problem.

Moreover Replies to Enquiries is a standard conveyancing procedure that management companies are expected to carry out - the questionnaire is relatively 'standardised' - in short they're checking the company has been set up properly, isn't about to go bankrupt, that there is evidence funds are being managed correctly, that theres no impending massive costs anticipated to the leaseholders, that everything is in order with the service charge, that the block is insured, fire safety and asbestos risk assessments have been carried out etc.

As company secretary you should have all that information on hand... I appreciat you're doing your best but might be worth considering a small management firm to assist you in future.

PS - you'll need to check the Lease actually allows you to pass on the Company's Solicitors costs to the Lessee...

Gwhiz

I'd just shoot him and be done with it.

Confusedandneedhelp

What exactly would he sue for? What's his loss? Her basically have to lose the buyer, get a new one who offered lower, still do the same as he is now and then sue u for the difference?

And then prove that u either deliberately or negligently cost him money. Something tells me he's an idiot.

japonicaf

Hi Moromir - I have indeed been in touch with the vendor's solicitor's assistant, and was also contacted by the solicitor himself, amicably, soon after I was sent the questionnaire. I told them of my difficulties in trying to fill in every single question myself, when I don't get all the legal jargon, and find some questions otherwise problematic.

As part of rectifying the breaches of his lease before putting his flat on the market, the vendor got a deed of rectification approved by the freehold company. He had originally been going to buy the loft space he had appropriated, but balked at having a valuation surveyor decide an appropriate value. So he rebuilt the ceiling instead. The conveyancing solicitor who handled the deed from our side made it clear from the outset that he did not want to get involved in any dispute between the freehold company and the leaseholder, and was dismayed when there was some acrimoney between the two sides. The vendor's solicitor did ask this same solicitor if he would continue with us and fill in the questionnaire for us, but he declined to do so! So the vendor's solicitor had definitely thought a solicitor would be helpful for us in filling in the questionnaire.

Just last week I told the vendor's solicitor I was trying to find a solicitor, and emailed him a quote one solicitor had given me, but heard nothing from him, on eg whether this figure was acceptable to him and his client. So he is aware that I really have been trying to find the best way of filling in the questionnaire. It's not as if I have just sat on it and done nothing. I have also found that solicitors take their time getting back to one. I had waited from last Thursday to hear yesterday from the solicitor we have decided to go with and to whom I am going to deliver all the background material and questionnaire filled in as best I can, by hand tomorrow. This same leaseholder has constantly undermined my position as secretary since he first moved in, eg ignoring what I told him about not breaching the lease, but I have continued to "service him" professionally. I was supposed to accompany a director to check that he had complied with the lease and eg put a carpet down and reinstated the ceiling, but he told the other director I was to be barred. Yet I am the secretary. It was a deliberate slap in the face.

DaftyDuck

Quizzical_Squirrel wrote: »

Remind me never, ever, to buy a flat.

Q S.... Never buy a flat.

OP. I'd send the form in as you have it, stating that the answers supplied are the best you can do in the timeframe, and suggest a timescale on which you will be able to answer the remainder....

You have my sympathies as, like Q S, I'd not want the hassle of a flat.

AlexMac

Sympathies; at least, (assuming his sale goes through and assuming his buyer doesn't back off when they learn of all his disputes with the freeholder!) you'll be shot of him. So try to look on the bright side!

I used to do those returns to buyers' conveyancers for my own shared freehold company till we sold up 3 years ago and bought a freehold. Although I used to take pride in turning them round fast, I'm aware the questions have got more complex. And in our case, all the six leaseholders in our block were reasonable, civilised types who appreciated that by managing matters ourselves, we saved thousands of pounds in management and maintenance fees. In consequence, we had the lowest service charges of any block in the neighbourhood, and by managing money ourselves, were able to build a substantial sinking fund for periodic stuff like external decs and new gutters.

So hopefully, there's an upside and financial benefit to what you do, as well as a feeling of control in that you decide how to manage your finances and maintenance?

If it really is becoming to stressful, with you copping an unfair workload, consider a managing agent or accountant for the legal returns and Companies House stuff? Another shared freehold company I joined (as leaseholder of one of 13 flats) took this approach and I was surprised that it only cost us a few hundred quid a year, so not much extra on the service-charges.

And as regards the OP, I'd probably have told him to F.. , sorry, I mean "Go forth and Procreate" by now; good luck!

Errata

How much are you being paid by the management company to act as its secretary?