RMG £362.86 for solicitor information pack

mylilangel

I am in the process of selling my 7 year old 3 bed end terrace in a Bovis Home development in Lindley, Huddersfield. The property is FREEHOLD, however there is a management company in place for general upkeep of common areas, and flats. The company is called The Pines (Lindley) MCL, and managed by Residential management group of Herfordshire. We pay about a 100 pounds every year, and get sent annual statement of charges, the majority of which is usually 'management'!!


My buyer is well aware of this management company, as he is local and has relatives living in the estate, and has been accepting of the fact. His solicitor has not been very happy about the management company, and raised some queries through my solicitor. I am using the same solicitor as I used 4 years ago to buy this house, and he at that time dealt with the management company for no extra cost.


However, RMG have now sent a letter to my solicitor requesting £362.86 for a solicitor information pack. I have all statements, and online account with RMG which shows my payment schedule. I also presume my solicitor would have the transfer of covenants deeds for this management company when I purchased this house 4 years ago. Is there any extra information that RMG will provide in their pack that we do not already have; any way I can avoid this extortionate charges please? Thanks very much.

ethank

Unfortunately, I don't think you will get out of paying this.

mylilangel

Thank you ethank.


If I absolutely have to, then I have to.


If the sale fails to go through for some reason, do you think I will have to pay again in a few months time.


Thank you.

Richard_Webster

Who owns the Management Company - is it owned by the residents? if so you could get together with the other residents and call a company meeting and sack the managing agents and either do it yourselves (not really advised unless you have a group of people with the right skills and time on their hands) or appoint a more reasonable manager who won't charge as much.

Lil_Me_2

Different management company, but we were able to tell them that we didn't want their information pack, but it still cost us £260 for the certificate that we needed.

mylilangel

Thank you Richard Webster and Lil_Me.


Yes, the management company is called The Pines (Lindley) MCL, and is owned by the residents. RMG (Residential management group) is the company which has been contracted to do the work. I happened to speak to one of my neighbours, who incidentally turned out to be the director of our MCL. He was not aware of this issue from any other residents, but said he will raise it at the next residents association meeting. However, it will be too late for me, and I guess this probably applied to other previous residents who sold their house here, and it never got highlighted.


There was another interesting post on this forum (closed now) https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3400794


From this post, since I have accounts of all statements and paperwork, is my solicitor able to prepare a deed of covenants relating to the management company for transfer (by looking at the original deeds) and satisfy the buyers solicitor. I have raised this with him, and waiting for his answers.


There has already been a delay of >4 weeks as my buyers solicitors company changed hands and delayed starting searches, and I am looking at a long lower chain here. Hence, in the interest of securing this sale, I will probably just have to pay (which is what my solicitor wrote to me). However, I would pay in protest, in case the decision for these charges are reversed in the future, then I could be a beneficiary as well.


Before I leave this estate, I would make sure other residents are aware of this exorbitant fees, even if that means posting a letter to everybody in this huge estate.


Many thanks.

Mobeer

Paid the same amount myself to RMG for the same thing. At least they responded quickly and didn't cause any stress.

mylilangel

I enquired what's in the pack. This is the response from RMG:


Good morning xxxxxx,

The cost of the full pack is £362.83, if it is purchased there are no further fees taken for information sent out. The price of the sellers pack is determined by the Management Company and includes our administration fee and fees to produce the following documents that are needed for the sale of a property.

The full sellers pack contains the following documents:

Service Charge statement - for reference and confirmation of the account status

Budget - commonly sent with the years invoice, so you may have this

The last three years of service charge accounts - sent out by us every year anyway, the cost is for reproducing them.

Memorandum and Articles of Association - how the Management Company was created and what it is as a legal entity, you should have had this in the information at your original purchase.

Insurance schedule - only if communal structures are on site such as a garage block or a pump station or for block of flats. Some sites if they are all houses have a Public Liability Policy.

Sub-Letting Form - not relevant for freehold properties but included for leasehold.

Application for Membership - a copy is often in the original documents from purchase.

Fire Risk and Health and Safety Report - generally not relevant for houses but can cover playgrounds, pump stations or other communal structures. For leaseholders it covers the block buildings as well. If a building is old enough there will also be an asbestos report, the substance was banned at the turn of the century so any Post 2000 construction shouldn't have it.

An Information Pack letter is also included which details the requirements the purchasers solicitors must meet such as:
The Freeholder (For Ground Rent)
Shares Certificate (if applicable)
Notice of assignment
Deed of Covenant (if applicable)
Certificate of Compliance

The pack letter provides information about; the Management Company, fees (post completion), where and how to serve notices and information regarding the Deed of Covenant. To produce this Pack letter, the Lease/Transfer has to be studied to provide the correct information saving time for the solicitors involved.

This pack is designed to answer questions usually posed by the buyers solicitors. If you find that you already hold some of the documentation found in the sellers pack and would like to purchase individual items, please list what items you require and we can provide the individual costing for you. Our time frame for responding to any given request is 5 working day maximum because of the quantity of requests. The advantage of the full pack is everything is sent in one go so less time is spent sending correspondence back and forth. The nature of the information pack means it cannot be rushed or expressed, last minute requests from the buyer side or your own solicitors are therefore very unhelpful to you and us. It would be known from very early on the property is in a Management Company, we are Management Agents, the pack is standard process in the property industry and the earlier it, or parts of it can be applied for the better.

Regards

mylilangel

I have sent across information like all statements, service charge accounts, and information and arrangement between residents association and RMG, to the buyers solicitors. I am waiting to hear from them if they are happy, if not I will have no choice but to order the information pack.


If the sale goes through, before I leave I will make sure residents are aware of such charges, and it is discussed at the AGM.


Thank you.

ethank

I actually don't think the Solicitor will want to receive the info from you. They will want to receive it from the landlord or their agent.

shark_DB

When we sold my solicitor told the buyer's solicitor if you want it you can pay for it, and they did! But it depends how committed you think they are