OM Property management ripping off

ramagates

I do own a freed hold 3 bed house (developed in 2011 by Bellway) and the whole estate is managed by OM Property management ripping off part of Peverel/Solitaire.

The fee goes up and up each year but the server is really poor and as a freehold property we dodnt get anything from them. Have complained so many time and it has been ignored.

How to exit from this. I have requested them to cancel all the services to my freehold house and they said i have no option but to pay them as the transfer is signed when I bought the house.

I did search online and many people have issues with them but I cant find any information of how to exit.

One option i see is to setup a management company by the residents but its practically not possible however whoever I spoke in the area told they have raised so many times with OM and its the same rip off.

they simply dont do anything and just charge.

Hoploz

If all or most of the other residents agree you can sack a management company and either appoint another or manage it yourselves. Chances are, other people will just be satisfied to pay up and ignore it, but it could be worth asking,

Have you seen the accounts? Are they getting reasonable prices from contractors? Is it their management fee which is super-high? Is the work contracted actually being done?

bclark

We just sacked this lot from managing the new build estate that I live on. It was really easy but we had a couple of very driven people who arranged it all.

Their performance was quite literally disgraceful. The estate is a mixture of leasehold flats and freehold houses and they failed to maintain anything and charged freeholders for leaseholder costs etc.

We were supported by the developer too as the performance was so bad that they looked bad too seeing as they set us up with these cowboys to begin with.

glottalstop

Being a freeholder on a managed estate is the worst of all worlds.

You will have entered into a management agreement which binds you to paying for the dreadful and expensive services of an appointed property manager, and this agreement will surve a change of freeholder. But unlike leaseholders you do not have any redress such as a Leasehold Tribunal to rule on whether your costs are unreasonable nor can you take control under Right To Manage. One option available to you is to complain to the freeholder that they are failing to deliver the contract, but the freeholder may not be interested. Or you can complain to the local housing authority - who gained by allowing the estate to be managed privately and therefore reduced the burden you place on council resources - that your property manager is not delivering its promises.

The ultimate route out of this is to exercise the "termination" clause in your management agreement. It will say something like the management contract can be terminated with the agreement of a simple majority but only 3 or 5 years after the last property on the development has been sold.

This is how other people have done it, probably including the person who posted above. It is not easy though - as mentioned it takes someone with a deal of time and determination.

A great example is the campaign led by councillor Paul Deach to free Dettingen Park in Surrey Heath from the clutches of OM Peverel. It was obviously in OM Peverel's interest - and the freeholder's, a related company and/or who may earn fees arising from the agreement - to obstruct the move, and boy did they obstruct, insisting on tortuous procedures to demonstrate the majority vote. It took 3 years; but the outcome is worth it.

A clever way to proceed would be to engage a new property manager and solicitor to administer the escape for you, perhaps for a reasonable fixed fee and/or for the reward of getting the management contract.

At Dettingen Park they effectively formed their own company "itsyourplace.com" run by a former local bobby Kate Houghton to take on the management, it is run like a co-operative and the estate is now a very happy community indeed.

I suggest you google the people involved and ask for their advice.

Rona_M

Hi everyone, I am new to this. Me and my partner are fighting on behalf of my auntie who is due to retire. We put her accounts on hold with OM Property Management for four years now and the accounts have accumulated to more than £4000. This is regarding the service charge which have not been acted upon during the last four years. (They're really not backing down). What do we do,? they are clearly asking to pay this back and its a lot of money.

pinkpiglit

Rona_M wrote: »

Hi everyone, I am new to this. Me and my partner are fighting on behalf of my auntie who is due to retire. We put her accounts on hold with OM Property Management for four years now and the accounts have accumulated to more than £4000. This is regarding the service charge which have not been acted upon during the last four years. (They're really not backing down). What do we do,? they are clearly asking to pay this back and its a lot of money.

Hi Rona - i think it's probably best if you start your own thread on this topic rather than piggy back on this one. You'll probably get more replies as well.