About to complete, vendor asking for reimbursement of service charge!

Flo28

Hi

My partner and I are about to complete on our purchase of a Leasehold flat - we're set to complete on 30th April. Just today we were informed that the vendor had paid April's service charge to the Freehold management company, and that they are expecting us to 'reimburse' them (the vendor) for the full amount of this! Is this normal? We'd understand if say they paid the charge on 1st April, and we completed and moved in on say the 5th, because we'd effectively be benefitting from that service charge for the month. But considering we're not even completing until the last day of the month, how is it reasonable to expect us to 'reimburse' them for the entire month?!

We suspect that because they've had no tenant for a month, and they themselves have not lived in the flat, they're taking a punt at trying to get some money back for themselves that they don't see they've benefitted from. If they were living there for the month it'd surely then be ridiculous for us to then effectively pay their service charges for them?! Surely they should legally be responsible for the service charges up to completion?

I plan to offer that we pay 1 day's equivalent of service charge, which is for the 1 day of the entire month of April that we will have owned the property. That would make sense, I think?

Just wondering if this is actually some annoying legal technicality making us responsible for 'reimbursing' them, or if they really just being cheeky to ask this. It seems very sly of them to do this when we literally have 1 day left before completion! They expect the reimbursement to be received with the purchase funds.

Would be grateful for anyone's thoughts here

Hoploz

Have you exchanged contracts? If so I'd say they can't ask for money if it wasn't written into the contract.

Flo28

Yes, we exchanged on 23rd April. I don't have a copy of said contract, but from what I remember this is not something that was written into it. The vendor's solicitor only wrote to ours this morning asking for this.

sidefx

They are trying it on, hoping for a result.

Unless it is a clause in your contract, I'd just ignore, but maybe congratulate their attempt to cover their costs, albeit to no avail

All the best in your new home.

BlueIsTheColour

Service charge is apportioned in the completion statement, you're right, you'd be liable for one day of April only. I've just sold a leasehold flat and my management company billed service charge quarterly even tho I actually paid it monthly so they said my account had to be brought up to date to end of June as that was the quarter it was sold in. I paid it to my Solicitor & they then charged my buyer through their solicitor for the cost from completion day to quarter end.

Speak to your solicitor, they should sort it for you but your seller appears to be trying it on a bit...