Service charge of unadopted road before ownership

Cisco001

Scenario:
I purchased a house back in 2013, knowingly it is on unadopted road.

Management company ceased trading for years when I bought the house

No payment being made since I move in 2013.

As of today, I received a letter from a lawyer on behalf of a properties management company which takes over the management from the ceased company.

They asked for a payment of £800 for maintenance of sewage pump services between April 2007 to March 2017.

Obviously, I did not own the place before 2013. Can I assume that proportion shouldn't be paid by me?

eddddy

TBH, You are probably liable for the full amount.

When you bought the house, your solicitor (or you) should have discovered that no maintenance charges had been paid since 2007 - and you should have decided what to do at that time.

(e.g. Reduced your offer to cover the outstanding charges.)

Cisco001

eddddy wrote: »

TBH, You are probably liable for the full amount.

When you bought the house, your solicitor (or you) should have discovered that no maintenance charges had been paid since 2007 - and you should have decided what to do at that time.

(e.g. Reduced your offer to cover the outstanding charges.)

On deed just mention I need to write to the management company.
But solicitor can't manage to find them.

G_M

I believe debts can only be pursued for up to 7 (I think) years. 2007 is 10 years ago. They can only claim since 2010 if I'm right.

edit - 6 years. see

http://www.debtconsolidationloans.uk.com/debt-questions-and-answers/is-there-a-statute-of-limitations-on-debt.html

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/58

moneyistooshorttomention

What proof have they provided you with that there is even a debt owed in the first place? Have you been sent copies of bill from this sewage pump services lot?

On the other hand - as at some point in 2011 onwards Water Boards have taken over responsibility for sewers and water pipes not on someones' own personal home territory. So wouldnt this sewage pump services lot have to be paid by your local Water Board anyway from 2011 onwards? Worth finding out the position on that.

As regards any monies you did land up being responsible for between 2007 and 2013 (ie previous owners debts) - then would there be the possibility of taking the vendor to small claims court to get back any money they owed you directly out of them? Presumably there is something somewhere in writing in the paperwork surrounding the sale of the house to you whereby the vendor signed a bit of paper from their solicitor and/or maybe there's a question on the legal questionnaire the vendor had to fill in to the effect of "Are any and all debts paid up to date?" that they lied and said "No" to? Without going back through this legal questionnaire I cant recall if there is such a question - but worth checking said questionnaire to see if there is. Worth checking all the paperwork from your solicitor to see whether the vendor committed themselves to passing the house onto you debt-free.

Thrugelmir

Cisco001 wrote: »

On deed just mention I need to write to the management company.
But solicitor can't manage to find them.

Did your solicitor advise you of the potential consequences?

Cisco001

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

What proof have they provided you with that there is even a debt owed in the first place? Have you been sent copies of bill from this sewage pump services lot?

On the other hand - as at some point in 2011 onwards Water Boards have taken over responsibility for sewers and water pipes not on someones' own personal home territory. So wouldnt this sewage pump services lot have to be paid by your local Water Board anyway from 2011 onwards? Worth finding out the position on that.

As regards any monies you did land up being responsible for between 2007 and 2013 (ie previous owners debts) - then would there be the possibility of taking the vendor to small claims court to get back any money they owed you directly out of them? Presumably there is something somewhere in writing in the paperwork surrounding the sale of the house to you whereby the vendor signed a bit of paper from their solicitor and/or maybe there's a question on the legal questionnaire the vendor had to fill in to the effect of "Are any and all debts paid up to date?" that they lied and said "No" to? Without going back through this legal questionnaire I cant recall if there is such a question - but worth checking said questionnaire to see if there is. Worth checking all the paperwork from your solicitor to see whether the vendor committed themselves to passing the house onto you debt-free.

I haven't seen the actual bill, i am going to ask for it.

I don't know why the maintenance did not take over by water board in 2011.
But the letter mentioned water company took over from 2017 april.


The house was a repossession house.

By the way, if previous owner have debt, why is the next owner liable?

Cisco001

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Did your solicitor advise you of the potential consequences?

I understand I need to contribute for maintenance of the road.
But I do not aware of I am liable to pay any maintenance charge before my ownership.
I try to figure out what I am standing.

ciderboy2009

Cisco001 wrote: »

But I do not aware of I am liable to pay any maintenance charge before my ownership.
I try to figure out what I am standing.

It's one of the oddities of housebuying - charges such as this go with the property so are now your responsibility.

I would be surprised if your solicitor hadn't pointed this out at the time of purchase - I had a friend who had their solicitor advise them to pull out in similar circumstances to your purchase.

It will be worth you investigating the Limitation Act 1980 - as previously mentioned you may only be liable to pay for up to six years before you received notification.

However, I know for some property related matters the limitation period is 12 years so this may not help you.

moneyistooshorttomention

Cisco001 wrote: »

I haven't seen the actual bill, i am going to ask for it.

I don't know why the maintenance did not take over by water board in 2011.
But the letter mentioned water company took over from 2017 april.


The house was a repossession house.

By the way, if previous owner have debt, why is the next owner liable?

If the letter specifically mentions that the Water Company "took over from April 2017" - then did it give a reason as to why the Water Company apparently didnt take over in 2011? I would wonder if it wasnt so much a case of "the water Company took over from April 2017". Instead possibly a case of "the water company confirmed IN April 2017 that they had taken over". That meaning the Water Company HAD already taken over (as at 2011) but someone wanted written confirmation that it was now Water Board responsibility.

When I bought my house in an unadopted road recently - I could see stuff down there in writing specifying my property as being due to pay a share of the cost for any work done in between my property and the main road. Both I and my legal advisor ignored that point - in my case because I knew it was after 2011 and so no longer applies. In my legal advisors case = I presume it was for the same reason - as she didnt mention any current obligation to pay towards waterpipes, etc.

I imagine that, if I had bought this house on a mortgage, then maybe the bank that had provided the mortgage might have, at that point, asked for a letter from the Water Board confirming it's their responsibility now. That letter would probably have said "We confirm we have taken over responsibility for those pipes, etc, as from today's date" (rather than from the 2011 date they actually took over that responsibility) iyswim.

moneyistooshorttomention

Found:

www.ofwat.gov.uk/households/supply-and-standards/supply-pipes/


and the relevant date is 1 October 2011 that the local Water Authority here took over responsibility for the waterpipes supplying my house as far as my own personal garden boundary. Hence my not being the slightest bit bothered about those pipes - as I bought this house after that date.

In your case - see last paragraph of link given.