Ground Rent Solicitor Letter

adament

Hi All,

First time poster, looking for some help. Received a letter from JB Leitch demanding GR of £100 with £282 legal fees on top and admin fees of £300 on top. The Ground rent is due on 31/03/18, I even contact the company named on the lease that the GR was payable too but they said it was nothing to do with them?

Then I never received this letter from JB asking for ground rent on behalf of another company who I don't know of.

What do I do? I haven't received a letter but how can I prove it, I have read up and apparently first class post is sufficient service even if not received, how can that be fair?

My lease also says 'expenses are payable incurred by the lessor incidental to the preparation and service of a notice under s.146 or incurred in completion of proceedings under secion 146 and 147 of the act notwithstanding forfeiture is avoided otherwise than by relief granted by the Court'. Please help

bouicca21

Do a forum search for JB Leitch. You are not alone ...

Corthius

Hi adament,

It is a horrible situation to be in and, like many other leaseholders, are being charged with additional administration fees and legal costs due to the non-payment of the Ground Rent.

If my knowledge of leasehold legislation serves me well, this is what I recall;

Whilst it is your responsibility to ensure payment of your Ground Rent to the relevant Freeholder on or before the due date, as specified in your Lease agreement, they cannot charge you for legal costs in respect of Section 146 proceedings as the Ground Rent currently outstanding does not exceed the criteria to issue forfeiture proceedings (i.e. over £350.00). Therefore, they cannot issue Section 146 proceedings without the outstanding Ground Rent alone being over £350.00 (or outstanding for more than 3 years).

As far as I can see, the Ground Rent you currently owe is £100.00 which should have been paid on 31st March 2018. Therefore, JB Leitch cannot rely on the S146 clause within your Lease to recover legal costs, nor can they threaten you with the same. Do double check your Lease agreement, however, as there may be another clause within this which allows for the freeholder to 'recover all reasonable costs in respect of the recovery of rent arrears' - or something similar to this.

Whilst JB Leitch seem to be instructed on behalf of the Freeholder in this case, you will not be able to contact the Freeholder (or the Freeholder's agent) directly as they will refer you to JB Leitch as the acting solicitors.

Unfortunately, with regards to the service of documents, first class post is deemed sufficient and 'good service' and, therefore, if this hasn't been received, there is not much you can do as it is highly likely the Freeholder will retain a copy of the letter that they have sent to you as 'proof' (whether or not it was sent/received).

What I would suggest is that you pay the Ground Rent owed, in addition to whatever administration charges that are due, but not the legal costs. Yes it is unfair paying the additional administration charges but if you don't pay, the Freeholder will leave these on the account until (1) you pay them, or (2) you come to sell the property and they still remain on your Ground Rent account which will then hold up the sale of the property.

Also check your Lease agreement for when your Ground Rent (and Service Charges if applicable) are due. If your Ground Rent was due on 31 March 2018, and your Ground Rent is paid half yearly, another Ground Rent period will be due shortly at the end of September 2018.

I hope this helps!! If you have any other information or are still dealing with the case, let me know!

KM