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Getting Ground Rent from Evasive Leaseholder + Have my solicitors messed up?
Evie_H
Posts: 8 Forumite
Hi there,
I am struggling to get Ground Rent payment from a leaseholder and would really appreciate some advice!
2 years ago we bought a maisonette in a converted property along with a freehold for the entire building (which contains a total of 2 flats).
The other property is tenanted and I cannot get hold of the owner/leaseholder in order to receive the Ground Rent. It should be paid yearly and he now owes us for 2 years.
His residential address is not stated in the leasehold document, but I managed to find it by downloading a Land Registry doc. I sent a “FORM OF RENT DEMAND NOTICE. COMMONHOLD AND LEASEHOLD REFORM ACT 2002, SECTION 166” to the address of the property under lease (i.e. the other flat in our building) and also to the address I found in the Land Registry.
Royal Mail returned the Recorded Delivery letter back to me.
As the property is rented out privately there is no estate agent that I could track him through. I left messages on his mobile number, given to me by his tenants, but he never returned them.
I learnt that he visits the tenants once a month to collect rent, so my next thought is to hand him the letter in person. But I want to know what my rights are before I do so, in case he just ignores the demand letter and stops appearing at the property at all.
My other question is – have my solicitors made an error by not sorting this out when completing the sale and where do I stand with that, e.g., if resolving this situation will require legal help can I demand they do it, or reimburse me?
Thank you
I am struggling to get Ground Rent payment from a leaseholder and would really appreciate some advice!
2 years ago we bought a maisonette in a converted property along with a freehold for the entire building (which contains a total of 2 flats).
The other property is tenanted and I cannot get hold of the owner/leaseholder in order to receive the Ground Rent. It should be paid yearly and he now owes us for 2 years.
His residential address is not stated in the leasehold document, but I managed to find it by downloading a Land Registry doc. I sent a “FORM OF RENT DEMAND NOTICE. COMMONHOLD AND LEASEHOLD REFORM ACT 2002, SECTION 166” to the address of the property under lease (i.e. the other flat in our building) and also to the address I found in the Land Registry.
Royal Mail returned the Recorded Delivery letter back to me.
As the property is rented out privately there is no estate agent that I could track him through. I left messages on his mobile number, given to me by his tenants, but he never returned them.
I learnt that he visits the tenants once a month to collect rent, so my next thought is to hand him the letter in person. But I want to know what my rights are before I do so, in case he just ignores the demand letter and stops appearing at the property at all.
My other question is – have my solicitors made an error by not sorting this out when completing the sale and where do I stand with that, e.g., if resolving this situation will require legal help can I demand they do it, or reimburse me?
Thank you
0
Comments
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How much is owed?
What is the rent per year?
Does the lease have remedies set out for non payment of rent?0 -
Thanks for a quick reply!
The lease doesn't say much, just that if the payment hasn't been made for 21 days (whether the demand has been issued on not) the Lessor has the right to enter the property...
He owes £400 - it is £200 per year.0 -
Giving this a shameless bump (Hope that's ok), in case there's someone on here who can help.0
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get legal advice to take money from the leaseholder"It is prudent when shopping for something important, not to limit yourself to Pound land/Estate Agents"
G_M/ Bowlhead99 RIP0 -
Yes... I know what you're saying csgohan4, but as first time buyers our bank balances are still recovering, so I was hoping to can find some answers without going to a solicitor...0
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You've got an agreement in place - it's the lease. You know who the leaseholder is. Presumably they did make enquiries about their payments, which is why you know that the arrears are only two years and don't stretch back beyond the completion of your purchase? They're certainly not going to be liable for leaseholders not paying ground rent after your purchase.I am wondering if it was an oversight by the solicitors to identify who the leaseholder was and put an agreement in place..?0 -
You've got an agreement in place - it's the lease. You know who the leaseholder is. Presumably they did make enquiries about their payments, which is why you know that the arrears are only two years and don't stretch back beyond the completion of your purchase? They're certainly not going to be liable for leaseholders not paying ground rent after your purchase.
Ok, thanks, trying to work out where I stand with all this.
Like I said my biggest concern is that I cannot get hold of the leaseholder and that if he is deliberately avoiding it then this might cause issues when selling (I am not even talking about any repairs, or the leak we had from their flat that the tenants themselves had to fix themselves!)0 -
What does the lease say about non-payment. Any mention of forfeiting the lease after X years of non-payment?I'm a Forum Ambassador on the housing, mortgages & student money saving boards. I volunteer to help get your forum questions answered and keep the forum running smoothly. Forum Ambassadors are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an illegal or inappropriate post then please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com (it's not part of my role to deal with this). Any views are mine and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.com.0
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