New home, previous owner debt.

nu774ll

Hi, recently brought a 4 years old house in December. The estate is run by a maintenence management company. When we move din they sent us a letter with the management fees upfront for the next year + for some dates last year, a yeaer before we moved in!!

From what I gather the management team put a new fence in the estate and basically billed everyone their share for it. This caused a commotion in the estate as the fence doesn't benefit most so alot of people haven't paid their fees for covering the building of this fence - the previous owners seemed to be one of these as the Management team are basically saying the debt stays with the house and we have to pay for it even though we didn't live here at the time!!

Latest letter today (been living here less than 6 months now) is now saying the debt is being passed onto the High Court (lol is this serious?)

Dot really want to pester our solicitor too much we used for the purchase as we don't want to be charged, but basically does anyone have any idea where we stand?

The amount is absolutely trivial too - £40, so would just pay it if I am liable but just don't think this seems right at all!

G_M

1) It is likely the company can bill the property, but you'd need to read your property Title and other documents to see exactly what they can and can't bill for.


2) yes, the debt is against the property and can be enforced against the current owner



3) At the time of your purchase, this debt should have come to light and you (and/or your solicitor) should have deducted the cost from the purchase price.
a) was the debt declared by the sellers?
b) was a 'management pack' obtained from the management company, and if so did it specify the debt?

HampshireH

Your solicitor should/could have enquired about any outstanding fees and retained the value.

However £40? You just bought a house. I would suggest paying it and moving on. Will cost you more than £40 when they take you to court.

Fire_Fox

nu774ll wrote: »

Hi, recently brought a 4 years old house in December. The estate is run by a maintenence management company. When we move din they sent us a letter with the management fees upfront for the next year + for some dates last year, a yeaer before we moved in!!

From what I gather the management team put a new fence in the estate and basically billed everyone their share for it. This caused a commotion in the estate as the fence doesn't benefit most so alot of people haven't paid their fees for covering the building of this fence - the previous owners seemed to be one of these as the Management team are basically saying the debt stays with the house and we have to pay for it even though we didn't live here at the time!!

Latest letter today (been living here less than 6 months now) is now saying the debt is being passed onto the High Court (lol is this serious?)

Would you be LOLing if your employer paid part of your wages six months late?

Read all the documents you received with the conveyancing. Understand your legal rights and responsibilities. Also read the invoices and any attached paperwork.

Don't be a sheep. If you believe you have legal grounds to dispute an invoice do so. Promptly, in writing (letter or e-mail). Ignoring a liability for six months based on hearsay and tittle tattle could cost you dear.

nu774ll wrote: »

Dot really want to pester our solicitor too much we used for the purchase as we don't want to be charged, but basically does anyone have any idea where we stand?

The amount is absolutely trivial too - £40, so would just pay it if I am liable but just don't think this seems right at all!

It is not trivial. It is a liability attached to your property that you appear to have inherited from the previous owner. Depending on what you glean from the documentation, you may have a case for claiming back from the solicitor or from the previous owner.

eddddy

If this were a leasehold property service charge, it would work like this:

• If the £40 had been billed to the previous owners before they sold - they still owe the £40. (So the Management Co should be pursuing the previous owners.)

• But if the fence was built whilst the previous owners owned the property, but the bill wasn't sent out until after the sale - then the bill goes to you (and you owe the £40).

But if this is a service charge attached to a freehold house, you probably signed a deed saying that you will pay the service charge. I guess you need to read the deed to see if it makes you liable to pay this £40, in these circumstances.


(If you are liable for the £40, be careful about getting 'late fees' and legal fees added to the bill.)

AnotherJoe

Sometimes you just have to take a pragmatic position. There's all sorts of things should have happened here and no doubt you should not be liable, but it's not £40,000, it's not £4,000 it's not even £400, it's just £40.
Just pay it so you can be done with it and not end up with court action against you, which definitely is not a "LOL".
Then, write a short letter to the solicitors stating you've just paid £40 for a debt the previous owner owed which they should have picked up in conveyancing and you wish to be reimbursed by them. Maybe you'll get lucky. But this way you've only expended the price of a stamp and not hours and hours tracking this down.

steampowered

The first thing is to read your lease or covenants to understand exactly what your obligations are.

Most likely you do have to pay, but I can't read your documents from here.

It may well be that you can claim this back from the seller but not worth the hassle over £40.

Arguing that the fence only benefits some of the estate is not a good reason for refusing payment. Estate management cost have to be split across the whole estate in line with the lease/covenants. Although the fence may not benefit you, there will be other parts of estate management that benefit you more than others, so it all evens out.