Advice needed please - Leasehold

beckyeb

We bought our house in Jan '18 as a leasehold, we paid for the 1st year up front when we purchased. In March '19 we recieved a letter informing us that the company who owns the lease (Lancashire mortgage company) have gone into administration, we've had no further correspondence since.

We received the 1st letter demanding the rent (£289) from a Landmark Collections Ltd, I emailed them when I recieved it, informing that I wanted to know who and why I was paying, with the company on the document in administration. 

They replied with this - "I have spoken to our legal team re the above. As the charge registered by the liquidator is dated 25.04.19 it therefore sits behind all the charges LMC have registered against B & D Croft and whilst some owners are suggesting the Crown is entitled to take possession using the escheat entitlement, we believe that it will not revert to the crown."

I received another notice on 3rd Feb, informing that I had 14 days to pay or it would be referred to the debt collectors. I ended up in hospital for a few days and had recovery time so made the payment on 17th Feb by card, just within the 14 days. They are arguing that because I payed by card it takes up to 2 working days to arrive, so they are saying I didn't pay within the 14 days. I do have a screenshot of the payment confirmation on the 17th. 

We then recieved a letter saying our payment had been returned to us and all communications and payments now have to be done through the debt collectors (Property Debt Collection Ltd) they have now informed me that I owe £672 to cover theirs and Landmark Collection fees. 

Please can someone advise on what I can do? There is no way i can afford to pay £672 and it all feels very seedy! The only way of contacting Landmark collections is through email as they have no telephone number.

eddddy

I guess there are 2 things to consider...

1) Did the people claiming ground rent have authority to do so (and was it correctly demanded)?
2) Is the £383 late fee (i.e. £672 - £289) 'reasonable' - the law says it must be reasonable?

TBH, question 1 sounds complex - maybe make a free appointment with LEASE to discuss that. https://clients.lease-advice.org/Appointment/Appointment?isFireSafety=False

For question 2, you could pay the £672 'under protest' and then challenge it at a tribunal. (Make sure you say that your are paying under protest.)

Your argument at the tribunal would something like the late fee should reflect only the work done by the freeholder and/or  it was not reasonable to instruct debt collectors.

But to be fair, it seems that your ground rent was 11 months late, so a tribunal might decide that it was reasonable to instruct debt collectors.

beckyeb

Thank you for commenting, I have already contacted LEASE and made an appointment. 

Sorry I should have been clearer the rent due is for the period Jan '20 to Dec '20, so not 11 months late. They are saying I missed the payment deadline given by them by a day due to paying by card and not bank transfer. However nowhere on the letter did it state that card payment doesn't arrive on the same day. 

beckyeb

Thank you for commenting, I have already contacted LEASE and made an appointment. 

Sorry I should have been clearer the rent due is for the period Jan '20 to Dec '20, so not 11 months late. They are saying I missed the payment deadline given by them by a day due to paying by card and not bank transfer. However nowhere on the letter did it state that card payment doesn't arrive on the same day.