Residents management company query?

nick1234

hi
I own a leasehold property where we pay service charges to the agent for maintain of the block and they are appointed by the residents management company (which I have not been involved with before as recently bought)
I need to take action against the agent as they have been severely negligent and failed to make essential repairs, but in the upper tribunal would I have a case agains the agent directly? We have a leaseholders agreement which documents their rights and obligations as an agent, so its a contractual breach also. 
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/leasehold-management-dispute-applications-forms

thanks

NeilCr

Have you raised the issue with the directors of the RMC?

That would be my first port of call to see if they could resolve the problem directly with the MA. We are an RMC (I am a director) and that's how it works here. 

eddddy

Going to tribunal (or taking other legal action) is a last resort.

Do you really mean that the agent has done something negligent (in the legal sense), or do you mean the building is not being maintained and repaired according to the terms of your lease?

If the building isn't being maintained and repaired, I guess the starting point is to find out why not. Is the RTM company telling the agent to do repairs, and the agent is failing to do them? Or is the RTM company telling their agent not to do the repairs, and the agent is duly following their instructions?

FWIW, I know of an RTM company who are constantly telling their agent to delay non-essential maintenance, because the leaseholders prefer to save money rather than have a pristine building.

nick1234

eddddy said:

Going to tribunal (or taking other legal action) is a last resort.

Do you really mean that the agent has done something negligent (in the legal sense), or do you mean the building is not being maintained and repaired according to the terms of your lease?

If the building isn't being maintained and repaired, I guess the starting point is to find out why not. Is the RTM company telling the agent to do repairs, and the agent is failing to do them? Or is the RTM company telling their agent not to do the repairs, and the agent is duly following their instructions?

FWIW, I know of an RTM company who are constantly telling their agent to delay non-essential maintenance, because the leaseholders prefer to save money rather than have a pristine building.

thanks, its partly both I think, I found out that the RTM has an individual in the block who is the director and I am pretty sure she is telling them some jobs are not essential to save money.  However there are cases where the agent has said they have got quotes for repairs e.g. fixing drainage, but then 6 months later still not performed the work.  I don't see any hope of replacing the director, so the only way is going to tribunal

nick1234

NeilCr said:

Have you raised the issue with the directors of the RMC?

That would be my first port of call to see if they could resolve the problem directly with the MA. We are an RMC (I am a director) and that's how it works here. 

my contact has always been with the agent and I didn't know there was a director till this weekend.  I don't think the director wants to spend any money

NeilCr

nick1234 said:

NeilCr said:

Have you raised the issue with the directors of the RMC?

That would be my first port of call to see if they could resolve the problem directly with the MA. We are an RMC (I am a director) and that's how it works here. 

my contact has always been with the agent and I didn't know there was a director till this weekend.  I don't think the director wants to spend any money

Got to be worth engaging with her first before going down the tribunal route, surely

greatcrested

The agent is employed by the RMC, not you. So they are answerable to the RMC not you. They are... well, the 'RMC's agent'!

So you go to the RMC. Unless of course what the agent is illegal eg something contrary to health and safety leglislation like removing fire doors in which case you could involve the HSE.

Grumpy_chap

This OP reads very aggressively and as though the first thing the OP wants to do is go straight to court.  Maybe they are just at their wits-end after trying other routes, but that does not come across in the post.

Remember, with an RMC, the Directors that "run" it are often your neighbours and, quite possibly, only Directors reluctantly because no-one else would do it.

What is the nature of the maintenance that needs to be carried out and so bad it is severely negligent not to have done this before?  How did they get to be so bad and so essential?  Were the issues not reported in a timely fashion?

Whatever has gone before, a polite but firm request could be more appropriate.

inspectorperez

In my experience most RMC's have appointed Boards comprising owners who have regular meetings at prescribed times to discuss matters such as money, management charges, unpaid fees, insurance, legal issues, residents' complaints, can I have an outside TV aerial please......... Whilst this may be more difficult during these exceptional times, you should still speak to a Board member informally first in a neighbourly fashion, and follow up with a letter to the Board formally explaining your problem/s. Often these Boards will have an invited representative from the agent at the meeting so that it is properly informed in its decision making process. As Grumpy_chap remarks, often these directors are residents who have had their arms placed up their back to join the Board.

nick1234

Grumpy_chap said:

This OP reads very aggressively and as though the first thing the OP wants to do is go straight to court.  Maybe they are just at their wits-end after trying other routes, but that does not come across in the post.

Remember, with an RMC, the Directors that "run" it are often your neighbours and, quite possibly, only Directors reluctantly because no-one else would do it.

What is the nature of the maintenance that needs to be carried out and so bad it is severely negligent not to have done this before?  How did they get to be so bad and so essential?  Were the issues not reported in a timely fashion?

Whatever has gone before, a polite but firm request could be more appropriate.

absolutely not the first thing, I have been dealing and negotiating with the agent for 2 years now to perform repairs, since I moved in, they have failed to repair drainage which is causing damp and water to come into my property.  They did once mention some residents have told them not to do other works, so they must have been referring to the director.  I have never spoken to her but looking at the state of their flat and what she looks like, she has low standards and is a council type

As I mentioned the agent even got quotes to do the work last year but then made excuses why they were not performing this.

SuperHan

Who are the shareholders of the RMC? Could you try to also become a director? You may have a right to do this if you are a shareholder. If you are not a shareholder, you could ask the shareholders to appoint you as director.

You will then have a say in instructing the agent to act on behalf of the RMC.

If this isn't a viable option, then you should complain to the RMC (i.e. the director) before going to tribunal as they have a legal obligation to meet the terms of the lease, and you should give them an option to rectify before taking further action.