FirstPort Property Management Services – Refusal To Refund Credit After Property Sale

sonnydeletejc

Dear All,

I’m hoping someone may be able to advise on a situation I’ve found myself in.

FirstPort are the designated property managers of an apartment which I owned for 11 years before selling last Nov (2019).

I was paying a fee of around 1600 GBP per year, with the last payment of 840 GBP being made in July-19, which was to cover the next 6 months of maintenance.

After the sale was completed I noticed that my account was ~100 GBP in credit, so I contacted FirstPort customer service to ask for this to be refunded to my account. This was their response…

“We would advise that post completion we are unable to deal with any request to return any overpayment or credit adjustment as we are not party to the sale agreement. For this reason we request that all credits/deficits/overpayments are allowed for and dealt with between the Conveyancers involved in the transaction. This is mention in our  information pack.

If this was not allowed for, then we would require both solicitors authorization in writing and the amount confirmed and how and where payment should be sent.

The account has been placed on hold, once we have all of our completion paperwork we can then amend our records.”

So the first thing I did was contact my solicitor who managed the conveyancing aspect of the sale. This was their response…

“First Port should not be holding any additional credit on account due to you as a refund. Notably, where these funds were a payment in excess which is now held on account which you paid then these should be returned to you.

I have copied in First Port so that there is written confirmation from us that we acted for you on the sale which completed on the 29th November 2019. I also attach the Transfer as evidence. This shows the buyer’s details.

If First Port wish to contact the buyer’s solicitors then their details are below. However, we do not feel that confirmation is necessary from them where the funds are due back to the seller as they was an excess funds held on account.”

For almost a year I have been following up with both parties every couple of weeks but neither will take ownership or responsibility, whilst I’m stuck in the middle. I realise 100 is not a huge amount of money, but I’m certainly not in a position to throw it away either.

My thoughts are…

1. The solicitor should have checked if any money was owed during the conveyancing process

2. FirstPort shouldn't have the right to shut down my account and steal that money

I have considered taking legal action, but the money I’d spend would quickly overshadow the amount owed by FirstPort.

I’m clutching at straws now, but I’m quite sure this a game FirstPort play on a regular basis, as they understand that their clout makes it impossible for someone like me to get any leverage on this situation.

I feel totally let down by both parties.

I’m keen to hear from anyone who has found themselves in a similar situation or from anyone who can recommend a possible way to resolve

Thanks and best wishes,

Jamie

eddddy

From what you say, it sounds like FirstPort are correct.

As FP say, your conveyancer should have checked the account prior to completion, and asked your buyer for an extra £100 to compensate you.

FP won't have stolen the money, it would have been carried forward to the new leaseholder's (i.e. your buyer's) account - so the new leaseholder will pay £100 less service charge on their next bill. Which is why the new leaseholder should have paid you an extra £100.

So either...

• You didn't tell your conveyancer about the £100 credit (which would probably be your error),
• Or the conveyancer was told about the £100, but failed to take account of it (which would be the conveyancer's error)

Depending on exactly what your sale contract says, you might have a case for asking the buyer for the £100 which your conveyancer failed to ask for at the time. (But I wouldn't hold out too much hope on that.)

trex227

Your conveyancer should have dealt with the apportionment of service charges during the conveyancing process. Usually the sellers solicitor will get an allowance from the buyers for the “overpaid” service charges that cover time that the seller will no longer be the owner.

Usually the information on what service charges have been paid would be in the statement of account they receive from the management company as part of the leasehold information pack. If this wasn’t provided your conveyancer wouldn’t be aware you are owed money.

I would ask FirstPort if they provided your conveyancer with an account statement. If they did, then make a complaint to your solicitor. Given the small amount your conveyancer may just pay you the money to get rid of the complaint.

AnotherJoe

Yes, from memory my solicitor divied up monies when i sold my mothers retirement flat so that any excess I had paid to FP came back to me via the seller. Pretty sure there was no refund from FP direct.

Tiglet2

What Edddy says above is correct. 

There won't be a refund from FirstPort.  It will simply be shown as a credit on the account, now in the new buyer's name. 

It would be worth checking your final account from your solicitor to see what apportionments were made on completion. i.e. how much was reclaimed from the buyer's solicitor.   The solicitor would have referred to the up to date statement provided by FP just prior to completion and worked out apportionments based on that.  Did the solicitor know what you had paid and could therefore reclaim the correct apportionment?  

If there is now a credit of £100 in the new buyer's account to FP, then you could have a case to reclaim it, but since completion has already taken place, you may have a hard time getting it.  

OldMusicGuy

What they said. FirstPort are rubbish (they were our estate managers) but in this case your conveyancer screwed up. This is part of the final settlement on completion.

sonnydeletejc

Thanks everyone for your replies. I fear that I might be snookered here, but I'll keep trying. Sometimes justice does prevail.
I'll let you know.
The anniversary of the sale is coming up in 5 weeks!
Best wishes,
J 

AnotherJoe

Just to muddy the waters, whilst its conventional to apportion out monies like this, its not always the case, and its quite possible the agreement was that any such money is included in what the buyer gets, in the same way as you might be leaving a washing machine. And if there was no clear agreement either way, well you're into a legal battle and Jarndyce vs Jarndyce would apply to getting "your" £100 back.

I can be petty as heck, but in this instance I'd count it as a life lesson, move on and forget about it.

How many hours have you spent on this already?

Life's too short OP, move on.