Enough is enough! Help winning against a rogue managing agent & residents company

bigp26

Dear all, firstly I hope everyone is well and in good health!

Sorry for the long post, but the thought of spending this weekend with a strong smell of raw sewage eminating has made me realise I have to do something.

I'd really appreciate some help from the members in here, so thank you all for any contributions in advance.

I genuinely also hope that this thread will help people in the future, who are dealing with similar issues that are so stressful and time consuming to deal with.

These companies bully people, add so much stress to people's lives, and take money from people whilst doing so.

===========Background===========

• I have owned a 2 bedroom flat for 6 years - built in 2002 with a 100ish year lease.

• There is a (Managing Agent) Limited company, as well as a (Road Name) Residents Limited company. Both seem uninterested in the best interests of the homeowners and residents.

===========Key issues===========

• A communal outdoor drain has been blocked and overflowing very near my property for days, and they refuse to do anything about it. They suggested I call Draindoctor and wished me "good luck". I find this surprising as the drain is not on my land and they seemed to have fixed the same issue a few years ago? The smell is terrible and especially horrible whilst we are all WFH these days .

• They don't fix things for months, with many things still outstanding e.g. part of fence broken, severe scratches on front door glass, not replacing draught proofing on the main door entrance (which is letting a bad breeze in), not following up with window cleaners with some windows not being cleaned for years by them.

• They implemented a new parking scheme in replacement of the old one which I think has reduced the rights vs. the lease. I suspect this has also de-valued my property. The parking company selected has a very expensive and illogical model for residents, and are impossible to contact.

• They blanketly disallow and will ticket any vans parked in the vicinity, including those for essential work e.g. builders, plumbers, electricians etc. as well as tv and internet engineers. How is this realistic? Any guests can park, but only at a premium of £30 per visit, otherwise they will have to park completely out of the road. How is this fair?

• They changed their website / portal recently - removed all ways of contacting them, so there is no phone number, email address, or request form. They have also removed the emergency contact number (i.e. to be used if there for a fire, leak, loss of water supply etc.).

• They are very rude and unhelpful generally. This is if I'm even lucky to get a reply.

• The service charge prices are not reflective of the averages in the area. They are significantly higher, and keep rising. Looking at some of the managing agent's spending declarations, I do find some of their spending and choices of contractor / suppliers rather odd and also expensive.

• In summary, it seems that neither company has any care for the residents / homewners, and that they are content with being incompetent. We are the poor ones footing an overpriced "service" charge bill, with little service being provided.

===========Some questions I have===========

1. What should be my next course of action? Could I try one of the ombudsman services, or is it worth pursuing formal legal action?

2. They are not a member of ARMA it seems. Are there alternatives?

3. Am I entitled to compensation as the change in parking scheme has likely de-valued my property price?

4. Am I entitled to a refund of some of my service charge over the years?

Thank you to all once again! Peace, love and health, BP.

NameUnavailable

As you are finding out, freeholders/management companies have a licence to print money!

Who is the freeholder? What is the purpose of the residents company and who runs that?

To answer your points as best I can;

1 - check your lease, that will set out who is responsible for what in terms of maintenance etc. If the managment company aren't meeting their obligations you can take action against your freeholder to enforce the terms of the lease. Are the other leaseholders also upset about how things are? You should all approach the freeholder to complain about the management in the first instance.

2 - Forget trade associations, your right of redress is via the First Tier Tribunal who can make legally binding decisions.

3 - Very unlikely

4 - Possibly if you make a successful challenge via the FTT. You will have to prove that works were not carried out to a required standard or that charges were made incorrectly (did they follow correct legal process etc). Be aware that you will have to pay your legal costs regardless of the outcome, and potentially have to pay the freeholders costs too. So any saving you 'win' could be wiped out and some.

Again, if other leaseholders are upset by things you could try to get enough of you to agree to make a request for Right To Manage, whereby you take over responsibility for the management. You either arrange this yourselves or you appoint another agent of your choice to handle things. A step up form this is to buy the freehold between you all, and then you take total control.

Look up the lease advisory service for more information.

numbercruncher8

You could just sell up and move out? It doesn't seem that things will change quickly. Depending on the type of block getting Right to Manage will be a lot of hard work. For instance if a high proportion of rented flats with hands-off landlords.

Like you probably have found out a bad management company isn't immediately apparent. Selling also takes away the issue of the lease, if the cost is high to extend why throw good money after bad.