Can i contact the management company?

laurey0301

Hi guys, am new here. We put an offer in on a property which got accepted late February and i think we are very close to exchange. We are just waiting on 3 final enquiries to be answered by the management company & freeholder. These enquiries were raised 3 weeks ago and my solicitor & the vendors solicitors are advising they are constantly chasing with no response. In the LPE1 the management companies details have been supplied, am I allowed to chase them myself? Is that the done thing? Or perhaps I'm just being impatient! Any advice would be great... thanks!

user1977

Not the done thing, and from their point of view you're just a random third party with no right to the information.

AnotherJoe

I dont see any harm if you can find the right person to chase in their offices. user1977 says you are just a random third party but you will become their client (something that might give you pause of course). Whats to lose? Sometimes its the squeaky wheel etc. Just be a pleasant squeaky wheel when you get through !

MalMonroe

I agree with AnotherJoe, you are not just a random third party and if you are polite in your approach, even if the company can't tell you anything, at least you'll know and your enquiry may well push them into action. Squeaky wheel approach very often works - but if it doesn't, you haven't lost anything. 

eddddy

It's very unlikely that the managing agents will talk to you - because you have no business relationship with them.

Solicitors don't really do 'real' chasing - they usually just send email reminders.

The best plan might be for the seller to phone the managing agents and be a bit persistent - and find out why they haven't replied, and when they will be able to reply.  Managing agents will generally talk to leaseholders.

m0bov

Speak to the seller.

Gillby1

I contacted the management company directly during our leasehold purchase. I was incredibly polite and explained the situation, and they were only too happy to help! I think it's worth a try.

eddddy

Gillby1 said:

I contacted the management company directly during our leasehold purchase. I was incredibly polite and explained the situation, and they were only too happy to help! I think it's worth a try.

I've known it to work as well - but only for 'non-controversial', 'non-personal' discussions. (I've also known managing agents who flatly refuse to discuss anything with a prospective buyer.)

So they might (or might not) answer a generic question like "How long are you generally taking to reply to solicitor's enquiries at the moment?"

But they're less likely to answer questions relating to a specific leaseholder like "Have you received enquiries about a, b, and c from Mr Smith's solicitor? When do you think you will reply to them?"

laurey0301

Thanks everyone for your responses. The Block doesn't actually have a managing agent, it's self managed so I would be directly contacting the residents part of the management company. Sadly the seller is useless. I don't think she actually wants to sell the Flat to be honest, maybe she has to, as she is unresponsive and is in no rush whatsoever. It took her two weeks to accept our offer!