Management and Maintenance fee - new company are requesting for payment

sandyk123

I have had my new build house for nearly 5 years now. 
I have been receiving letters from a management and maintenance company called TrustMGT to pay an annual fee, there is nothing on the letter to say what they will actually be maintaining, just a straight up 'make a payment' letter! In the last 5 years, I haven't seen anyone maintain anything at all. In the first year, I paid this when purchasing the house with the developer - Countryside properties. 
The first correspondence I had received said they'd taken over from Miller homes development (they got the developer name wrong, this isn't who I bought the property from). 
My other concern is that they started the correspondence around the end of March 2022, the letter states it's to pay for maintenance from 1st Feb 2022- 31st Jan 2023 - why are they chasing this after the start date?
The final letter from 25th August says they will take action via the debt recovery team, can someone tell me how this is enforceable please?
Who sold my details to this company?
Countryside properties have not told me that they are handing over to TrustMGT. I have emailed Countryside Properties as the staff over the phone do not know the answer. 
I have called TrustMGT many times and they do not answer? makes me feel they are not legitimate. 
Can anyone advise on this please?

eddddy

Is your house leasehold or freehold?

If it's leasehold, the lease will probably say that you have to pay a service charge for maintenance of communal areas etc.

If it's freehold, you would usually have signed a deed when you bought the house, saying that you agree to pay service charges.


So you need to read the lease or deed to see what you have agreed to pay for.

Trustmgt are probably managing agents for the freeholder. So they manage the communal space, and collect fees, on behalf of the freeholder.

The freeholder might be the developer that you bought the house from, or the developer might have sold the freehold to another company.




Edit to add...

You should get this resolved asap. There can be severe consequences if you don't pay a leasehold service charge, or if you don't pay a service charge that is collected as a rentcharge.

Typically, the agreement (lease or deed) will say you'll have to pay the debt collector's fees and any legal fees as well. So the amount you owe might be mounting up.