Service charge late fee

889panda

If a service charge was late by 7 days. Does the management company have to inform you that they have been charged you for the late payment and make it clear in the next request for service charge they added the fee.  

I ask as it looks like my management company have charged me additional amount for something. I always check with my neighbours and mines higher.   
It's not clear that it's late payment and nothing been sent to me to say I have been charged a late fee.  But i think I was late paying last time.  

889panda

Ps should have said I am a lease holder.  

I pay the management company who the freeholder appointed.

km1500

charging a late payment fee for seven days overdue does seem a bit harsh and in fact I would expect a reminder after 30 days

that said the best way to find out what the extra fee is for is to give them a call

eddddy

889panda said:

If a service charge was late by 7 days. Does the management company have to inform you that they have been charged you for the late payment and make it clear in the next request for service charge they added the fee.  

Just to be clear - management companies cannot charge you a 'fine' or 'penalty' for paying late.

When people talk about 'late payment fees' - those are the costs that the management company incur as a result of you paying late.


For example, if you failed to pay on time and that caused 30 mins of extra work for somebody at the management company (e.g. writing a letter and sending it to you), then you have to pay for that 30 mins of work. 

So if you have been charged any late payment fees, you could ask for a breakdown of how the management company calculated the fee.


(There might be an exception if your lease specifically says something about a specific fee being payable for late payments - but that's unlikely.)

889panda

eddddy said:

889panda said:

If a service charge was late by 7 days. Does the management company have to inform you that they have been charged you for the late payment and make it clear in the next request for service charge they added the fee.  

Just to be clear - management companies cannot charge you a 'fine' or 'penalty' for paying late.

When people talk about 'late payment fees' - those are the costs that the management company incur as a result of you paying late.


For example, if you failed to pay on time and that caused 30 mins of extra work for somebody at the management company (e.g. writing a letter and sending it to you), then you have to pay for that 30 mins of work. 

So if you have been charged any late payment fees, you could ask for a breakdown of how the management company calculated the fee.


(There might be an exception if your lease specifically says something about a specific fee being payable for late payments - but that's unlikely.)

Thanks

they not even sent me a reminder letter or anything in communication about mentioning a late fee.  so in my eyes no admin has occured. The service charge request sent over just says balance brought forward with the amount.   

I have asked them to explain. So we see.

Can I say it unreasonable for me to pay it.  Because: 
- after 11 months after the potential late fee occurrence and no communication from them about it till I asked.
- no reminder sent to pay original
- in service charge request not state why payment
- Also the service charge request say the landlord may be able to claim additional sun's from you if do not pay by the date specified.  

eddddy

889panda said:

they not even sent me a reminder letter or anything in communication about mentioning a late fee.  so in my eyes no admin has occured. The service charge request sent over just says balance brought forward with the amount.   

I have asked them to explain. So we see.

Can I say it unreasonable for me to pay it.  Because: 
- after 11 months after the potential late fee occurrence and no communication from them about it till I asked.
- no reminder sent to pay original
- in service charge request not state why payment
- Also the service charge request say the landlord may be able to claim additional sun's from you if do not pay by the date specified.  

• They have up to 18 months to inform you about fees.

• I think that a tribunal would say that if you've received a Service Charge demand you should pay it, without needing a reminder to be sent.

• If the Service Charge demand isn't clear about what you are paying for, you should ask for a breakdown. If the management company don't provide a breakdown, a tribunal might agree that it's not reasonable for you to pay it. (But it depends on all the facts.)

• As I mentioned previously, it's correct that if you don't pay on time, the landlord can charge you for any additional costs they incur as a result. (But not randomly charge you a fee for doing nothing.)

But just to be clear - in your original post you said "it looks like my management company have charged me additional amount for something"

So presumably it's not clear yet that the additional amount is a fee relating to late payment.

Jonboy_1984

Ours used to say "payment due within 21 days, a £15 fee will be charged for reminder letters" on the initial demand.