Council chasing charges

tomrola

Hi all, I’m not sure where this goes so I’m sorry if it’s not the right area. My gran passed away 3 years ago and I inherited her flat, which I sold back to the local council a few months after. The council have emailed me today requesting I contact them to settle “tower charges” ie factor fees. I’m just looking for some advice on this one as I’m not sure why those charges weren’t disclosed and settled as part of the sale of the property when everything went through the solicitor. If I have to pay them and this is not unusual then that’s fine but if the council are chancing their arm and I can legally not pay them then I’m looking for the appropriate advice please. 

fatbelly

I-m puzzled what these fees are. Can you explain? Are they specifically stating that your Gran was liable for these and are they giving dates that make sense? Were you the executor and is that why they are writing to you?

RAS

You mention factor fees? Is this flat in Scotland?

tomrola

Yeah flat is in Scotland. Just to add further detail, it’s not the council chasing this debt, it is a debt recovery agency. 

fatbelly

So this is like a service charge levied on residents of council accommodation?

Are they specifically stating that your Gran was liable for these and are they giving dates that make sense? I.e. a period when she lived there?

Were you the executor of her estate and is that why they are writing to you?

tomrola

It was a council block of flats, my gran owned her flat and so was liable for to pay the share of fees that would have otherwise been covered by the council, yeah. 

So far I’ve had no detail whatsoever,  I’ve mentioned above I now realise that it’s actually a debt recovery agency that have this. I’ve reached out to the solicitor who completed the sale and apparently creditors/third parties have 6 months to claim against the estate. 

So 3 years down the line I’m just really confused how this 3rd party are aware of any debt. We are pretty sure when she passed away she will have been due to pay some factor fees that equates to roughly the amount this company are asking for, however would that not have been up to the council to settle that as part of the sale? Are these guys just chancing their arm? I’ve had no letters, just an email with a reference and they’ve also slightly misspelled my name. Are they chancers? 

fatbelly

I'm usually reluctant to advise on Scottish issues as the law is different.

But it would be usual for a Council to employ a collector rather than sell a debt to one

So you would need to get the detail of what this is from the council, not their agent

I'm not aware of a 6-month rule but that might be a Scottish thing and if you can find it in writing it's a slam dunk.

Why not ask National debtline scotland?

backinbusiness

6 month rule is Scottish law relating to probate - I think OP you should be ok.