JB Leitch LBA - Demonstrated intent to pay - Centrick

Maia1111

Hi I am looking for some guidance / Insight 

I am a leaseholder. I got myself into arrears after the tragic passing of my brother in 2022. Around £3000 Service Charges mostly. But still paid a monthly amount that i agreed with the managing agent which they accepted (i believe there is something in leasehold law that states that if they accept it, it means they agree to it?) 

Here are the sequence of events that occurred, and the guidance i am seeking is below that.

July/August 2023: Receipt of initial communication from Centrick via a casual email with invoice attached, regarding outstanding Service Charge and Heating Recharge arrears, totaling an estimated £3000. In response, I promptly communicated my financial hardship and the emotional toll of recent events, expressing a willingness to address the arrears given some time.

August 2023: Centrick responded via email, granting an 8-week period to find a solution.

20 October 2023: Following the prescribed period, I provided in formal writing via email comprehensive documentation detailing my efforts to secure funds, including energy grants, mortgage payment arrangements, and hardship funding applications. To which I sought clarification on the origin of certain arrears as they were missing dates and I could not clarify the amount, to which no response was received.

22 December 2023: An unprecedented intervention occurred when my Mortgage Provider informed me of communication from Centrick, indicating arrears totaling approximately £4,537.58. This development prompted further inquiry into the discrepancies as I was unaware of the additional amount that led to this total in arrears or even that it was possible that my managing agent could write to my mortgage provider like this.

2 January 2024: Off the back of the correspondence received from my mortgage lender on 22 Dec 2023. A formal complaint letter was sent to Centrick and E&J Estates by myself, adhering to TPO regulations and internal complaints procedures requesting another clarification of some of the arrears. It was escalated to Centrick  Head of Client Services, who responded on 3 Jan 2024, and advised that she would respond within 15 days to my complaint. Despite the regulatory obligation to respond within 8 weeks, no reply was forthcoming to date. And it was on the basis of her response that I was waiting to instruct my Mortgage Lender to make the payment to Centrick once I received the clarification of some of the arrears. To which I never ever received to date.

25 April 2024: The recent receipt of the LBA marks the latest development in this protracted saga. Notably, the letter demands payment of arrears, accompanied by escalated legal fees to the value of £2500, raising concerns regarding procedural fairness and competence in managing the leasehold affairs.

NEW IMPORTANT INFORMATION RECEIVED:

1.     On 29 April 2024 3pm, I decided to contact my Mortgage Provider for the 2nd time in a few days. They advised that the original letter the received for demand for payment was from JB Leitch dated incorrectly by them 4 Dec 2022 (Correct date 4 Dec 2023). My Mortgage Lender scanned this letter onto their systems on 11th Dec 2023. The cannot send me a copy of this letter. But it states something to the following, ‘No dispute that she cannot afford to make this payment, and therefore we need to demand this payment from you’ Demanding payment by 18th December 2023. The letter from JB Leitch outlined the following charges - Arrears £3037.58  Legal Charges £1500 – TOTAL £4537.58

2.     On 29 April 2024 3pm the 2nd piece of vital evidence that my mortgage lender Agent shared is that on the 15 December 2023, my mortgage lender sent a letter to JB Leitch, to the effect of:

‘Thank you for your letter. Please supply evidence of the legal obligations (for Santander and Myself as a Leaseholder). Also provide evidence of court proceedings.

To date my mortgage lender have not received a response from JB Leitch. As advised by my mortgage lender they do not see this as a threat due to the no response from them.

I have a good and strong relationship with my mortgage lender, and they have advised that until they receive the legal evidence, they will not action anything. They too have noted discrepancies correspondence from JB Leitch and their conduct.

I have to respond by the deadline 9 May 2024. 

Questions

1. I do not want to pay the legal fees they are not justified. Centrick have been unresponsive to my requests, informally and formally. Are there strong grounds that i can not pay the legal fees here? 

2. Someone in my complex had appointed a solicitor and i believe once a letter was sent to JB Leitch requesting clarification on arrears, JB Leitch never responded (Just as they didnt respond to my mortgage lender). By which time the leaseholder had already paid the arrears. Could i approach Centrick directly and just pay off the arrears (are there any implications to this especially as they have representation) 

3. I was thinking of appointing a solicitor but the cost is not affordable, and therefore i am thinking of responding myself to them, any guidance of what i should include based on leasehold law and above information (I have done some research and understand that i can send a letter of response

4. In the LBA they state that there is an admission form enclosed in the documentation and asked me to complete it and send it to them. It was a form that they would send to my lender. So the day after i received my LBA i responded to them and asked them to send me the admission form that they mention in the letter so that i can complete it. 1st may they sent me an email with the attachment that was pre-populated with all the freeholders details and then they advised that i would have to foot an additional charge of £715 for this! Yet it was not included in their legal cost, it was not mentioned anywhere in the letter. This was underhanded and really snaky. 

I recently lost my little brother and Centrick are aware of my financial challenges and emotional state. I have showed intent to pay, i have simply asked for clarification on some of the arrears which i do not recognise but they have not responded to that on 2 occasions. So my emotional state wants to deal with this and be done with it. BUt my logical mind wants to take a stand. 

Thank you 

eddddy

Whenever possible, the advice is to pay whatever charges the freeholder/management company is asking for - but say that you are paying under protest.

That will stop further legal costs etc being added.

And you can then take your time to prepare a challenge to the fees, and apply to a tribunal to make the challenge (and maybe get some of the charges refunded).


But in your case, it sounds like you don't have the money to pay the charges, but potentially your mortgage lender might pay. So again, once they pay, no further charges can be added.


BUT... an "Admission Form" sounds like it's form saying "I admit that I owe all the money that the freeholder/management company are asking for".

If you sign a form like that:

• You won't be able to challenge the fees at tribunal

• It makes it easier for the freeholder to forfeit your lease (i.e. repossess your flat)

So ideally, you want to say to Santander...

• Please pay all the money that the freeholder/management company is asking for

• But I won't sign an "Admission Form"

• I and/or you will say it's being paid under protest
  

• I will later challenge it at tribunal

But I don't know if Santander would agree to pay on that basis.

Maia1111

@eddddy thank you this is really useful to know.. luckily i have not signed an admission form on that basis yet. However I am in discussions with Santander. I will keep this thread updated so that it will help others too.