Estate management charges

hasanahmed50

Ні

I have a case of estate management charges pushed to a debt collector which is now chasing me.

Background:

The management company first sent me a letter in Jan24 introducing themselves and then billed for me a period before this i.e between Jul23 to Dec 23 along with Jan 24 to Jun24.

I disputed the former as that was a period before their appointment. However upon asking for proof of work, any work order, the management company simply stated that they were under no obligation to show evidence, gave me an unaudited set of accounts which didnt mean much. Chased me again in March then in July of this year and ultimately without any warning passed me on to a debt collector.

Original amount of invoice was £192.5, debt collector asking for £654.5 to clear this.

Can I ask esteemed members of this group what course of action to take?

Regards

Mark_d

You are required to pay charges for each 6 month period, in advance.  When the new management company were appointed, they found that you had not paid the amount due by July 2023.  Also you had not paid the amount due by January 2024.

Despite multiple requests for payment, you have so far failed to do so.  The management company are within their rights to instruct debt collection and add interest charges along with charges relating to the debt collection.

As far as I can see, you need to pay the full amount requested as soon as possible.  The longer you drag this out, the more interest and charges will be added to your debt and you could end up with a CCJ against you.

hasanahmed50

Hi Mark, the first introduction was in Jan of 2024, at that point, the amount between Jul 23 and Dec 23 was being claimed a backdated charge basically, and on asking for evidence of work, none was provided, basically I knew they never worked on the estate so I asked them to provide evidence and they couldnt.  

hasanahmed50

it’s a brand new property, I moved in Mar 2023, the first management company was therefore appointed in Jan 24 when the first letter came, no management company was previously appointed.

DullGreyGuy

hasanahmed50 said:

Hi Mark, the first introduction was in Jan of 2024, at that point, the amount between Jul 23 and Dec 23 was being claimed a backdated charge basically, and on asking for evidence of work, none was provided, basically I knew they never worked on the estate so I asked them to provide evidence and they couldnt.  

The introduction is fine but when were they actually appointed? A newly appointed company may have other things to do when first taking on the job than writing to all of the payers. 

hasanahmed50

In march 24 when they followed up for this, I asked to show an agreement between them and my developer which was also not provided, they simply stated that I check with my property lawyer about this, I assume in the absence of this, the first letter that was sent to me on Jan 24 would become the point where they were starting to act as management company.

Mark_d

The lease on the property should detail the rights and obligations of the freeholder, leaseholder and management company.  Details of these parties should be on the lease that you have, though the parties may have changed since that time.

The lease will show that the management charges are due, even if the role of the management company is being handled by the freeholder.

The management company do not need to do anything for you other than what is required under the lease.  You agreed to the lease when purchasing the property.  If you fail to comply with the terms of the lease then ultimately your lease can be terminated and you can be evicted.
The lease is the multi party agreement which you have asked for.  If you have not received a copy then you need to discuss this with your property lawyer

hasanahmed50

It’s a bit strange, the property lawyer never exchanged this with me, initial contract mentioned no management charges to be levied, this was with an estate agent called Manning Stanton acting on behalf of the developer, I have rang my property lawyer who now mentions that he will send me the contract and I have to manually search this myself. I will come back when he sends this.

eddddy

Is the property leasehold or freehold?


In general, if estate management fees were due for the period Jul 2023 to Dec 2023 - you probably now owe them to the current estate management company who has taken over.


If yet another estate management company takes over tomorrow, you will then owe the Jul 2023 to Dec 2023 fees to that new company, etc.


(But there is still the question of whether estate management fees are actually due for Jul 2023 to Dec 2023)

hasanahmed50

I think there was a delay in appointing one but I was under the impression that no management fees will be levied considering when I submitted my deposit of £500, there was nil management charges mentioned. Also, even though the management company could have been appointed pre Jan 24, they only contacted me in Jan 24 first time, and then couldn't produce a single evidence of any work performed arguing that they are not obligated to and also sent me unaudited accounts which didn't mean much, ultimately, I understand since they haven't performed anything, they will try and avoid this and sent this straight to the debt collector, it was much easier for them. 

Also, the neighbours are concerned with the lack of work performed by this company, I created a WhatsApp group and all had the same opinion that this management company is a total disgrace and haven't performed literally any work since the first people who moved in this new build area have also mentioned as they are now approaching 2nd year of dwelling here.

Southend_2

If this is a freehold property with an estate rentcharge, you need to be very careful about not paying. You could end up with a lease on your home which effectively makes it unsellable.