Maintenance charges - who’s liable ?

Eroll27

hello 

sold my property in September 2024. All went through nicely and paid the final maintenance charge for our matinee company Firstport ( who were awful ) the final bill. 

My solicitor for the house sale has since sent me a request from the buyer of an ‘adjustment of service maintenance charges from 2022’ he has received for £95.  

 It’s 3 years later and this bill was settled when I left. Who’s liable to pay this ? The law is unclear on these charges 

thank you 

Eroll27

Just to be clear this is an adjustment of charges bill. The yearly maintenance costs I paid were around £600 I believe . 

user1977

What did the contract for your sale say about it? Who has told you "the law is unclear"? Your solicitor?

silvercar

The buyers solicitor should have obtained some retained funds for outstanding accounts, or at least an agreement that these charges would be passed on, without either I think you could legitimately refuse to pay.

Eroll27

Sorry from my own research the law seems unclear on these charges from maintenance company’s 

Olinda99

if you owned the flat in 2022 then you are responsible to.pay the £95 adjustment

Eroll27

It’s not a debt though our account was settled on exchange  - concerned to take liability due to this could result in me taking liability for other charges firstport pluck out of thin air 

user1977

You have the same ability to dispute charges as you did when you still owned the property.

The standard conditions of sale appear to make them your liability, so unless you had agreed something different I think you're liable.

Turn it around - if you were buying, would you expect to be paying for costs incurred two years before you owned the property?

eddddy

Eroll27 said:

hello 

sold my property in September 2024. All went through nicely and paid the final maintenance charge for our matinee company Firstport ( who were awful ) the final bill. 

My solicitor for the house sale has since sent me a request from the buyer of an ‘adjustment of service maintenance charges from 2022’ he has received for £95.  

 It’s 3 years later and this bill was settled when I left. Who’s liable to pay this ? The law is unclear on these charges 

thank you 

The law is actually pretty clear.

• Assuming the service charge adjustment bill was issued after September 2024 - then the new owner is liable to pay Firstport.

• But it's very likely that you contractually agreed to reimburse the new owner for any service charge adjustment they have to pay to Firstport, if it relates to pre- September 2024.

• Often, solicitors will arrange a retention in case this happens - i.e. they will withhold £250 or £500 of your money, and use it to reimburse the buyer - and then give you back anything that's left over

So assuming the dates, amounts, etc are correct - you probably owe the new owner £95.

Olinda99

Eroll27 said:

It’s not a debt though our account was settled on exchange  - concerned to take liability due to this could result in me taking liability for other charges firstport pluck out of thin air 

yes you are absolutely correct. You would be liable for any additional charges plucked out of thin air or otherwise.

What often happens is that the buyer of your flat retains some of the proceeds to pay these extra charges so eg if your flat sold for 200k you would only get 199500 with the extra 500 being retained for a year or more against any extra charges that popup for the period of your ownership

Kim_13

If the buyer does not produce a copy of the invoice showing that the adjustment relates to a date when you owned the property, then you should not pay.

If they do, then it would come down to whether the management company can legitimately bill someone after this period of time. Utility suppliers cannot back bill more than 12 months for example, if they and not the customer were the cause of the incorrect billing (e.g. no access to meters or incorrect readings provided by the customer.) You could try making such an argument to the management company to get them to refund the buyer.

In practice though, you can sue someone for up to 6 years, so if the buyer has paid the adjustment, it may be that they have 6 years to sue you for the reimbursement and any costs involved. The court will determine who is liable, but if that is you, it will cost you a lot more than £95. 

I would maybe look into whether the management company should have billed you, rather than the buyer. Had they billed you, then you might have paid on agreement that they cannot chase you for any further adjustments. As the management company have already been paid, you can’t even attempt striking such a deal. 

Would it be reasonable to argue that the buyer should have passed on OPs details as the owner during the period in question, rather than paying it? It feels a bit like a lease company paying a parking charge notice without asking the hirer whether they wish to take responsibility for challenging it. It is only reasonable in my view for the buyer to pay it and seek reimbursement if the management company could have repossessed the property for non-payment of service charges arising prior to their ownership - in which case the buyer would have been at risk of losing their home if they did not pay something that either isn’t legitimately owed or is owed by you. I don’t know whether the management company have such power.