Buying - Management Company: Unexpected deed of Cov Fee plus charge fee??

brutal_deluxe

Hi All!

I am in the late stages of buying and suddenly it transpires there is a management company involved, even though there was no mention in the original advert. As a result, it means I have been trapped into a deed of covenant and paying a deed of covenant fee and an extra charge fee amounting to £265.00

In my opinion the Estate Agents are liable under the Cosumer Rights Act (2015) for withholding information about a managed estate before I started the legal ball rolling and I could actually seek recovery for lack of prominence and/or transparency.

As a gesture of good will, should I ask my solicitor to forward this bill to the estate agents or the sellers?

Any advice welcome!

BD

El_Torro

A management company usually means that the property is leasehold. If it is leasehold did you know this from the beginning? If so one would normally expect a management company to be involved. Personally I'd be more concerned about the terms of the lease than what the deed of covenant fee is. 

I very much doubt that the estate agent is liable for your £265 deed of covenant fee. You can of course refuse to pay it and either get the estate agent / seller to pay or, if they refuse, pull out. Assuming you actually want this property it seems an odd hill to die on though.

SarahB16

El_Torro said:

A management company usually means that the property is leasehold. 

Not necessarily. The OP could be purchasing a freehold house where the local authority has not adopted the road and the OP needs to contribute towards its maintenance or the costs might just be for the maintenance of some green space (cutting of the grass).  

This does not need to be a reason to walk away from the sale if you like the home. OP find out what the residents need to pay for. 

daveyjp

Forget the advert. Information is always limited and legal issues are dealt with by solicitors.

If no management fees was an important factor when considering the property it is the first question to ask the agent.  If you did this and they provided evidence there were no such charges you may have a valid case for complaint.

mlz1413

You could have refused to pay it, these fees are optional. 

I bought a freehold house on a newish estate,  the estate owners had to provide a pack (so it would be hard not to know it had management fee and agent).

But the Covenant is, in my opinion,  a bit of a ploy.  It is to do with repairs to churches and levys being placed on homeowners for repairs.

I investigated my local church and found they were happily fund raising for repairs.  So clearly weren't asking any locals for money. 

The solicitor said they recommended but it wasn't part of the mortgage decision so was my choice.

eddddy

brutal_deluxe said:

Hi All!

I am in the late stages of buying and suddenly it transpires there is a management company involved, even though there was no mention in the original advert. As a result, it means I have been trapped into a deed of covenant and paying a deed of covenant fee and an extra charge fee amounting to £265.00

In my opinion the Estate Agents are liable under the Cosumer Rights Act (2015) for withholding information about a managed estate before I started the legal ball rolling and I could actually seek recovery for lack of prominence and/or transparency.

As a gesture of good will, should I ask my solicitor to forward this bill to the estate agents or the sellers?

Any advice welcome!

BD

Assuming you haven't exchanged contracts (or you hadn't already exchanged contracts when you found out about the extra costs), the legal argument would be that you have the opportunity to re-negotiate the price. So you haven't suffered a financial loss.

i.e. You can reduce your offer by £265 to compensate for the fees that you weren't told about.

But if you proceed with the original offer price now that you know about the £265 fee, you are essentially agreeing to pay that fee.

The Property Ombudsman and/or Trading Standards might give the estate agent a 'slap on the wrist' for not telling you at the outset, but that's probably all.


However, if the transaction falls apart as a result of you not being told about that £265 fee, you might have a case for claiming your losses (legal fees, survey fees etc) from the estate agent. But that's probably unlikely to happen.

poseidon1

brutal_deluxe said:

Hi All!

I am in the late stages of buying and suddenly it transpires there is a management company involved, even though there was no mention in the original advert. As a result, it means I have been trapped into a deed of covenant and paying a deed of covenant fee and an extra charge fee amounting to £265.00

In my opinion the Estate Agents are liable under the Cosumer Rights Act (2015) for withholding information about a managed estate before I started the legal ball rolling and I could actually seek recovery for lack of prominence and/or transparency.

As a gesture of good will, should I ask my solicitor to forward this bill to the estate agents or the sellers?

Any advice welcome!

BD

Wasn't that sudden, you knew of their exsistence last month, if not earlier -

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6647972/about-to-exchange-pending-estate-management-fees#latest

Why all the fuss at this stage for a relatively paltry amount?

TheJP

In no way is the EA liable for these fees legally or as a gesture of good will. This is why you employ a conveyancer to do due diligence on the sale before you exchange contracts. The EA market the property, they wont be privy to all the information especially at this level.

user1977

brutal_deluxe said:

As a gesture of good will, should I ask my solicitor to forward this bill to the estate agents or the sellers?

How much is your solicitor going to charge you for getting involved in your dispute?

TBG01

Estate Agents know next to nothing about the properties they're marketing as "quick straightforward" transactions.

Certain people tend to adore them though because Estate Agents tell them what they want to hear eventhough it tends to be factually, legally and practically incorrect.

robatwork

TBG01 said:

Estate Agents know next to nothing about the properties they're marketing as "quick straightforward" transactions.

Certain people tend to adore them though because Estate Agents tell them what they want to hear eventhough it tends to factually, legally and practically incorrect.

Corrected that a bit.

Apologies to the probably half dozen EAs in the country who do actually offer some expertise/add some value.