When the Managing Agent Controls Everything and Everything Goes Wrong

eddddy

Taking a step back - has a 'reliable' solicitor advised you that you have reasonable prospect of winning this case?

Or is the solicitor simply progressing it because you've instructed them to, and they're happy to do so for as long as you pay them.

(FWIW, a solicitor once said to me "I'm happy to make a claim for £10k against a Management Company for distress and inconvenience, if the leaseholder wants me to. But if it goes to court, the leaseholder would lose" )

spectrumthinker

If you take a step back, the case really has two parts: the leasehold dispute itself, and the personal injury consequences that I say flowed from how it was handled. It’s not simply a “distress and inconvenience” claim.

One thing I ran into early on is that very few solicitors deal with both areas together. I was able to get leasehold advice and was told there were reasonable prospects on the underlying enforcement and loss of amenity issues alone, exceeding £10,000. But I was also told personal injury was outside their area.

So, I ended up having to get separate advice on the leasehold side and the personal injury side, then try to understand how the two fit together myself. That’s just how fragmented the system is.

I don’t have a solicitor now. I retained the one to perform the pre-action phase, and, considering how psychologically vulnerable I was at the time, he handled things professionally and with care. But litigation like this becomes extremely expensive, and eventually I simply couldn’t afford to keep him.

As mentioned in the story, one important thing that came out of the pre-action letters was the agent confidently telling my solicitor, on behalf of the management company, that the flats had originally been sold by the landlord with carpets already fitted. I already had evidence suggesting that couldn't be true.

Later, the landlord’s own position contradicted the agent’s account and said the flats were sold with the expectation that leaseholders would install their own carpets or covering.

That mattered because, to me at least, it moved things beyond simple incompetence and into whether statements were being made to me and my neighbours without properly checking the facts, or without caring whether they were true.

I appreciate that personal injury arising from this sort of factual matrix is unusual territory. I can’t guarantee success, and nobody sensible could. But if a medically recognised injury was caused or materially worsened by reliance on false or reckless representations made during the handling of the dispute, then I think it’s at least arguable.

Ultimately the court will decide whether that causal chain is made out.

RelievedSheff

I personally think you will come out of this case very disappointed, very much out of pocket and in a worse mental health condition than when you started the process.

This level of obsessiveness over a situation that you are no longer in just isn't healthy.

Could you not find a more relaxing hobby to fill your time?

spectrumthinker

I understand why it might look obsessive from the outside, especially given how long civil litigation takes in this country. Honestly, I would much rather still have my old job, health and normal life than spend my time dealing with opposing lawyers. Even after all these years, ordinary things like hobbies or chores still carry an overwhelming angst.

I also think people find it hard to comprehend how much conditions like complex PTSD can continue affecting someone long after the original events ended.

This is actually the first time since 2022 that I’ve engaged on an internet forum with people I don’t know. I’m proud of myself for reaching this milestone, because facing fears is part of exposure therapy. On that note, thank you everyone.

pinkshoes

So in short...

The flat above you which was lived in by tenants had the wrong flooring which was noisy so you have now racked up £20,000 legal fees and £10,000 court fee and costs are still mounting.

All because of some noisy flooring?

Why on Earth didn't you just move?!?!?!?

As this is a money saving website then surely it would be best just to drop this entire thing and instead spend money on some counselling and therapy to help you deal with life's stresses more easily?

spectrumthinker

Right at the start, when I complained to management, it was recorded in the official meeting minutes, so from my perspective, if I had simply sold the flat while pretending everything was fine, and the new owners later discovered the issue and the meeting minutes, I could potentially have been accused of misrepresenting the sale. It also crossed my mind that perhaps the previous owners never disclosed anything to me either, and the cycle just keeps repeating.

More importantly, this should never have become such a huge issue if the lease enforcement system for which I was paying a service charge had actually worked as intended. That’s the part that changed everything for me.

By the time the mediation happened, after years of noise and stress, the anxiety had become severe and the whole thing had started affecting me physically as well. I absolutely did want to move by that point, but the agent proposed mediation and I genuinely thought it would amicably resolve the breach if I throw a few quid at it so I could either stay or sell without feeling dishonest.

Instead, the mediation itself ended up being too much drama and a major shock to the system at completely the wrong time psychologically. The later discovery, two years onwards, that the entire thing may have been based on a false assumption the management had about flooring is a large part of why the case ended up in court.

I’ve already spent thousands on treatment, psychiatrists, medication, ADHD stabilisation, years of trauma-informed therapy and pain management because the trauma manifested physically as well. On top of that came the costs of moving: stamp duty, mortgage fees, conveyancing, removals, and everything else involved in uprooting one’s life.

What makes it frustrating in hindsight is that all the block management had to do was tell the upstairs flat they had a mandatory obligation to cover the floor and not use the shell flooring directly. Instead, they said to keep whatever is there, I later found out I wasn’t even the first person to move out because of flooring noise.

And yes, with hindsight I should have moved sooner. But I also don’t think it’s unreasonable to first try and exhaust the system that was supposedly there to deal with exactly these kinds of disputes.

And that’s my bone to pick with the block management. In my view, they can’t just go around telling porkies, act dismissive, apply institutional pressure during a dispute they were the self-appointed mediator of, and then act surprised when it has disproportionate psychological effects on vulnerable individuals. Authority exercised in a hostile or coercive way can and does affect people with neurodivergence far more severely, even when they do not yet realise they are neurodivergent themselves.

Chief_of_Staffy

My comment will likely be 'removed' but it's clear the issue is not with your neighbours, it's with you. You have a mental health condition that could well have been exacerbated by the noise, but clearly was not caused by it, and whilst I sympathise and don't attribute any blame, I don't see any good will come of people playing along with what is essentially a delusion.

Tabieth

Let it go.

pinkshoes

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81997638#Comment_81997638

You are only making your MH worse by pursuing this.

I would suggest just dropping the entire thing, seek therapy and move on with your life.

BungalowBel

I can only agree with what others have said. Don't give this situation any more head space, it is spoiling your life. Let it go, get some counselling, move if you haven't already (other owners may not find the noise excessive), and get on with your life.

Some noise is expected from flats, and it affects some people more than others. You would be better not having a flat, if possible.

NB: I am 76 years old. You are probably not as old as me and haven't realised yet just how short life is. Don't waste it with something that is largely out of your hands, and relates to a situation that you are no longer in. Just think, if you knew today was your last day, would you spend it dealing with this? No? Well, live every day as if it were your last, on things that feed your spirit, not deplete it.