Managing Agent Problems

MAC76

Hi all... Can anyone give advice on this: ( Sorry for the long post)

Basically 4 years ago our managing agent for our flats were taken over by a supposed " Residents Right To Manage " Company.

Now i for one... own and live here but declined the offer to be on the board because i am quite simply too busy with my own company. Many other residents also declined, Hence the company now seems to be run by two non resident owners.

Since taking over the management... the costs may have indeed fallen but so has the quantity and quality of the work... we are also paying for things to be done that quite clearly do not need to be done, and of course paying for things to be done that are not.

The aim of them taking over was to improve the service and if possible bring down costs.

So far we have had:

Very shabby poor workmanship on a number of occasions leading to various things being changed for inferior quality items that will not last anywhere near as long.

Cleaners not turning up for weeks on end and when they do turn up they somehow manage to clean the comunial area in 5 minutes flat... basically leaving it as it was.

Various items that are details in the lease are never carried out i.e sweping of the pathways and carpark.

Many things that do get done i.e changing of a simple lightbulb is now taking months instead of days.

And basically the list goes on and on.

Now i am wondering what rights i have in regard to claiming back money that i have paid for jobs that have clearly not been done.... I fail to see why we should pay for things that just plain and simply are not being done... or if they are they are to such a standard its quite unbelievable.

Also i have asked the managing company to supply me with a FULL copy of accounts on a number of occasions so that i can get my accountant to look through them... its just for a non profit small organisation we seem to be spending alot of money on "administration".
I have been given a summary of accounts... basically the same as i would file with companies house... the abreviated ones.. which tell me nothing at all.. am i entitled to see a full set?

Any advice here would me much appreciated as I and at least 70% of the residents here are sick of banging our heads against the wall. We have all tried to speak to the managing company and we all get the same responce .... we work for free... we do our best... we are happy with what we are doing.... trouble is the residents are NOT happy!

Apparently if we want to make a difference and have a say we have to become a board member.... surely thats not right??

Any advice?

clutton_2

""Any advice here would me much appreciated as I and at least 70% of the residents here are sick of banging our heads against the wall.""

""if we want to make a difference and have a say we have to become a board member..."

none of you wanted to be involved at the beginning - forgive me for saying this - but if you want change - then why not get a new committee/managing company together and do it yourselves ..... you will then have control.

MAC76

Thanks for your comments.... the trouble is most of use work for a living... you hardly ever see anyone here are we all seem to be working.

The people who took this over knew exactly what support they would have before starting this up, and went ahead anyway.

Surely we should all have a say? Surely we should not be paying for things that are clearly not being done?

I would not think you would have to become a board member and have a hand in the day to day running to have a say... after all this is supposed to be run for the benefit of the residents.

Getting together a new commitee etc and taking over the board is just not a possibility due to our time constraints.

We just simply want what we are paying for... nothing more and nothing less.

Any ideas on wether i am intitled to a full set of accounts?

clutton_2

what is the structure of this management company ? are all the flat-owners shareholders ?

MAC76

This is the thing... i have no idea and i am an owner??? We only get told the absolute minimum of information at all times.

I have, from memory, ever signed anything to say i am a share holder.

Does this make a difference?

Benefits_Blagger

Hmm i've seen something like this happen before, it's possible that the managing company is sub contracting the work to "friends & family" for inflated charges and non existant work.

im not saying this definitly happening but i had something similiar a few years ago, basically our cleaners which were meant to come once a week would come once a month if lucky and like you would manage to do the work in 5 mins. even less on once occasion when i heard them say "fcuk it, it doesnt look that bad!" plus we had other simliar problems to you.

after a bit of digging about, it turned out the cleaners wernt employed by the managing company but subcontracted from her husband, all other worked would turn out to be "subcontracted" from either the managers relatives or friends.

MAC76

Ok i have found out that the managing company is guaranteed by member.... so basically we are all members of the ltd company but there is no allocated share capital.
Does this help?

martinman3

MAC76 wrote: »

Ok i have found out that the managing company is guaranteed by member.... so basically we are all members of the ltd company but there is no allocated share capital.
Does this help?

How do you know this ? Did you check with the Companies House website and download the annual return ? Limited by guarantee just means that there are no certificates to deal with.

If you really are a member then you can contact the Company Secretary and demand a Extraordinary General Meeting, sending the Secretary your Special Resolutions (which probably need to be seconded by another member) to appoint new directors and, if you wish, remove existing ones. All members would vote at the meeting and if a majority agree to a resolution it is passed.

This would only work if you can find two other people to run the company as you indicate that you cannot. Note, it is very likely that the two existing directors have other jobs too you know.

MAC76

I got the information re the company from Companies House Web Check that states its guaranteed by members.
Yes the other two directors do have jobs... one of them just happens to work for a company that has now been handed over the job of arranging the maintenance.
Its a very odd situation... we were taken over by ourselves??? but we have no say and two directors seem to run the show.
One director and /or secretary works for a local letting agents who have now been put in charge of the running of the maintenance contract... for some reason.
The residents and I have no problem with this company or the two directors running the show but we want the job done properly.
Whenever we question anything, we just get the same self back slapping answer stating they are doing great and no one is complaining.

It seems odd that they will not give me a full copy of the accounts... all i want to see is the amount of money we are spending on "Admin" and how much we are paying for this sub standard work thats being done.

I have also asked for copys of reciepts and quotes for work that again have not been handed over.

One last thing... the same person does ALL of the work... surely he cannot be competetive with everything??