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Hi All,
Firstly, I wasn't sure if this was the correct place to post this thread - so apologies if it requires moving.
I'm looking for some advice on behalf of my neighbour. Like me, she owns (has a mortgage) on her flat and all the flats are leasehold and on a relatively new development. Under the terms of the leases, we all pay 'service charges' for the upkeep and maintenance of the development and these are billed twice a year (March and September). They roughly work out at about £1200(ish) per year, so March's bill was £615 - give or take a few pence.
The development is managed and service charges collected by a managing agent - in our case Consort Property Management.
My neighbours problem is this:
She received the bill from Consort for her service charges in the middle of February - with a payment due date of 1st March. At the time (and until recently) she was looking after her poorly mother and paying the bill slipped her mind. 21st of March she receives a reminder letter from Consort with the following:
Please pay the amount due within 14 days. if this payment is not received an administration fee of £50 plus VAT may be added to your account. this fee covers the extra expense that we have incurred reviewing, managing and collecting the overdue sum. Interest may also be charged to your account if the demand is not paid within 14 days of falling due, in accordance with the terms of your lease.
In short - she didn't respond to the reminder and on the 6th May she received a letter from a company called Property Debt Collection Ltd (PDC). This letter says:
"We have been instructed to act on behalf of the above Managing Agent (Consort) in connection with the collection of the arrears of Service Charges. Despite formal request from your Managing Agent, your Service Charge remains in arrears. Your Managing Agent arranges to carry out estate management tasks at the residential development for the benefit of all residents and receives the costs of those tasks from all residents through the service charge. Unless the sum of £830.95 which includes our costs of £150 including VAT, is paid within seven days of the date of this letter, we shall have no alternative but to advise your mortgage lender of the arrears. Under the terms of your lease, this sum is due in full, if you have any doubts regarding this you should consult your solicitor immediately. As this account has now been passed to Property Debt Collection Ltd, all communications must be with Property Debt Collection Ltd and not Consort Property Management.
As soon as she received this letter she thought "stuff you, I'm not paying your exorbitant fees" and contacted Consort to try to make payment of the Service Charge. Consort will now not talk to her or accept payment because the account is with PDC. Every time she talks to PDC, they say they will only take full payment or will take their fees first out of any part payment and an outstanding balance will show on her Service Charge.....
Now we've compared leases - and hers is identical to mine. The part that refers to payment of service charges reads as follows:
Covenants by the Lessee (Covenants enforceable by the Lessor and the Management Company).
1. To pay the Lessor or its authorised agent the Lessee's proportion of the maintenance expenses hereinbefore reserved on the days and in the manner herein provided.
2. To pay the Lessor or its authorised agent the Lessee's proportion at the times and in the manner herein provided.
3. To pay interest at the rate of 4 per cuntum above Nat West Bank plc Base Rate, from time to time on all sums payable by way of rent or service charge which shall be in arrears from the date due until the date of actual payment.
Apologies for the long and convoluted post.... - but my question is this: surely in the event of non payment, the Managing Agent should defer to the freeholder for them to then make a decision about what to do about the fact that she is in breach of the lease. There's nothing in the lease itself that allows the Managing Agent to pass it to a debt collector - so are they acting outside of their authority in doing so?
I await the tsunami of knowledge
Lakeside1
Firstly, I wasn't sure if this was the correct place to post this thread - so apologies if it requires moving.
I'm looking for some advice on behalf of my neighbour. Like me, she owns (has a mortgage) on her flat and all the flats are leasehold and on a relatively new development. Under the terms of the leases, we all pay 'service charges' for the upkeep and maintenance of the development and these are billed twice a year (March and September). They roughly work out at about £1200(ish) per year, so March's bill was £615 - give or take a few pence.
The development is managed and service charges collected by a managing agent - in our case Consort Property Management.
My neighbours problem is this:
She received the bill from Consort for her service charges in the middle of February - with a payment due date of 1st March. At the time (and until recently) she was looking after her poorly mother and paying the bill slipped her mind. 21st of March she receives a reminder letter from Consort with the following:
Please pay the amount due within 14 days. if this payment is not received an administration fee of £50 plus VAT may be added to your account. this fee covers the extra expense that we have incurred reviewing, managing and collecting the overdue sum. Interest may also be charged to your account if the demand is not paid within 14 days of falling due, in accordance with the terms of your lease.
In short - she didn't respond to the reminder and on the 6th May she received a letter from a company called Property Debt Collection Ltd (PDC). This letter says:
"We have been instructed to act on behalf of the above Managing Agent (Consort) in connection with the collection of the arrears of Service Charges. Despite formal request from your Managing Agent, your Service Charge remains in arrears. Your Managing Agent arranges to carry out estate management tasks at the residential development for the benefit of all residents and receives the costs of those tasks from all residents through the service charge. Unless the sum of £830.95 which includes our costs of £150 including VAT, is paid within seven days of the date of this letter, we shall have no alternative but to advise your mortgage lender of the arrears. Under the terms of your lease, this sum is due in full, if you have any doubts regarding this you should consult your solicitor immediately. As this account has now been passed to Property Debt Collection Ltd, all communications must be with Property Debt Collection Ltd and not Consort Property Management.
As soon as she received this letter she thought "stuff you, I'm not paying your exorbitant fees" and contacted Consort to try to make payment of the Service Charge. Consort will now not talk to her or accept payment because the account is with PDC. Every time she talks to PDC, they say they will only take full payment or will take their fees first out of any part payment and an outstanding balance will show on her Service Charge.....
Now we've compared leases - and hers is identical to mine. The part that refers to payment of service charges reads as follows:
Covenants by the Lessee (Covenants enforceable by the Lessor and the Management Company).
1. To pay the Lessor or its authorised agent the Lessee's proportion of the maintenance expenses hereinbefore reserved on the days and in the manner herein provided.
2. To pay the Lessor or its authorised agent the Lessee's proportion at the times and in the manner herein provided.
3. To pay interest at the rate of 4 per cuntum above Nat West Bank plc Base Rate, from time to time on all sums payable by way of rent or service charge which shall be in arrears from the date due until the date of actual payment.
Apologies for the long and convoluted post.... - but my question is this: surely in the event of non payment, the Managing Agent should defer to the freeholder for them to then make a decision about what to do about the fact that she is in breach of the lease. There's nothing in the lease itself that allows the Managing Agent to pass it to a debt collector - so are they acting outside of their authority in doing so?
I await the tsunami of knowledge
Lakeside1
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