 | Home > Off Topic > land lords.....and getting ripped off |
 
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| Caterham Member Since: 06 Nov 2008 Location: Birmingham Posts: 6312   
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Blaahh !!!
after avoiding a court appearance by hours more than 2 1/2 years ago the management company are at it again. they've just slapped a £60 admin charge on me for not settling my account....!! cheeky bl88ders. their solicitors agreed they would remove all legal fees and let me retain £500 towards electricity and gave me a £500 credit as a result of poor management (lack of diligence) - still waiting for the account to be updated and they have the cheek to apply a £60 fine !! .....and the fun begins again ! 
above is reference to management costs which spiralled out of control so I started asking a few questions they didn't like and then applied for a county court judge which they backed down from at the 11th hour. the item of charging for sub letting seems to have died away (for the time being). anyone come across Peveral - looking on the web it would appear they are a bunch of thieves ! |
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24th Jul 2014 9:03am |
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| K9F Member Since: 12 Nov 2009 Location: Bournemouth Posts: 9610  
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Wayne,
Two years ago I offerred my advice from my own experiences about getting together and buying the leasehold and converting it to share of freehold. Did you do anything about it and if so what? If the grief is still ongoing sell the place buy another with freehold, manage it yourself and move on in more ways than one!  If you go through life with your head in the sand....all people will see is an ar5e!!
Treat every day as if it is your last....one day you will be right!! |
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24th Jul 2014 9:08am |
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| Caterham Member Since: 06 Nov 2008 Location: Birmingham Posts: 6312
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Mal,
yes I spent many many hours trying to track down all the 'owners' and trying to move it forward however I eventually exhausted myself. Although everyone was in agreement no one was interested in actually helping and then eventually I made some progress with my 'claim' and the property managers 'changed hands' and the costs suddenly dropped and everyone seems to be happy with leaving it as it was 
although its a lot of grief I do feel that at the moment the best option is to put up with it the best I can. I even tried getting a 3rd party company in do all the work but I got the impression they were too busy and didn't bother getting back to me most of the time. |
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24th Jul 2014 9:31am |
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| K9F Member Since: 12 Nov 2009 Location: Bournemouth Posts: 9610
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As long as the property is leasehold the Landlord and the management company if in collusion have the potential to have you over a barrel metaphorically speaking and there is nothing you can do. Believe you me with regards to repairs, redecoration etc. being actively encouraged to inflate the contract price and then deliver backhanders of 10% to just get the contact is commonplace. Yes I do know self employed hard-working friends that bid for contracts with such unscrupuolous people.
 If you go through life with your head in the sand....all people will see is an ar5e!!
Treat every day as if it is your last....one day you will be right!! |
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24th Jul 2014 10:17am |
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| jomara Member Since: 26 Oct 2009 Location: Lanarkshire Posts: 1790  
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Been on the pointy end of the demands for a brown envelope!! It's amazing how much of it goes on in this day & age!! 2014 110 2.2TDCi XS Station wagon
1971 Bowler Tomcat 88 4.2 V8 Auto 2022 110 D250 XS Edition - Gone 2024 110 D250 X-Dynamic HSE |
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24th Jul 2014 11:03am |
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| K9F Member Since: 12 Nov 2009 Location: Bournemouth Posts: 9610
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Not really as the owner has no influence or visibility in the bidding process with leasehold. All they see will be maybe the best three quotes presented to them by the management agency. Property Management must be one of the easiest ways to get rich quick unfortunately mostly at the expense of the owners themselves. I would never purchase a leasehold property personally. If you go through life with your head in the sand....all people will see is an ar5e!!
Treat every day as if it is your last....one day you will be right!! |
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24th Jul 2014 12:39pm |
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| MartinK Member Since: 02 Mar 2011 Location: Silverdale (Lancashire/Cumbria Border) Posts: 2665 
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Crikey - this is interesting.
I let-out several houses/flats, but all bar one of them are in Scotland...and I believe almost everything in Scotland is Freehold, so I am pleased to say this hasn't been an issue. One (my first, so ~25 years owned by me) flat is in England, and it is leasehold. However next time it's vacant, I'll be working out how to sell it and avoid/minimize my CGT exposure. A few years ago (the flat in England is in a block of 4) I tried to line-up the 4 owners and buy-out the leasehold, but it was like herding cats, and I gave up. Would the bodies like the Private Landlords Association, or even the Local Authority Landlord schemes be of any use I wonder? Keen to hear how you get on. Good luck Defender "Puma" 2.4 110 County Utility (possibly the last of the 2.4's) |
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24th Jul 2014 1:07pm |
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| Alicat Member Since: 25 Nov 2013 Location: Hertfordshire Posts: 136
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I have had a similar issue with one of my properties. Demands for copies of paperwork, notification charges for changing lease details etc. etc. I got a solicitor to look at the demands and he was useless, cheaper to pay them than pay my fees was the crux of his response.
In the end it was quite easy to go through the lease conditions and pick out what I was actually obliged to do and what they were making up. In fact my obligations were only to inform them I had leased the flat, they were not entitled to know any more than that, nor make any form of charge. Best advice is as above read what you have signed up to very carefully, satisfy yourself what your obligations are and be very formal in corresponce. E.g. When giving them notice state the relevant clause from the lease. When they asked for payment I just responded saying I had complied with clause xyz, which has no facility for them to make a charge and asked for confirmation under which clause they were imposing the charge. Soon went very quiet. I have to say the tone of their correspondence was at times intimidating, don't get flustered, keep referring to the lease you have signed. Tony |
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24th Jul 2014 1:17pm |
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| Alex1976 Member Since: 23 Jan 2013 Location: Buckingham Posts: 596
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There is loads of free advice and info on all matters Leasehold at www.lease-advice.org. It is a Government funded website and is very good.
If you are really stuck then you can always take your case to the First Tier Tribunal (special division of the court service that deals with leasehold property disputes). Any fees that a Landlord wishes to charge have to pass a test of reasonableness. Generally they have to be able to demonstrate that they are covering their costs by the fees they are charging for the work involved and not just making huge profits. There have been plenty of cases taken to the Tribunal service over fees and generally it is accepted that £40 for a sublet fee is deemed reasonable. PM me if you want some more advice. It is my area of professional expertise (my day job!) |
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24th Jul 2014 9:14pm |
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| Caterham Member Since: 06 Nov 2008 Location: Birmingham Posts: 6312
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Many thanks guys both for the info and encouragement.
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24th Jul 2014 9:49pm |
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