Nice one PT - it does rather look as though the OP should have been notified, doesn't it! There are probably other issues too involved here in that maybe the OP has had business premises there for a number of years and is established there. The last thing they want is to fall out with their landlord, BUT they are entitled to be treated lawfully. What I'm trying to say is, if what you have quoted is correct it may be a case of a gentle word in the ear rather than all guns blazing in the interest of future relations.

Hi Guys, thanks for all your comments very grateful,,, tingy it is a private action by Rees Richards, can you advise the format of an account in dispute letter or point me in the right direction please? thanks

Liz

Read this carefully as I have just amended it as best I could from memory to suit your circumstances. Hope it will do its job!

WITHOUT PREJUDICE

ACCOUNT IN DISPUTE

Date:

Ref:

Dear Sir/Madam

Thank you for your letter of xx/xx/xx, the contents of which have been noted.

I was dismayed to find the account has been passed to Andrew James Enforcement for collection. Indeed as soon as I discovered this had happened, I made full payment of £171.00 to Andrew James Enforcement Ltd. Bearing in mind this payment, please could you advise me within 7 calendar days of the amount you claim still to be outstanding on this account.

I have now received a demand for a further £146.00 from Andrew James and they are refusing, despite my request, to provide me with a breakdown of these extra charges. Clearly this is grounds for dispute, and so I wish you to take this letter as formal notice that I am now placing the account formally into dispute until the issue over charges is resolved to our mutual satisfaction.

You will also be aware of the CPUTR 2008 and the OFT's guidelines on debt collection which state under the title Deceptive and/or unfair methods - Examples of unfair practices are as follows - 2.8

(i) - 'Failing to investigate and/or provide details as appropriate, when a debt is queried or disputed, possibly resulting in debtors being wrongly pursued'

(k) - 'Not ceasing collection activity whilst investigating a reasonable queried or disputed debt'

Consequentially any legal action you pursue will be averred as both UNLAWFUL and VEXATIOUS.

Furthermore I shall counterclaim that any such action constitutes unlawful harassment.

Please note you may also consider this letter as a statutory notice under section 10 of the Data Protection Act to cease processing any data in relation to this account with immediate effect.

This means you must remove all information regarding this account from your own internal records and from my records with any credit reference agencies.

Should you refuse to comply, you must within 21 days provide me with a detailed breakdown of your reasoning behind continuing to process my data.

It is not sufficient to simply state that you have a ‘legal right’; You must outline your reasoning in this matter and state upon which legislation this reasoning depends.

Should you not respond within 21 days I expect that this means you agree to remove all such data.

Furthermore you should be aware that a creditor is not permitted to take ANY action against an account whilst it remains in dispute, so with the exception of asking them to provide me with a detailed breakdown of any and all transactions with them on the aforementioned account, including a detailed breakdown of their personal charges and of any monies passed on to yourselves, please instruct Andrew James to cease collection activities until we have resolved this issue.

Please note:

* You may not demand any payment on the account, nor am I obliged to offer any payment to you.

* You may not add further interest or any charges to the account.

* You may not pass the account to a third party.

* You may not register any information in respect of the account with any credit reference agency.

* You may not issue a default notice related to the account.

I reserve the right to report your actions to any such regulatory authorities as I see fit.

You have 21 days from receiving this letter to contact me with your intentions to resolve this matter which is now a formal complaint.

I note also your comments made on dd/mm/yyyy that you, as landlord, were not legally bound to give me notice of my liability for the ground rent. I would be interested on your comments on the following:

Ground rent is a payment made by the leaseholder to the landlord as a condition of the lease. The payment of ground rent (as with any rent) is specified by the lease and should be paid on the due date. Although it is the leaseholder's responsibility to pay the rent, this must be subject to prior notification from the landlord who must use a form of notice prescribed by Regulations. The rent cannot be legally recovered by the landlord unless he has first asked for it.

Notice for payment of ground rent

The leaseholder is not liable to pay the ground rent unless the landlord has demanded it. The demand must be in the prescribed form and must specify:

• the amount of the rent due;
  
• the date on which the leaseholder is liable to pay it, or if the demand is sent after the due date, the date on which it would have been payable under the terms of the lease.
  

The date specified for payment must not be less than 30 days or more than 60 days after date of service of the Notice, or before it is meant to be paid in accordance with the lease. It may be sent by post to the address of the house or flat to which it relates, unless the leaseholder has previously notified the landlord of an alternative address.

The Notice of Demand must also include:

• the name of the leaseholder to whom the notice is given;
  
• the period for which the rent demanded relates;
  
• the name and address of the person or company to whom the payment is to be made;
  
• the name and address of the landlord (or agent if applicable) by whom the notice is given;
  
• certain supporting information, provided as notes to the Notice.
  

The landlord cannot begin any legal steps for recovery of the rent, including action for forfeiture and possession, unless he has previously served the demand in the correct format, given the correct period of notice, and the leaseholder has failed to respond."

I would appreciate your due diligence in this matter, and hope that it can be resolved amicably. As mentioned above I have already paid a substantial sum of money to Andrew James Enforcement Ltd as a sign of goodwill. However, in the circumstances outlined above, I believe that my placing the account in dispute pending a mutually agreeable resolution is more than reasonable.

I look forward to hearing from you in writing.

Yours faithfully

Hi Tingy

thanks for the sample letter, which I will probably have to use. I have today rang RR but the person who is in charge was not there and the girl I spoke to did not want to discuss it with me, they have offered to ring me tomorrow so we shall see what happens now. I have had no reply from AJ Surprise!

thanks again, will get back to you tomorrow

PS just a thought the fact they say my payment arrived late... I assume because of snow, does it make any difference?

Liz

Have you seen this site, wont let me post a link as i am a newbie but seems lots of people are in the same situations as you & warning other people

rate or hate your landlord

Hi Tingy and Ploddertom

thanks for all your help on thei matter ,I thought I would ring RR first as I am not one to go out sending letters without first talking, the result a very nice manager at RR who listened to my story and point of view. He agreed to try and mediate for me with AJ but with no results! but has this morning offered to meet me half way and pay half the amount which I have accepted.

AJ did tell him what the charges were for and I think I would like to say on this site that Rees Richards have been very considerate to me and my problem had not really been with them but with Andrew James, reading between the lines he agreed that 146 for a visit which cannot be proved is not reasonable, hence the offer.

Also RR was interested to hear of Andrew James history and did say he would be interested in looking into their background, they use them because the council does and that means that they have been vetted. which may be true but the people who recommend them have no idea of their methods and the distress they cause people. Hopefully RR will consider using someone else in the future.

Andrew James did not reply to my recorded delivery of a request for breakdown of charges so I can only presume that they thought they had no need as RR rang them!!! not very proffesional on their behalf.

again thanks to all who put themselves out for me on here and to Rees Richards for sorting the problem.