Thanks for that.

There is a tenant in the flat but it is managed by a letting agent and they do not forward any post to us. In fact neither me nor my brother have visited the flat in years. Although I live in London no notification of court proceedings were sent to my address or demand for ground rent. The first correspondence I had was from the solicitors last Thursday who must have carried out a search for my address. The court case was 30 April and I received my first letter from them on the 11 June. My solicitor has said we wait till tomorrow for Jb leitch to reply and failing that send them a letter requiring information by Friday

Thanks for replies. My brother sent today to the solicitors JB Leitch further evidence of correspondence between him at his Irish address and Freehold Managers Plc dating from 26 October 2011.It is a ground rent demand for £159 and covers the period from 25 Dec 2011 to 24 Dec 2012. It also states there was no balance brought forward. He also forwarded a copy of a bank statement that proves a card payment for the amount was made to Freehold mangers on 8 Nov 2011. After that date he had no further correspondence to his Irish address by Freehold Managers PLC. There were no further ground rent demands under section 166. I notice on the court order the claimant is Fit Nominee limited. My brother has never had any correspondence with them only with Freehold Managers PLC. Perhaps the management of the ground rent was transferred to them but evidently not my brother's Irish address. Oliver McNamara legal assistant with Jb leitch today acknowledged receipt of the further emails and have said they need to obtain instruction from their client and will revert accordingly. I have taken advice that we need to apply for a set aside and have read up on the process. Any assistance would be appreciated. Should we wait until we hear from the solicitors. Is it likely that Freehold Managers or FIT Nominee will own up to the mistake and deal with the court order and costs from their side. Should I write back to the solicitors and set a time limit for them to advise me of their clients position and how much time should I give them or is it best to proceed with the N244 form. Thanks a lot

The possession order has been granted. I have a copy of the order. My brother has sent copies of letters between him and Freehold Managers Plc which clearly show a demand for ground rent of £150 in December 2008 and prove that he informed them of his move to Ireland and his request that correspondence be sent to his new address in Ireland and not to the old address in London. These have been forwarded to the solicitor Jb leitch who told him that enforcement of the possession order has been put on hold while they contact their client and revert back to my brother. They should be able to see that they failed to send the demand for ground rent to the instructed address and were wrong to begin legal proceedings .How is it they were able to find my address after the order had been granted and not before to enable us to defend ourselves. Should I contact the court and provide them with the relevant copies of the correspondence or is it too late for that. How else should I proceed. Is there any hope Jb leitch will acknowledge that correspondence was not sent to the correct address and absorb the court fees themselves. How do I ensure that the possession order has been overturned.

Thanks for replying The possession order has already been granted by Romford County Court at the end of April . Hence the court costs of £2600. I never received any invoice for ground rent and indeed am perplexed how they got my address. As stated the only correspondence they have ever had has been with my brother and they have corresponded with him at his Irish address . They sent nothng to my brother concerning the flat despite having his address. We are quite prepared to pay the amount owing for ground rent but the court fees and administration costs are unacceptable

My brother and I jointly own a leasehold flat in Essex. We bought it in 1997 and have been renting it out to tenants ever since. Over the years my brother has tended to deal with all the finances and expenses involved in its management. When my brother moved back to ireland in 2008, he contacted an organization called Freehold Managers plc to inform them of his new address in Ireland. They subsequently wrote to him in Ireland. They used to send previous correspondence to his previous address in London. After moving to Ireland my brother received by post an invoice dated 1December 2008 for an annual ground rent bill for £150 -as in previous years he sent them a cheque for £150. To my complete shock this Thursday I received a letter from a firm of solicitors at my home here in London outlining that a possession order had been granted on 20 April in Romford county court. The letter goes on to explain that their client is considering instructing them to enforce the possession order and is seeking costs of £3600 ( this figure includes the court costs). This was the first letter I had ever received regarding this matter. They had not written to me previously before any court action. It now appears that Freehold Managers PLC appointed a firm of solicitors JB Leitch at some stage to deal with outstanding ground rent charges on the flat. My brother was not aware of any outstanding fees due and certainly did not receive any annual invoices in Ireland demanding payment for them. We cannot understand how this has occurred as clearly Freehold Managers had my brother's address in Ireland. They simply never sent any invoices for the ground rent. If they had my brother would have paid the amounts due as he had been doing since 1997. We both knew nothing whatsoever about any court proceedings. We are both terribly worried about the whole situation. My brother has spoken to a Mr McNamara at the solicitors JB Leitch who are acting for Freehold Managers PLC . It seems the ground rent has not been paid for the last three years. and amounts to £450 . My brother has forwarded copies of the correspondence he had with Freehold Managers in 2008 and 2009 at his address in Ireland which clearly shows they had his address in Ireland. Mr McNamara said he will seek their comments and revert back. We are fully prepared to pay the ground rent owing of £450 but do not see why we should pay administration charges of £426 and court fees of £2599. We would both be grateful for any advise members might be able to offer. Many thanks