Thanks ericsbrother. No they sent them to an old address. I sent them a letter that had previously been sent to Trust property management with my new contact details on. I have a court hearing for the set aside soon and hopefully they will see that I have tried to resolve matters quickly (within days) and have provided enough evidence. Trust after several weeks of asking haven’t provided me with any backing information, I have never received any paperwork just the CCJ. I have done some research into Trust property management directors and the freeholder cyril freedman directors. They have directors current and ex that Are now or have previously been directors of both companies ..... Obviously a well rehearsed routine by them all.

Hi Ericsbrother, There is a clause in the agreement and I have seen it a fair few times on other threads: “32. To pay all costs charges and expenses (including legal costs and charges payable to a surveyor) which may be incurred by the freeholder in or in contemplation of any application to the freeholder for any consent pursuant to the covenants herein contained and of any steps or proceedings or the service of any notice under section 146 or 147 of the property law act 1925 including the reasonable costs charges and expenses aforesaid of and incidental to the inspection of the demised premises the drawing up of schedules of dilapidation and notices and any inspection to certain whether any notice has been complied with and such costs charges and expenses shall be paid whether or not any right of re-entry of forfeiture has been waived by the Freeholder or avoided otherwise than by relief granted by the court” And 24.2 To pay the charges and expenses (including any Value added tax) reasonably made and incurred by any agents employed by the freeholder in collecting the reserved rents in respect of the property and in accounting to the freeholder for them payment to be made at the time of each payment of rent or on a subsequent demand. Looking through the solicitors charges he refers to contemplating forfeiture on multiple occasions and each time seems to add around £400 each time. I have made a complaint to the SRA in respect of the heavy handed approach and also to the Managing Agent asking for more information from their end. I have lodged a complaint with their MD who is on holiday. Thanks

So after writing a complaint to the management company (Trust Property Management) they write back Dear Mr X, I am the Managing Director’s assistant and have been passed your email below and letter attached in his absence. He is away until the 27th August and I shall bring your letter to his attention upon his return. Meanwhile I attach our Complaints Handling Procedure (“CHP”) that explains how he will deal with your concerns. Due to his annual leave the dates will slip a little. In order that he has the full papers before him on his return, could I ask that let me have a copy of the letter you mention in your letter, i.e. that which advised us of your change of address in February 2016 as well as details of the monies paid in 2016 which you do not think have been reconciled on our system. Finally, I should point out that Messrs Spalter Fisher are not “our” solicitors as you describe them but are those of your Landlords and any concerns which you may have over their actions should be directed to them and not ourselves. We obviously are not responsible for the actions of third parties Yours sincerely, So now they are denying being responsible , although they have provided a lot of information to them at this point!

Hi All Thank you for your advice so far. I have received my lease agreement and the ground rent they have charged for 3 of the years is correct at £150 per year and but there is a spurious amount that I don’t recognise for £42.24. I have been charged for administration charges £48 per year for 3 years and then £72 plus £120 x 2 so a lot of admin charges (£456). my lease says: Rental payments to be made a year in advance.24.1 To pay the said rent on the days and in the manner in which the same is hereinbefore reserves and made payable without deduction.24.2 To pay the charges and expenses (including any Value added tax) reasonably made and incurred by any agents employed by the freeholder in collecting the reserved rents in respect of the property and in accounting to the freeholder for them payment to be made at the time of each payment of rent or on a subsequent demand. I am obviously saying I haven’t been served notices so I wondered if I am liable for the admin and solicitors fees as it doesn’t explicitly state in my lease? Obviously then the solicitor has added on a lot more after this point! Any help or guidance appreciated .... JP33

Thanks for the advice ericsbrother. I applied for the set aside and was told it would likely be granted with no hearing. Then when the court hearing date came through (around 24/7) I called the courts to ask if i could do the hearing by conference call as I was abroad and didn’t know when i was back. And then was told to reapply for this by requesting an adjournment. I didn’t say anything to solicitor as the court hadn’t granted this right up to the 11th hour. So I applied for the adjournment. thanks

Thanks Andyorch I asked the court and they said they would call him!

Hi all, as i got the case adjourned i wondered if the claimants solicitor could charge me more? They emailed me earlier; Dear Mr x I have just picked up a message on my voicemail from the County Court at x advising me that the hearing of your Application this morning has been adjourned at the last minute on the grounds that you are in Abroad. This is of course your Application and the Notice of Hearing was issued on 22 July. We have been in correspondence recently and you did not at any stage advised me that you may have to apply for an adjournment on this basis. Please provide full details of the evidence in support of your Application for the adjournment so that I may consider whether an Application for wasted costs against you is appropriate. Is that right?? Thanks!

Thanks for the advice ericsbrother. I’ve now located my lease (being sent to me) so will be able to see if what they charged is correct for the other fees. They’ve applied loads of admin and legal fees. The “outstanding” ground rent is far less than the charges and think that the section 146 may be invalid too as it’s also under £500 ground rent! I managed to get a copy of my letter sent to them but didn’t send recorded delivery. I called them too but that’s obviously verbal so no recording. Do you think I should pay the outstanding ground rent (when I have checked my agreement) to the managing company to show good faith to the court? I will contact shelter on Monday morning to get their opinion too. Thanks a lot again!

Case adjourned and now apparently it is going to take 45 minutes via video link! I will order the lease now and get reading!

Thanks ericsbrother really appreciate the response. I was due in court on Monday and just waiting to hear back on the adjournment as I need to do by phone....I am hoping to buy more time to get hold of my detailed lease agreement and check like you say,.... They have sent me a few letters and apparently they served these on the flat and another old address. I have provided them a letter to my moms place where I have been receiving post etc. Think that they have just not updated this for some reason. The solicitor has gone quiet when I produced a bank statement with a payment made in a period that they said I was liable....all I want to do is pay my ground rent !

Cheers ericsbrother! I have a uk address (moms) so would have known that the letters were received! I’ve sent the i information to them and they keep asking for more now!!!

Hi dx100uk I have told the solicitor that I’m disputing the claim and lodged my N244, Im due in court next week to ask to get the judgement set aside. I’m trying to get the case adjourned as I’m not in UK. So acknowledged as I’m trying to get it set aside so that I can challenge the cost! Ive asked my bank for the lease agreement as I don’t have a copy and will have to check this out in detail as you say. Feels like the legal fees are completely disproportionate to the cost of the ground rent!

Thanks dx100uk I appreciate you responding. The ground rent is now 150 per year (need to check lease as this looks to have jumped up majorly) x 3 so 450. They are claiming in accordance with: “ The service charges regulations 2007 and sections 47 of the landlord and tenant 1985 and section 166 of the common hold and leasehold reform act 2002.” Trust Property Management Group is administering on behalf of Cyril Freeman limited. The solicitors are Spalter Fisher. They obviously try to speed things up and possibly well seasoned in this type of action. Definitely heavy handed with bringing actions !!!

Hi All, I have been living abroad for 10 years I had a call off my mom to say I owed £3,500 to a freeholder at an apartment I still own. The freeholder had contacted HSBC and asked them to add to the mortgage! I wrote to the freeholder and the solicitor to ask what this was. I Didnt get an invoice and completely forgot to transfer funds so my previous 3 years £90 per year ground rent had escalated. I received an email from the freeholder saying to deal with the solicitor then an email from the solicitor asking for £3,500 sending me a CCJ for £1600 (ground rent £500, admin fees £450 and solicitor and court fees £650) this was addressed to a very old address I said that I would be disputing immediately. The solicitor had also “served” a section 146 and added another £400 sent to my very old address he also sent me a proposed court paper (not lodged) for £1500 for a forfeiture order. All correspondence written within exactly the dates that he had to (in law I guess). Bearing in mind this is the first I had heard of this he told me I would have to pay or risk forfeiture of my flat. I phoned the court and told them I hadn’t received anything and this was an incorrect address. They said I could apply to have a set aside which I did immediately writing the following witness statement: “I am XXX and I am the Defendant in this matter. This my supporting Statement in support of my application dated 11/07/2019 to: · Set aside the Judgement dated 15/05/2019 as it was not properly served at my current address; · Order for the original claim to be dismissed. 1. Judgement 1.1. I understand that the claimant obtained a Judgement against me as the Defendant in 15th May 2019. However, this claim form has not been served at my current address and I thus was not aware of the Judgement until 06 July 2019 when I received a letter from HSBC Bank plc. I understand that this Claim was served at an OLD ADDRESS (X). However, I moved to a new address in February 2016. I provided the claimant my updated details of X and an email address [email protected] in February 2016. 1.2. I have also never received any previous documentation from the claimant in this matter and I thus was never able to challenge the Claimant’s claim or defend myself. 1.3. On the 06/07/2019 I contacted the claimant and the claimants solicitors X X LLC to find out details of the Judgement. On 08/07/2019 the claimants solicitor emailed me the court papers containing limited details of the alleged debt, with no evidence of due process being followed such as chasing letters addressed to me at my current address. 1.4. On 08/07/2019 I again provided the claimant with up to date contact details with the address I had previously provided and an email address of Xx 1.5. On the 08/07/2019 I contacted the claimant to let them know that I would be disputing the judgement and seek that the claim be set aside as I had not had the chance to defend myself. 1.6. On the 10/07/2019 I contacted Northampton County Court Business Centre to find out details of the Default Judgement. The court papers again contain limited details of the alleged debt and only a statement of ground rent and administration/legal fees. 1.7. I believe the claimant has behaved unreasonably in pursuing a claim against me without ensuring they held the my correct contact details. The claimant’s persistent failure to use correct and current addresses results is an unnecessary burden for individuals and the justice system across the country. 1.8. On the basis provided above I would suggest that the claimant did not fulfil their duty to use the defendant’s current address when bringing the claim. 1.9. Considering the above I was unable to defend this claim. I thus believe that the Judgement against me was issued incorrectly and thus should be set aside. Statement of Truth: I believe that the facts stated in this Witness Statement are true.” After this I sent them a letter that I had provided to the freeholder with new address and reconfirmed my phone call. I realised that I had to tick a box on my N244 form to have a hearing by telephone so I filled out a new form and gave some further evidence to “support” my case I had a look at my bank statements and see that I made a payment for ground rent and wrote again to the court; “Further to the witness statement provided in my request to the court for my judgment to be SET ASIDE, due to the claimant not following due process and sending notices to my current address. I would also like to present to the court further evidence in support of my application being set aside. I have furnished the claimant's solicitor with this evidence as follows: I would like to submit a letter from the defendant to the claimant in February 2016 made after a phone call to the claimant to confirm a change of address. Upon further investigation of the defendant's financial records, it transpires the claimant's claim value appears to be incorrect. I would like to submit to the court evidence of my ground rent being paid on 29th March 2016 (Page 1 value highlighted in yellow). The claim states "defendant has failed to pay ground rent (25.3.16-24.3.20)" this is not valid and should further confirm my case to have the claim set aside. Please find over leaf the previously provided witness statement, letter sent to the claimant described above and evidence of ground rent payment being made from my bank account described above.” I have asked him for details of charges etc and he is maintaining he’s served to old addresses and it’s my issue. He emailed me to say his client would consider : Entirely without prejudice to my client's position, if you have a proposal you wish to make I would suggest that you put it forward immediately to avoid the possibility of further costs being incurred.` Sorry for the long post and I would like to know what anyone thinks is my best course of action, is it to progress down the court route (potentially more costs!) or try to negotiate with the solicitor? Cheers JP