Jump to content


  • Tweets

  • Posts

    • You can edit the answers to be in red or would you like me to do it? HB
    • Apologies dx100uk  I did not put the answers in red  Thank you all for your patience. H
    • Which Court have you received the claim from ? Northampton  Name of the Claimant ? Overdales solicitors  How many defendant's  joint or self ?  Self Date of issue – top right hand corner of the claim form – this in order to establish the time line you need to adhere to.  13 may 2024 What is the claim for – the reason they have issued the claim? the claim is for the sum of £6163.61due by the defendant under an agreement regulated by the consumer credit act 1974 for hsbc uk bank plc. Account 4546384809766042. The defendant faild to maintain contractual payments required by the agreement and a default notice was served under s 87(1)  of the consumer credit act 1974 which as not been compiled with. The dbt was legally assigned to the Claimant on 23/08/23, notice on which as been given to the defendant.  The claim includes statutory interest under S.69 of the county courts act 1984 at a rate of 8% per annum from the date of assignment to the date of issue of these proceedings in the sum of £117.53 the Claimant claims the sum of £6281.14. Have you received prior notice of a claim being issued pursuant to paragraph 3 of the PAPDC (Pre Action Protocol) ?   Not to my knowledge. Have you changed your address since the time at which the debt referred to in the claim was allegedly incurred?  No Do you recall how you entered into the agreement...On line /In branch/By post ?  Online but it was for a smaller amount they kept on increasing this with me asking Has the claim been issued by the original creditor or was the account assigned and it is the Debt purchaser who has issued the claim.  It was assigned to a debt collection agency  Were you aware the account had been assigned – did you receive a Notice of Assignment? yes  Did you receive a Default Notice from the original creditor?  Yes I also made offers to pay original creditor a smaller amount but was not replied to Have you been receiving statutory notices headed “Notice of Sums in Arrears”  or " Notice of Arrears "– at least once a year ?  No Why did you cease payments? I was made redundant and got a less paid job I also spent some time on furlough during covid and spent some 3 months on ssp off work. What was the date of your last payment?  May 2021 Did you communicate any financial problems to the original creditor and make any attempt to enter into a debt management plan? Yes at the time I communicated with all my creditor's that I was running out of funds to pay the original agreements once my redundancy money ran out that was when my accounts defaulted. I then wrote to all my creditor's with pro rata offers of payments but debt collectors took over the accounts.
    • Just an update for all. I received about a letter every other week, increasing in threat levels. Then I hadn't had one for a about two weeks, then Saturday received a carbon copy of the very first letter they sent me in February. Made me laugh, rinse and repeat. 
    • So, your response was not received by the SCP as you did not send it with a valid stamp. Therefore, from my two option in post #14, the first option is the only one available to you, but you do not have the option of asking to be sentenced at the fixed penalty level as the reason the SCP did not receive your response was down to you. Here's a reminder of what to do: Respond to the SJPN by pleading “Not Guilty” to both charges. In the “Reasons for pleading Not Guilty” box state that you are willing to plead guilty to the speeding charge providing, and only providing, the “Fail to Provide Driver's Details" (FtP) charge is dropped. This is a tried and tested method to deal with your problem and is almost always successful. Before the pandemic it was necessary to attend court to do this "deal" because it needs the agreement of the police prosecutor.. During the pandemic courts made every effort to have as few  people as possible attend and they began doing this deal under the "Single Justice" procedure without the defendant's attendance. Some courts have carried this procedure on whilst others have reverted to a personal attendance being necessary. If you are required to attend, your case will be taken out of the SJ procedure and you will be given a date for a hearing in the normal Magistrates' Court. If that is the way they do it in the area involved you will have to attend, see the prosecutor and offer your "deal" in person. 
  • Recommended Topics

  • Our picks

    • If you are buying a used car – you need to read this survival guide.
      • 1 reply
    • Hello,

      On 15/1/24 booked appointment with Big Motoring World (BMW) to view a mini on 17/1/24 at 8pm at their Enfield dealership.  

      Car was dirty and test drive was two circuits of roundabout on entry to the showroom.  Was p/x my car and rushed by sales exec and a manager into buying the mini and a 3yr warranty that night, sale all wrapped up by 10pm.  They strongly advised me taking warranty out on car that age (2017) and confirmed it was honoured at over 500 UK registered garages.

      The next day, 18/1/24 noticed amber engine warning light on dashboard , immediately phoned BMW aftercare team to ask for it to be investigated asap at nearest garage to me. After 15 mins on hold was told only their 5 service centres across the UK can deal with car issues with earliest date for inspection in March ! Said I’m not happy with that given what sales team advised or driving car. Told an amber warning light only advisory so to drive with caution and call back when light goes red.

      I’m not happy to do this, drive the car or with the after care experience (a sign of further stresses to come) so want a refund and to return the car asap.

      Please can you advise what I need to do today to get this done. 
       

      Many thanks 
      • 81 replies
    • Housing Association property flooding. https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/topic/438641-housing-association-property-flooding/&do=findComment&comment=5124299
      • 161 replies
    • We have finally managed to obtain the transcript of this case.

      The judge's reasoning is very useful and will certainly be helpful in any other cases relating to third-party rights where the customer has contracted with the courier company by using a broker.
      This is generally speaking the problem with using PackLink who are domiciled in Spain and very conveniently out of reach of the British justice system.

      Frankly I don't think that is any accident.

      One of the points that the judge made was that the customers contract with the broker specifically refers to the courier – and it is clear that the courier knows that they are acting for a third party. There is no need to name the third party. They just have to be recognisably part of a class of person – such as a sender or a recipient of the parcel.

      Please note that a recent case against UPS failed on exactly the same issue with the judge held that the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 did not apply.

      We will be getting that transcript very soon. We will look at it and we will understand how the judge made such catastrophic mistakes. It was a very poor judgement.
      We will be recommending that people do include this adverse judgement in their bundle so that when they go to county court the judge will see both sides and see the arguments against this adverse judgement.
      Also, we will be to demonstrate to the judge that we are fair-minded and that we don't mind bringing everything to the attention of the judge even if it is against our own interests.
      This is good ethical practice.

      It would be very nice if the parcel delivery companies – including EVRi – practised this kind of thing as well.

       

      OT APPROVED, 365MC637, FAROOQ, EVRi, 12.07.23 (BRENT) - J v4.pdf
        • Like
  • Recommended Topics

Dodgy Management Company/person for Freehold House


style="text-align: center;">  

Thread Locked

because no one has posted on it for the last 3897 days.

If you need to add something to this thread then

 

Please click the "Report " link

 

at the bottom of one of the posts.

 

If you want to post a new story then

Please

Start your own new thread

That way you will attract more attention to your story and get more visitors and more help 

 

Thanks

Recommended Posts

I'm posting this message and would be grateful for any advise on this matter. Thanks!

 

We purchased a terraced house in a cul-de-sac last October and promptly paid the annual estates mangement fee of £470 promptly. However, from Jan - present, no work has been done including garden maintenance.

 

In July, we received an email from the new Estates company informing us that they have been appointed to replace the old company and asked for some more money. I emailed back with the following questions:

 

1) Who appointed them? Why wasn't there any communication/consultation with us (the landlords) on this matter?

2) How will we be reimbursed for the fees paid since no work has been done for the past 8 months?

3) What are the services that are covered by the fees? We also pay council tax, should the council be responsible for matters such as litter collection and repairing of roads?

 

We received a non-commital response which didn't answer our questions.

 

After speaking to some of our neighbours, we realised that one neighbour set up a management company who has been managing the past and present estates company. When I posed the questions as above, she responded as follows:

a) it is a legal requirement to have a management company in the estate, otherwise, we will not be able to sell our property in the future

2) we will not be able to re-coup any of the fees as the money has been given to the new estates company

3) If we refuse to pay anny future fees, we will face legal consequences

 

We feel very unsettled with the response as it simply doesn't make sense and feel strongly that there should be more transparency when managing these affairs. There are a total of 24 units who pay the annual fee of £460 each which total an amount of £11,000 and it seem a very large fund to be handled by a single person with no consultation whatsoever.

 

Please can I have some advice on what are our rights on this matter and where do we stand. Is this neighbour acting suspiciously? Can we refuse to pay anymore fees?

 

Thanks!

Link to post
Share on other sites

I am losing the plot. I do not know if I have moved you to the right forum, we don't appear to have a specific place for management company issues. :)

 

However, you will receive more views here than the Welcome forum"

 

 

I will also flag for site team views.

Edited by citizenB

Have we helped you ...?         Please Donate button to the Consumer Action Group

Uploading documents to CAG ** Instructions **

Looking for a draft letter? Use the CAG Library

Dealing with Customer Service Departments? - read the CAG Guide first

1: Making a PPI claim ? - Q & A's and spreadsheets for single premium policy - HERE

2: Take back control of your finances - Debt Diaries

3: Feel Bullied by Creditors or Debt Collectors? Read Here

4: Staying Calm About Debt  Read Here

5: Forum rules - These have been updated - Please Read

BCOBS

1: How can BCOBS protect you from your Banks unfair treatment

2: Does your Bank play fair - You can force your Bank to play Fair with you

3: Banking Conduct of Business Regulations - The Hidden Rules

4: BCOBS and Unfair Treatment - Common Examples of Banks Behaving Badly

5: Fair Treatment for Credit Card Holders and Borrowers - COBS

Advice & opinions given by citizenb are personal, are not endorsed by Consumer Action Group or Bank Action Group, and are offered informally, without prejudice & without liability. Your decisions and actions are your own, and should you be in any doubt, you are advised to seek the opinion of a qualified professional.

PLEASE DO NOT ASK ME TO GIVE ADVICE BY PM - IF YOU PROVIDE A LINK TO YOUR THREAD THEN I WILL BE HAPPY TO OFFER ADVICE THERE:D

Link to post
Share on other sites

Is it a leasehold property then? with ground rent?

I presume the access road has not been adopted by the council? drains etc.

Does not sound legal that one person van just set up a management co without the approval/agreement of all the householders.

Suggest you get legal advice.

What is in your lease contract and what services do get for your fee?

Link to post
Share on other sites

Agree, sounds like you need to speak to the original developers to see what is what that is not in your deeds regarding common areas. You may be an equal shareholder in the management company and this person has taken it upon herself to be a be-all and end-all for the work (and making a bit on the side if she has contracted to do things herself). if it is the case then you need to leaflet all of the other property owners to call a management meeting and sort things out on a formal basis. This may mean paying a lawyer to draw up new contracts/agreements afterwards but you need to know now who is properly in charge.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks both for the helpful comments. It confirms my suspicion of illegal behaviour. I am pretty sure that there's no ground rent but I will contact the developer to find out more details.

 

In the meantime, can I refuse to pay anymore fees? Also, can anyone recommend where I can get some free legal advice on this.

 

Thanks again for your help - much appreciated!

 

Agree, sounds like you need to speak to the original developers to see what is what that is not in your deeds regarding common areas. You may be an equal shareholder in the management company and this person has taken it upon herself to be a be-all and end-all for the work (and making a bit on the side if she has contracted to do things herself). if it is the case then you need to leaflet all of the other property owners to call a management meeting and sort things out on a formal basis. This may mean paying a lawyer to draw up new contracts/agreements afterwards but you need to know now who is properly in charge.
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Hi. Im the freehold 'expert' here.

 

Your case sounds a bit puzzling, normally people who own a leasehold property dont own it fully, they actually rent it for 99 or 999 years, the freeholder owns the poperty and is responsible for maintenance, (he must can only recover sums he has actually spent, therefore if he charges for maintenance, then works must be done !).

 

Often a freeholder takes a back seat role and employs a management company, generally the home owners have no say in this.

 

The OP does state though that he is the landlord which confuses things a bit (freeholder/landlord are interchangable), although a leasehold can be a landlord if he doesnt live at the property but instead lets it out, is this the case here ?

 

Or it may be that the OP fully owns the property (i.e its freehold not leasehold) but as with some new estates there are still charges to pay as part of the purchase agreement, to kep estate tidy, etc

 

Andy

Link to post
Share on other sites

Sorry Guys if I'm not being clear and thanks for helpful comments.

 

We bought the house in October last year in a cul-de-sac estate and it is listed as a freehold property. We were asked to pay service charges of £470 to an Estates Management company called Aston Rose for the following year and we did. The gardens in the communal areas were being maintained periodically and suddenly stopped in January this year. There was no communication at all and nobody in the estate seem to know what happened. Then in July, we received a letter from a new Estates Management Company called Sterling Estates stating that they have replaced the previous company and then asked us to pay more fees.

 

I responded with questions asking:

- what services do they perform for the fees that we pay?

- do we get our fees reimbursed for the past 6 months where no work was done?

- who appointed them in the first place?

 

They did not answer my questions but simply asked us to pay the extra charges.

 

We then went around the estate asking neighbours. Most of them were renting so didn't have a clue but one particular neighbour, Irina, told us that another neighbour called Graham is the Director of Pembroke Management Company who is managing the estate and she has been 'helping out' on the affairs. She explained that:

- we won't be able to get any of our fees back as they have been spent paying the new estates company

- we are legally obliged to the pays otherwise we would have difficulty selling our property in the future

 

As mentioned in my first thread, we were not convinced by her explanation. There are a total of 24 households paying £470 a year which totals £11,000. Why do we not have a say in matters relating to the estate, e.g the appointment of estate management company and what their services cover?

 

Also, since no work has been done since January until now, why won't we get reimbursed for the fees already paid? We also pay council tax, should the council be responsible for matters such as litter collection and maintaining street lights and repairing of roads?

 

Sorry for the long lists of questions but this is all very confusing for me and would appreciate your advice.

 

Many thanks as always!

Link to post
Share on other sites

So its a freehold property, so the rules about leasehold and lvt etc dont apply BUT the usual contract rules will, i.e there must be an agreement somewhere that you will pay for estate upkeep BUT also they must their side too and do work, etc you cant be expected to pay for nothing !

 

You need to find out whats going on ?, where is original contract, what does it say?, etc

 

As i mentioned above you may not have a say in how the management works or what services they do.

Link to post
Share on other sites

It will be a covenant in your deeds that states the position and dealings of common areas and who owns them. It could be owned commonly by all of the home owners, by the developer or another property company. Your solicitor should have looked into all of this before you exchanged contracts, what did they say about it if anything? If it really wasnt brought to your attention then that is quite a serious shortcoming and a compalint should be made, firstly to them and then to the SRA if you dont get any joy.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

OK I've never heard of this either. As the others have said you need to go over the Title Deeds here in detail. Few Freehold property's come with covenants. If you are truely that suspicious about this woman there is another way... You & the other residents could do a gang up & fire her on a vote of no confidence? I would certainly raise Q's as to the validity of the Accts & how much money is involved. Sometimes it pays to google a name or that of the Co. to see if there is any cartel activity including shared Directorships.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • Recently Browsing   0 Caggers

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Have we helped you ...?


×
×
  • Create New...