Arrears on Service Charge

[Giveitblackmore]

Morning All!

 

I have accrued a fairly large sum on service charges on my leasehold flat...however a sum of this is for retention for home improvements which I and another lessee are disputing....I wont bore you with the details of the complete lack of service that the management agents charge for but my situation is this...

 

Despite my pleas that I cannot pay currently they have passed this to a DCA who have now givn me 7 days to pay or they will go to my mortgage lender asking them to pay within the terms of my lease.

 

I have only just put right arrears on the flat and my account remains within litigation at the bank pending six months of on time mortgage payment....2 down 4 to go!

 

My questions....

 

Would the mortgage company pay the service charge and add it to the term as a matter of course?

 

AS I want to dispute an amount of the outstanding balance would this be enough to put the DCA off for a time while I try to raise the balance?

 

Thanks very much in advance for your thoughts and advice

 

GIB

[Lea_HTH]

1) Yes, the mortgagee will pay it off, in order to protect their own security. They should capitalise it, but they are not obliged to and can simply proceed to court for possession on the basis of you having an amount outstanding that shouldn't be. That is a discussion you should be having with them now, before they are approached by someone else...as that allows you to ask them to pay and capitalise.

 

2) Only the amount in dispute would be at issue, the remainder would still be subject to the mortgagee being asked to pay it off.

[ericsbrother]

If you are having dispute over the service charges then you can go to a Tribunal to dispute the matter with your landlord. You should be thinking about getting this under way and offer to pay the amount that is not part of your dispute pronto. If you cannot afford to do this then I think that you need to look at your overall situation and not just the managing agent's requests.

[stu007]

Hi

 

Have a look at this link for Leasehold Advisory Service: http://www.lease-advice.org/

[andydd]

As pointed out above you should make an application to what was the LVT - Leasehold Valuation Tribunal but since July 1st its all been re-organised and is now the First Tier Tribunal (property Chamber), a nice mouthful.

 

You shouldnt really just be in arrears and do nothing, you should take the first step and dispute the amount at the Tribunal, which is sort of an informal court similar to small claims.

 

The above mentioned LEASE site is very useful and can offer advice through phone or email.

 

Yes, a mortage company may pay up, although in reality there is no threat to the property unless the fH goes down the s146/forfeiture route which rarely ends in forfeiture BUT it is a prospect and people have lost 300 grand homes over a few hundred quid.

 

The exact process for mortgage companies isnt clear but they should at least ask you about the amount and if you dispute it, but they wont offer any help.

 

A good piece of advice is to pay the amount (if you can) or even let the mortgage company pay and then go to the tribunal and dispute the amount which could be refunded to you, it is worth noting that payment doesnt equal agreement that the sums are due but its important to not admit that sums are due and perhaps put in writing you are paying under protest.

 

Ive had various service charge disputes so can help with LVT and County court stuff.

 

Andy

[Giveitblackmore]

Thank you all so much for your advice - I will take the steps you advise re dispute.

 

GIB

[Giveitblackmore]

Andy thank you very much I will take you up on your kind offer i sure!