Property Management Debt collection Charges

[andrew1]

.... Closing my debt collection agency thread - how dare you!!!!!! Oh well shows how successful it's been:D

 

Now I have a short thread on this elsewhere but it's a DCA problem so my apologies if it's cut out!

 

I want to send this letter to a Property Debt collector who charged me £165 + vat = £193.88 for chasing a management charge which I got behind with. I have always been mad at these buggers because all they did was send out a letter and got the building society to pay the management charge. 2 letters! can someone have a look because it's not quite bank charges its fee's they are charging but I alwys felt it was a penalty for getting behind. Total rip off. Anyway any comments welcome

 

 

Property Debt Collection Ltd

PO Box 129

Hoddesdon

Herts EN11 8ZS

 

 

 

 

Dear Sirs

 

Your reference xxxxx/CPM

 

I am writing to ask you to refund to me the charges which you have levied from my account over the last six years.

 

I understand that the regime of fees which you have been applied to my account in relation to collecting of debt is unlawful at Common Law, Statute and recent consumer regulations.

 

I require you to demonstrate to me that the charges you applied to my account between 2001 and 2005 were a reflection of your actual costs and not a penalty for being in debt.

 

Your charges are excessive and do not reflect the cost of sending a couple of letters. If you say that they are not, then will you please demonstrate this by letting me have a full breakdown of the costs to which you have been put by as a result of my breaches, in order to reassure me that your penalties really do reflect your costs.

 

Penalties are considered to be unfair per se by the OFT who reported on the 5th April 2006 and are therefore presumed to be unlawful in the absence of specific proof to the contrary.

 

On two occasions you charged me £165.00 + vat totalling £193.88 for two letters on a £471.20 debt. One to me one to Abbey National and I would like the majority of that returned.

 

What I expect of youI give you fourteen days in which to respond and repay these charges. I calculate that £50 would cover these two transactions including vat so I would like £287.76 by return.

 

Failure by you to respond positively will result in a claim through the court without further notice

 

Yours faithfully

 

Andrew1

[Guest Zooman]

I would say it was a service, if so the above would not apply.

[andrew1]

...well they were not providing ME with a service they were chasing on behalf of the Management company. Its DCA charges nothing more or less. Banks purport to offer a service to a customer, at least we are their customers - but I was not a customer of Property debt collections they are no better than Cabot or any of the rest of them so how can it be described as a ' service'?

[KimberleyR]

IMO there will be a clause in the management companies contract with you that it will go 3rd party and you will pay for it. I don't believe the courts would deny a company of making a profit for supplying a service if you agreed to the service in your contract. This said I think you will have to go though the contract and see what your position is.

 

I will add there is no legal basis to claim collection costs in the absence of express contractual provision and if that was the case you should ask for your money back on that grounds. But I hate to say these Management contracts are well written.

 

add the part about when they charged you on. I do not believe you need to explain to much just dates and amounts keep it impersonal.

 

I am writing to ask you to refund to me the charges which you on XX day invoice number # £100 plus VAT.

 

I refer you to the OFT Debt collection guidance July 2003 2.32 which states that "there is no legal basis to claim collection costs in the absence of express contractual provision” & “even if collection charges are allowed for in the contract we may still regard the levying of charges as unfair where they are of an unreasonable amount or disproportionate to the main debt.”

 

I can not see a provision in my contract that allows for the charges you have made.

 

And in the event that the contract allows I would suggest that your charges are excessive and do not reflect the cost of sending a couple of letters. If you say that they are not, then will you please demonstrate this by letting me have a full breakdown of the costs to which you have been put by as a result of my breaches, in order to reassure me that your charges really do reflect your costs.

 

I give you fourteen days in which to respond and repay these charges. Failure by you to respond positively, will result in a claim through the courts without further notice.

 

I look forward to your reply.

 

Yours faithfully

I found a couple of names who are also directors along with Leete but I don't think they reside or relate to our Estate. In order to make it legal they should have at least one resident from our estate involved as a director or on the committee.

 

I'm not sure who is the worst at this stage Leete or PDC?

[andrew1]

Thanks Ashley that looks brilliant - where do you dig them up from? I'll go through the contract and actually let you know on here what I find in case someone else can benefit from it.

 

Cheers.

[The Lantana]

What happened next?

 

Regards

 

Lantana

[FANTASY CHARGES]

still waiting !!!!!!!!!

[andrew1]

still waiting !!!!!!!!!

 

I never did go after these feckers..you just reminded me - geez, this is an oldie! Back to report soon as....

[prof_fr]

How did you get on with CPM or PDC?

[andrew1]

How did you get on with CPM or PDC?

 

I was too tied up with other things of greater importance. I may get back to it.

[mshawn]

That's how really it is with some agency. That's why it's always advisable to check the background first before entrusting your property to any program for that matter. May that served as a lesson to everybody.

[andrew1]

Ahah, Giuseppe?? ....I feel embarassed about this as I never did anything about these people at all. It all lays on the fact that the management company used to act for the small estate I live in which set up a Ltd Company to manage what was a new estate at the time on a private estate (an estate within an estate).

 

It's only 15 houses and we all know each other well. The management company outsourced the job of running the place for gardening the common parts etc and the outsourced job went to CPM who collected the monthly charges we'd all agreed to pay. They were called at the time 'CPM' in Herts.

 

When my business went belly-up I had to scrape and scrounge whilst it was all going on around me and the charges were neglected so CPM, on behalf of our own 'management company' set PDC on me who, on a £471 debt added costs of £193.88 saying " They had been instructed by, not CPM, but our own management company.

 

I doubt my own management company received these charges, just the maintenance charges so £193 went to PDC.

 

Might be an idea to drop our Guiseppe a line to see what happens, it's always in the back of my mind I was ripped off, you've just given me the nod to check him out! LOL - thanks, I'll let you know what happens so we can bring this thread to a close!

 

Afternoon,

 

The debt collection agency is run by a gentleman called JO Tona, address the letter to him.

 

You have not mentioned who the Property Management Company is that they collect for, I expect it is one of the Consensus Group owned, Om Property Management, Solitaire, Peverel, Stonedale, Consort, Pembertons etc.....

 

All charges have to be fair and reasonable and I would use the commercial late payments guide of 1998 amended in 2002 as guidance in this matter. £40 would be the charge for this amount of debt.

 

Also you need to enquire if the property management company is receiving a referral fee of any kind for your debt, this has to be advised to you. Any debt has to be clear and understood by both parties.

 

Carlex UK

 

 

Now CarlexUK, could you just clarify something on this please?

 

You say to mention the commercial late payments guide of 1998 amended in 2002 but is that not used for Business 2 Business debt?

 

I am the Freeholder/owner of my property - Joe public for want of a term.

 

The house was a newbuild in 1989 of 15 houses which due to its situation on a Private estate set up a separate Limited company to manage the common parts.

 

That Ltd Co. Outsourced the job of managing the development for them and collect the annual service charge for this maintenance work to CPM. CPM also managed the accounts and collected the service charge.

 

When I didn't pay, CPM instructed Property Debt Collection Ltd to chase the account, although on their paperwork they actually do not mention CPM, they just say We have been instructed by the above management company which is the name of our development Ltd Company not CPM.

 

That said then, does the Late Payment of Commercial Debt regs apply?

 

Thanks very much for that , we are not exactly 'Leaseholders' - our property is a Freehold all be it under a management company for common parts, but they are not like flats we are a semi, a big semi in spacious grounds and with large common parts all landscaped, that's what the management company were for, looking after the common parts gardening, road repairs, lighting, sewage pump and so on. I take it being Freeholder makes no difference, although I see your company/organisation represents in the main leaseholders?