Leasehold problem

[give_me_it_back]

Hi All

 

I renovated a building in to 5 apartments in England. 4 of them have sold (the 5th completing this week). They were sold with a 99 year lease - I am the Management Company until the last one is sold, when I will resign and pass the Management Company to the owners of the apartments.

 

I have been having a major headache with 2 of the owners. One has not paid ANY of the service charge (which was issued in January), and the other has only paid a very small proportion.

 

I really feel they are holding me to ransom, as they keep coming up with snags which they want me to repair.

 

I am very reasonable and have been extremely good to them. I do accept that small snags are normal, and I have put them ALL right.

 

However, I have just returned from a holiday to an email from one of them saying that she has a damp patch on her ceiling and she is worried her ceiling is going to come down!

 

I have told her that she needs to get this looked at immediately and does NOT need to ask me first! (she has been in the apartment for 1 year by the way!)

 

Correct me if I am wrong but surely I am NOT responsible for this? I insure the common parts of the building and am responsible for the exterior areas. Surely the owner of the apartment is responsible for the upkeep within her own 4 walls?

 

Also, surely simply by choosing to not pay the service charge, these owners cannot keep asking me to fix all their issues. I feel as though I am being held to ransom! I do not want to start court proceedings for recovery of the money, but they are leaving me no option.

 

I am feeling very stressed about this and would appreciate any help.

 

Thank you

[Nightmare4banks]

give_it_me_back,in reply to your post:

 

Please answer the following question:

 

1.What will happen to the land ownership once you resign etc?

2.Will you or a company belonging to you own the land and collect the service charges etc? or will have the leaseholders purchased the freehold/commonhold

thereafter?i.e.once you resign.

 

The answers to the above questions should hopefuly enable me to assist you further.

[give_me_it_back]

The land ownership passes to the residents and they own the freehold. (they bought with a 99 year lease and the only reason I retained the freehold until all apartments were sold was to ensure no-one painted the window frames pink or something horrific while the others were being sold - these are very beautiful, upmarket apartments).

Yes - they have full responsibility and ownership and will form their own Management Company to maintain common areas.

 

Thanks

[Nightmare4banks]

give_it_me_back,

 

In reply to your last post:

 

1.You have may have made a mistake in allowing all the leaseholders to own the freehold once you are out of the picture.

 

2.Normally,a lease can be forfeited on the grounds of ground rent/service charge arrears.

 

3.Make sure that you do carry out any maintenance that you are liable equally if they fail to pay you threaten will legal action to recover the charges.

 

 

4.I would intruct a solicitor to contact the two "defaulting" leaseholders and he/she should warn them that failure to pay could make you forfeit their leases.

 

Get proper advice from a qualified insured solicitor that has a very good understanding of the laws associated with long leasehold flats.

 

I hope you find this information useful.

 

If you have any more questions,just ask.

 

Keep us posted.

 

All the best!

[give_me_it_back]

Thanks very much for this. I do have a solicitor, and the 2 non payers are about to be issued with court summons to pay. I will mention to him the lease forfeit issue as this is something I had not considered.

 

I have been incredibly good to them - fixing tiny things that I really had no reason to do - but I did it out of the good of my heart. However, they have pushed me now and are treating me like the landlord of their personal property!

 

I'll let you know how it goes.