Leashold Agreement

[Noebys]

I live in a retirement leasehold property managed by a Management Company.

Two years ago we paid for a particular service within the Management Fees.

This service was carried out by employees of the Management Company.

 

 

The Company, who were in financial trouble,

made this department redundant,

and now we have to pay additional charges every time we use this service

, as the company has outsourced it.

 

We have written for a refund in the Management Fees and have been flatly refused

- to quote '...Nor is there any intention to apply a refund to management fees'.

 

 

We estimated this refund would only be about £250 per year, but we feel we are entitled to it.

We are all pensioners.

 

We know we could take this to the Leaseholders Valuation Tribunal

but th ecost would outweigh any benefit we may get.

 

Another resident has suggested its fraud and we could take it to a small claims court.

Has anyone got any thoughts on this please?

[EveOwes]

Hi

 

The existing managment fee that you all pay (based on the original in-house service) is no longer sufficient to cover the work - is that what you meant or do you think they are charging twice for the service?

 

I would have thought that your lease would have a section about the service being provided for a reasonable fee etc, and that the management company/freeholder is obliged to provide it. By getting the work done the management company has upheld it's part of the contract. However, I would have thought that all the residents were part of the management company too and therefore there should be transparency as to how the cost was arrived at, what quotes they obtained before using the firm they chose, and how much is offset by the management fees already set for the year etc etc. There is often a clause that says they must use the cheapest quote as well, unless they can justify using a higher quote.

 

Just my thoughts. I'm not an expert or anything, but I have read a few leases and they often say the same thing.

 

Fraud? Surely if this turned out to be a fraud then the police would be involved, not the small claims court - somebody on the forum will know the answer to that one for sure.

 

I assume you will each receive a copy of the invoice from the service provider when the management company demands/sets the service charges for the year??? They also need to use a qualified accountant to prepare the fees schedules so you can be sure that everything is above board. If they aren't providing this level of information and detail, then you should demand it. And ensure they use an independent qualified accountant.

 

Anyway, I hope it's resolved to your satisfaction. It sounds like you've all been kept in the dark and that is contrary to what is contained in a standard lease document.

 

Eve

[Noebys]

Hi EveOwes

Thank you for the prompt reply.

Yes - I think you could say we are paying for the service twice. The service used to be part of the management fee, and now it has been taken out of the management fee and we have to pay for it when we use it. However, the management fees have not been reduced. We paid our yearly management fees in July based on the fact that we were receiving this service 'free' and in July we were told we would now have to pay extra for it.

 

All you say about the lease is correct - it does state just as you say.

 

We do get to see quotes and invoices etc. and the management company do use the cheapest quote.