charges for business

[sharburrys]

Hi everyone

 

I am sorry to approach you the way with the title I have written but if it was not so urgent I would try a different way.

 

42man and andy; you are recommended by citizen who believes that you may have the expertise to help me in this matter.

 

My girlfriend and I have been running a small business for the last 7 years and for the last few years we became successful and decided to expand the business with opening another branch.

 

My problem is with our current landlord, their managment agent who look after the site and their rude and threatening solicitors.

 

We pay rent + service charge for the site to be managed. However we believe that the management agent has ignored us for the last few years. For instance: there is a leak from the roof and we informed both the landlord and the agent in June 2010 and they have done absolately nothing up until March 2013. It caused us to physical and financial damage as we had to refund, discounts to the clients (as the nature of the business and the water drops on top of the clients) as well as paying to the window cleaner to keep nice and clean. We tried to arrange a conference call with the landlord and our neigbours who are suffering with the same problem. All of us received a letter from their solicitors and they think it is not appropriate to contact the landlord at this stage.

 

We tried to find an amicable solution with their solicitors and requested a full refund on the service charge as we have not received the service which we paid for? They threatened us and we received an email stating that they want their monies upfront rather than monthly instalments as we were on a payment plan and paying monthly rather than quarterly (and we are also trying to reduce our arears which was caused by inefficient management by their agents) however they are holding rent deposit which is 2 times bigger than the arears. without giving a notice they requested us to pay on Monday upfront around £8K

 

I am really concerned with their attitude and threatening behaviour. I am considering to take them to court based on Goods and Service Act 1982. any advise?

Regards

[sharburrys]

Hi everyone

 

I am sorry to approach you the way with the title I have written but if it was not so urgent I would try a different way.

 

42man and andy; you are recommended by citizen who believes that you may have the expertise to help me in this matter.

 

My girlfriend and I have been running a small business for the last 7 years and

for the last few years we became successful and decided to expand the business with opening another branch.

 

My problem is with our current landlord, their managment agent who look after the site and their rude and threatening solicitors.

 

We pay rent + service charge for the site to be managed.

 

However we believe that the management agent has ignored us for the last few years.

For instance: there is a leak from the roof and we informed both the landlord and the agent in June 2010 and

they have done absolately nothing up until March 2013.

 

It caused us physical and financial damage as we had to refund, discounts to the clients

(as the nature of the business and the water drops on top of the clients)

as well as paying to the window cleaner to keep nice and clean.

 

We tried to arrange a conference call with the landlord and our neigbours who are suffering with the same problem.

 

All of us received a letter from their solicitors and they think it is not appropriate to contact the landlord at this stage.

 

We tried to find an amicable solution with their solicitors and requested a full refund on the service charge

as we have not received the service which we paid for?

 

They threatened us and we received an email stating that they want their monies upfront

rather than monthly instalments as we were on a payment plan

and paying monthly rather than quarterly

(and we are also trying to reduce our arears which was caused by inefficient management by their agents)

 

however they are holding rent deposit which is 2 times bigger than the arrears.

without giving a notice they requested us to pay on Monday upfront around £8K

 

I am really concerned with their attitude and threatening behaviour.

I am considering to take them to court based on Goods and Service Act 1982.

 

any advise?

Regards

[42man]

Do you have a good paper trail ? If it was me in this position I would outline in writing exactly the timelines and problems and how it has affected you, make sure you send it to the landlord recorded delivery. Await his/her answer. You say that - "We tried to find an amicable solution with their solicitors and requested a full refund on the service charge as we have not received the service which we paid for? They threatened us......" what did they threaten you with after you raised what is obviously a justified complaint ?

 

You say you had arrears caused by their inefficient management....what did they do ? Have they done something deliberately to put you into arrears ?

 

I am not an expert on this but it may be a good idea to seek a bit of advice from a solicitor, do you have any (free) legal coverage on any of your insurances ?

[citizenB]

sharburry, responding to your message. I have sent out some S.O.S. for you - hopefully someone will pop in with some advice, soon

[sharburrys]

Hi 42Man

 

Thank you for your response

 

Answers to your queries; They demanded us to pay £8K by Monday otherwise they will pursue it.however we are on a payment plan paying monthly

 

arrears was caused in 3 ways:

1- I found out after going through 20 pages of history of payments and realised the agent invoiced for example say £5k and then for the same period they raised another invoice for £6K and credited £4.75K and their explanation us change of VAT at the time they invoiced wrong but no response why they credited 4.75K rather than 5K? there are 4 quarters like that

2- we have got a gym upstairs and caused us a hell of loss as banging, vibration, damage on lights discounts and cancellations etc. however we have got a Quiet enjoyment clause in our contract the landlord does not want to take responsibility

3- we failed to pay in 2008 and 09 however we paid 2010-11-12 15% more than our annual rent

 

Their response is a contractual duty and Goods and service act 1982 is irrelevant and we have got no legal ground to stand etc.

 

Also we tried a solicitor through legal cover, they took our case in 2008 and dropped it in 2011 after invoicing our insurer £24K less than 50% chance to win??? then I realised the solicitor firm we hired through legal cover was on top of the solicitors from hell list:)))

 

My question is whether service charge is under goods and service act 1982?

 

Regards

[sharburrys]

Hi CitizenB

 

Noone seems to be coming I am afradi:)

 

Just wondered whether Service Charge in our contract with the landlord - is it something covered within Goods & Service Act 1982? or is it just a contracttual duty and G&SAct 1982 is irrelevant?

 

Regards

[sharburrys]

Hi Guys

Can anyone please advise me whether Service Charge in our contract with the landlord - is it something covered within Goods & Service Act 1982? or is it just a contractual duty and G&SAct 1982 is irrelevant?

 

Regards

[citizenB]

I will send the S.O.S. for you again, sharburry.. I am sorry that I am unable to help more.

[citizenB]

I don't think GSA is appropriate. It sounds like a simple case of breach of contract to me

 

Sharburry.. ^^^^^^

[sharburrys]

Hi Citizen B

 

I hope you are well and having a nice easter

 

Just wondering; from 1st April 2013 Small claims court limit is going up to £10,000 but there is a paragraph stating

 

"They will apply to all multi track cases commenced on or after 1 April 2013, in all courts except the Commercial Court, unless the court orders otherwise."

 

Would you mind me asking how you would comment on this paragraph in our case as we are a business and so is the other side?

Does it mean that we can still use the Small claims tracking and increase the liability upto £10K?

 

Kind regards

[sharburrys]

Hi everyone

 

I hope you are all well and having a nice easter

 

Just wondering; from 1st April 2013 Small claims court limit is going up to £10,000 but there is a paragraph stating

 

"They will apply to all multi track cases commenced on or after 1 April 2013, in all courts except the Commercial Court, unless the court orders otherwise."

 

Would you mind me asking how you would comment on this paragraph in our case as we are a business and so is the other side?

Does it mean that we can still use the Small claims tracking and increase the liability upto £10K and what is the commercial court?

 

Kind regards

[citizenB]

Hmm, interesting question. I will try and find out what that refers to .

[caro]

If you're worried about whether it would go to the Commercial Court I don't believe that it would.

 

Commercial Court

The Commercial Court deals with complex cases arising out of business disputes, both national and international. There is particular emphasis on:

international trade

banking

commodity

arbitration disputes

The work of the Commercial Court is governed by Part 58 of the Civil Procedure Rules

 

http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/rcj-rolls-building/admiralty-commercial-mercantile-courts

[sharburrys]

Hi Caro

Thank you for informing me, really appreciated your help,

So does it mean that I can take them for upto £10,000 from today's date?

Any chance you would have any knowledge about Goods and service act 1982??? Service charge we are paying is a variable rate not a fixed rate like rent?? So which way is appropriate to open the case? Breach of contract or goods and service act??

I look forward to hearing from you

Regards

[caro]

Yes the limit for small claims is not £10k.

 

I'm afraid I can't answer your other questions but have moved your thread to the lettings forum where you may get more informed advice.

[citizenB]

Sharburry, I see steven4064 did indeed respond to your question in post # 5 by stating this is a simple breach of contract.

 

You have asked about the form N180, so this does indeed appear to be in the Small claim track as that is the new Directions form.

 

http://construction.practicallaw.com/5-525-3891

 

All the new forms are listed on the link above.

 

 

 

Hope this helps.

[citizenB]

responding to S.O.S - I think you are going to have to let us know what the claim - did you issue or was this issued against you.

 

?

[citizenB]

sharburry, this is the rule referred to in the General Order from the court - I think it was you who submitted the claim - it looks as though you might need to vary your claim in some way, but without more information, I don't think we can advise. You have 7 days in which to do this.

 

Application to set aside or vary order made without notice

 

23.10

 

(1) A person who was not served with a copy of the application notice before an order was made under rule 23.9, may apply to have the order set aside(GL) or varied.

 

 

(2) An application under this rule must be made within 7 days after the date on which the order was served on the person making the application.

 

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[sharburrys]

Dear All

 

I would like to update you very quickly and would like to ask your advise:

 

I have taken the landlord and their management agents to the court based on breach of contract and the landlord and tenants act 1954.

 

Immediately we received a bailiff visit; the warrant was issued by the management agent on behalf of the landlord....

since I opened the case I realise that the landlord who was introduced to be the landlord is a "Dormant Company" but wholly owned subsidiary of a large firm. Bare in your minds we are paying VAT on top of rent and service charge....

 

I recorded the calls and I explained the bailiff that the warrant issued on behalf of a dormant company and asked them to step back... they embarrassed us in front of customers and even in our absence they made the junior employees to sign a document...

 

I took them to court (small claims court) based on fraud act and companies act 2006 and the courts response was by the court manager:

 

- this is not a claim can be issued on Money claim online and

asked me

- Application to set aside or vary order made without notice

 

23.10

 

(1) A person who was not served with a copy of the application notice before an order was made under rule 23.9, may apply to have the order set aside(GL) or varied.

 

(2) An application under this rule must be made within 7 days after the date on which the order was served on the person making the application

 

So I would like your help if possible- this is the action against the bailiff company not the landlord as that is a seperate case going on between us and landlord and the management agents.

 

Regards

[citizenB]

Sharburry, if you can please let us have sight of the claim you issued (or let us know what you put on the claim) we will be able to advise further.

[sharburrys]

I think while we were issuing the claim my partner did not give full info. she was quite emotional and she put this as it is limited to characters you use on the internet (money claim)

 

We had a visit from L B from

S C S Ltd on xyApril 2013

the only director of our company Mrs S....

was at one of her family members

funeral L B informed mr y

who looks after our company Finance that he

will arrange removal of goods and machinery

if we didnt come back immediately then L B

started to take photos and an inventory of

our goods and machinery in front

of the clients and our staff,

he carried on talking on the phone between 1

30pm and 4 30pm in the reception area,

we tried to arrange a payment for the

next day and asked him to leave the premise

He refused to do so. Also SCS Ltd invoiced

us for a service that didnt

happen(estimated) we believe that

SCS has breached

Companies Act 2006

Privacy and Confidentiality Act 1988

Code of practice for bailiffs

The Supply of Goods and service act 1982

Harassment Act 1997 evidence will be provided

 

[sharburrys]

What is my options to put this claim back??? All I need the judge takes the case and I have got all evidence....

photos, telephone conversations, customer letters, more evidence etc

[citizenB]

Have left message for andyorch, he will look in as soon as he can.

[AndyOrch]

Hi sharburry

 

The problem you have is that the Particulars are not concise nor state what your actual loss is...monetary ...more like the ramblings of a Witness Statement and not CPR compliant...hence the Courts decision to strike out the claim.

 

So options ......make application to set a side and replead your PoC...if you are not specifying a loss value then it should be issued as a Part 8 claim and the court will set the value at their discretion.

 

Regards

 

Andy

[sharburrys]

Andy

 

I am so grateful for your response

 

So what does it mean? I am so sorry I am a financial analyst not a solicitor and excuse my lack of knowledge; What would you like me to do?

 

How can I do the things you asked me to do?

 

Also I managed to get hold of the warrant which is issued by the landlord's management agent who also said in the other court action and refusing their direct relationship with us as we do not have a contract with them; can I sue them as well to issue the warrant on behalf of a dormant company?

 

Thanks