Homeground management late payment

[Phiddius]

Hi Forum,

 

We own a small apartment which we don't live in, it used to be my partners before we became a family, and we rent it out.

 

A company called Homeground Management Ltd collect the ground rent which is £137.50 per year,

they make demands twice per year of £68.75 each.

 

apparently they sent a demand for ground rent, which we did not receive,

and so 7 days later they added £45 admin charge, however, we still didn't know about it,

recently, we did receive a "note" from them, I say "note" because its definitely no invoice, informing us that we owe £113.75 and if not paid within 7 days they will add another £45.00

 

We emailed them asking for an explanation of the charges, and what on earth could cost hem £45 ?

they sent a pre-made reply, showing us £68.75 and £45.00 in a list form, which we already knew.

 

We emailed again and requested information and a breakdown of the charges, and how could we contact them to speak with somebody.

They replied with," we have no means to talk to you, we can only be contacted by email".

 

I hope Im not turning into a wanna-be private eye here but it all looks dodgy.

and feeling a little skeptical of the company, I poked around, to try and find a number, which I couldn't,

but found a list of the the ever changing directors, the main one having 43 directorships all closed except

homeground management ltd: www duedil.com/company/07305337/homeground-management-ltd

 

and another company called Long Harbour Ltd: www duedil.com/company/06905581/long-harbour-ltd

 

and in act lots of businesses at the same address in a shopping mall,

One New Change

London

EC4M 9AF

 

I followed the long harbour route registered at the same address,

and there is a number, so before I speak to them,

 

my questions to the great knowledgeable Caggers are;

 

1 - is there no guideline, law, anything that sets out the terms under which somebody can make a "late" or "admin" charge,

and is there no limit to such a charge ? this company is making a 50% charge.

 

2 - Long Harbour Ltd is registered as the parent company, so does that mean that they have a responsability to speak with me ?

 

3 - can a business send a demand with only an email address and a bank account number ?

 

its not so much the £45 quid, but I dislike this kind of trading, its a business model for [problem]s, probably copied from car clampers !!

 

thanks in advance

[mariner51]

Your jpg image is unreadable and no zoom avail. Pls try again

[stu007]

Hi if you want to upload this do the following:

 

**you can post up images/letters by this method immediately..you don't need 10 posts**

.

set your default scan page size to A4 less than 300DPI [150 will do]

scan the required letters/agreements/sheets - as a picture[jpg] file

don't forget you can use a mobile phone or a digital camera too!!

'

BUT......

ENSURE: remove all pers info inc. barcodes etc

but leave all monetary figures and dates.

.

************************* ************************* *******

{DO NOT USE A BIRO OR PEN OR USE SEE THRU TAPE OR LABELS]

************************* ************************* ***********

.

DO IT IN MSPAINT.EXE or any photo editing program

goto one of the many free online pdf converter websites ...

http://freejpgtopdf.com/

..

if you have multiple scans/pics

put them in a word doc FIRST and convert that to PDF

or http://www.freepdfconvert.com/

or

use www.pdfmerge.com

 

convert existing PC files to PDF [office has an installable print to PDF option]

..

it would be better to upload a multipage pdf if

you have many images too rather than many single pdfs

.

or if you have PDF as an installed printer drive use that

or use word and save as pdf

try and logically name your file so people know what it is.

though dont use full bank names or CAG in the title

i'e Default notice DD-mm-yyyy TSB

.

open a new msg box here

hit go advanced below the msg box

hit manage attachments below that box

hit the add files button on the top right

hit select files, navigate to your file on your pc

hit upload files

...

YOU DONT have to put a link to the attachment in the msg box..just upload it ..job done

[Phiddius]

Thanks Stu, previously I got an alert saying I needed 10 posts, so thats why i tried to delete the image,

I scanned into photoshop, and uploaded a jpg, which turned out like a thumb,

I'm trying a pdf - here goes,

[andydd]

Hi there.

 

So I assume that you are a leaseholder, there is somewhere a Freeholder and he employs Homeground to look after the management, this is the usual setup.

 

Ground Rent is only payable if you receive a valid demand as per S166 of CALRA 2002 > http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/15/section/166 if you dont receive it then the ground rent is not due and neither is any associated late payment charge.

 

However if this case went to court or FTT (http://www.justice.gov.uk/tribunals/residential-property) then it can be difficult to prove you didnt receive the demand, you may say you didnt get it, they may say they sent it, it may depend on did they send by recorded post, did other neighbours receive it ?

 

Secondly find your lease and read it, does it allow for late payment charges (many do not), also to be payable the freeholder/managing agent has to send you the Summary of Rights - Administration Charges > (many freeholders/managing agents forget this !) > http://www.lease-advice.org/publications/documents/document.asp?item=14#23

 

Even IF he has complied with all of the above, you as a leaseholder can apply to the FTT to determine the 'reasonableness' of such amounts (Note: They dont have juridstiction over ground rent BUT do have juridstiction over admin charges connected to ground rent). In my case, the FTT concluded that £25 would be a reasonable amount.

 

The LEASE site is very useful. > http://www.lease-advice.org/

 

Also have a look at S47 here > http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1987/31 again this and S48 often catch landlord/freeholders out, Im not sure but I would of thought that any demands should show the adress of the landlord/freeholder and not just the management company.

 

Do you know who your Freeholder is ?

 

 

 

Andy

[Phiddius]

Hi Andy

thanks for that very useful information, I'm looking into finding the freeholder, the lesser appears to be David Mclean Homes,

however, the document is huge and incomplete in several places, time to have a proper look I think.

 

when my partner moved in with me, the details of that apartment just went into a box,

and this is the first time I'm really looking at it,

 

I think we'll pay the ground rent, and dispute the admin fee, hinting at some of the info you've pointed out to us, let them know we're looking at it.

 

I'm very grateful, and thanks again,

 

I'll get back once I've made some sense of this paperwork, in case I do actually discover anything,

 

 

 

***************

Caggers rule ! heh

[andydd]

Have you a copy of the lease, this will name original freeholder but of course it may have been assigned many times since then.

 

Upto date info is available from land registry site, you can download main title register for your propert for £3.