Legal thoughts? Please remove if not allowed

Unseul

Unseul

Unseul

Soldato
Joined
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Isle of Wight
Got a mate trying to sell his property. Renter (he rented it out) didn't pay the "management company" for a few years for the sewage and road maintenance fees they wanted. The property is freehold, but in the deeds there's a stipulation that the person selling the property needs to be paid for road and sewage maintenance. The company now wants my mate to pay, he's been renting it out since before this company was formed, and hasn't ever signed anything with them, don't know if the tenant signed anything. Anyone want to hazard a guess as to who's on the hook? Is it the mate (who then needs to chase the renter), or should the company just be chasing the renter (who had signed that they'd pay all such fees).

Finally, the company are saying that they can block the sale as the charge is against the property, and they would implement a clause to block it (if nothing has been signed, how's there a clause? I don't know).

Just wanting opinions, understand that he probably needs to speak to a solicitor about this, but wondering want the group consensus would be? Worth talking to a solicitor, or bite the bullet and pay the ~£4k?
 
If I'm reading that right then the management company does not have a legal agreement with the actual owner of the property? instead approached the renter who is not authorised to enter into such agreement on behalf of the owner? though it probably gets more complicated than that - the terms in the deeds suggest there is more to it (I'm assuming private road).
 
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Unseul said:
The property is freehold, but in the deeds there's a stipulation that the person selling the property needs to be paid for road and sewage maintenance.
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Should that be pay, plus I'm not sure why the management company would have been paying it as it should only be paid when sold not rented out?
 
Usually estate or rent charges can apply where the council do t own the roads and services.

Usually when you buy a property it's paet of the title and the solicitors should have explained this on purchase, usually the freeholder or "your mate" would be liable.

However, I have never heard of or know how this kind of thing could be setup after the property was purchased, because that would affect the title of the property. Are you sure it wasn't in place when the property was originally purchased?
 
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Rroff said:
If I'm reading that right then the management company does not have a legal agreement with the actual owner of the property? instead approached the renter who is not authorised to enter into such agreement on behalf of the owner? though it probably gets more complicated than that - the terms in the deeds suggest there is more to it (I'm assuming private road).
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Private road and sewage system.

Deeds apparently state that a charge should be made to the original seller of the property (who presumably held the road and sewage tank land), with stipulations on how it should be handled.

I guess (and it is a guess), if the guy who owned the road etc, sold it, and it ended up owned by the company, then they're the ones in charge of it and rightly asking for the cash (and as the owner my mate would be on the hook).

Just to say, this isn't "a mate" but a mate, I wish I had property to sell!
 
I find it VERY unlikely that this was added after your mate already bought the property. He needs to read the title deeds and ask his solicitor to confirm though.

Most likely he will be responsible for the charges that are being requested and they are able to block the sale of the property until the overdue fees have been settled.
 
I'm agreeing with the others, it'd be very unlikely this would have been added after as legal enforcement would be almost impossible.

I would urge him to recheck his deeds, or have a solicitor check and confirm.

I suspect it will be there, and he would be liable. It would also be an odd cost to pass onto a renter, you'd normally add that onto the cost of renting the property for a monthly rental figure.
 
Having a management company involved (disputed costs or otherwise) with lengthen the sale time of the property too as they'll need to request a management pack to transfer the ownership to the new buyer.
 
There wasn't a management company to start with, in the deeds it says he has to pay the person who sold him the property (who owned the land with the road and sewage tank). It's been a while since he lived there though, and this management company wasn't formed until after he'd left and the tenant was in. Assuming he is the one that needs to pay (and can maybe chase tenant), what's the best way of actually being sure it's the company that needs paying, and there's not some private owner who's going to turn up and say that actually it's him that needs paying?
 
Management companies and service charges mentioned on deeds are a bleeding pain the wotsit. They are also powerful in a bad way.

Ours was bloody useless for years, at one point we started witholding payment to try and get them to do what they were contracted to do, they simply dropped a note to our mortgage lender, who said either we pay or they do and it will screw our mortgage up.

If the management company are chasing the owner, the owner will be liable. If the owner had a separate agreement with the renter, the owner has to chase the renter.

The deeds will say who the original managing company is.
 
Your mate will be liable for this. The charges were always known from your comments and these sort of things should not be included in a tenancy agreement.

Tell him to pay up asap before it gets any worse.
 
skyripper said:
Management companies and service charges mentioned on deeds are a bleeding pain the wotsit. They are also powerful in a bad way.

Ours was bloody useless for years, at one point we started witholding payment to try and get them to do what they were contracted to do, they simply dropped a note to our mortgage lender, who said either we pay or they do and it will screw our mortgage up.

If the management company are chasing the owner, the owner will be liable. If the owner had a separate agreement with the renter, the owner has to chase the renter.

The deeds will say who the original managing company is.
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Owner certainly seems liable, no arguments on that anymore. Now he just wants to be sure this management company are the ones that are supposed to be paid, and that the sum is fair. Apparently the management company is just a load of the other houses in the area, and because he's not a part of it, they're charging him more, which goes against what's in the deeds.

My guess is he'll end up paying, but they seem a bit dodgy, so he might be able to bargain them down a few grand.
 
Unseul said:
Owner certainly seems liable, no arguments on that anymore. Now he just wants to be sure this management company are the ones that are supposed to be paid, and that the sum is fair. Apparently the management company is just a load of the other houses in the area, and because he's not a part of it, they're charging him more, which goes against what's in the deeds.

My guess is he'll end up paying, but they seem a bit dodgy, so he might be able to bargain them down a few grand.
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Oh in that case maybe he should seek legal advice.

Edit: but need to read the terms of the agreement carefully.

Should have been made clear up front of purchase the charges and liabilities, this cannot be changed "half way" unless it's stated that it can be, eg subject to review every 5 years etc.
 
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If he wants to sell the property, he needs to pay if the tenant doesn't, he will not be able to sell the house otherwise. You'll be able to go after the tenant after the fact if the deposit doesn't cover the bill.

Good look going after the tenant if they don't co-operate, given they are renting, the chances are they don't have any assets.
 
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