Past Service Charges – Tribunal conclusion?

Past Service Charges – Tribunal conclusion?

9:08 AM, 29th August 2018, About 6 years ago 15

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Hope I can get some advice, which is always appreciated from the 118 community

Briefly, our freeholder took us to First Tier Tribunal in July over numerous issues and lost on all counts.

The main issue was service charges. He charged us in advance, does NOT issue any service demands which do not comply with s21b(1) landlord and tenant act 1985, don’t contain statements of our rights etc.

“under this demand, the landlord is unable to recover due service charges until he complies with the act and process. This he has now done, however, the tribunal also stated “the tribunal was only asked to consider the service charges for 2017/18, but the principles will be relevant to the subsequent years. THE PARTIES MAY NEED TO CONSIDER WHETHER THOSE PRINCIPLES HAVE APPLICATION TO CHARGES DEMANDED IN PREVIOUS YEARS”

So, my question is simple, I guess the tribunal is saying that maybe we are also not liable for the previous3 years of service charges, does anyone else come to this conclusion or whats implied and does anyone have an opinion?

He took us to court on 5 issues and lost all 5 issues, ranging from him supplying fake quotes for works submitted and charging is 000’s, to demanding a service charge each year and wanting a kitty which is not allowed in our lease for this provision, to charging us for work he cant prove he paid, to charging service charges and splitting the % as he deems fit, not as a set % based on xyz formula (the tribunal also said this was not fair and was not legal)

Rambled on a bit but tempted to inform him that he did not comply with the process of how demands should be met and we are due to a refund and if he’s unhappy we can always go back once again to tribunal. Its many 000’s of £, so it’s not a few hundred quid!

Paul


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Ian Narbeth

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14:48 PM, 29th August 2018, About 6 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Paul McCarthy at 29/08/2018 - 12:51
Marginal risk/reward ratio. If the landlord contests the costs could rapidly exceed £5000. You may want to research the procedure yourself first and then (a) ask the landlord for a refund and (b) threaten action to appoint a manager. You might also see if there is a mortgage over the building and copy the mortgagee in on correspondence.

John Frith

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14:57 PM, 29th August 2018, About 6 years ago

"ranging from him supplying fake quotes for works submitted and charging is 000’s, to demanding a service charge each year and wanting a kitty which is not allowed in our lease for this provision"

Methinks a freeholder (or his / her managing agent) IS allowed to demand a service charge each year. Which is why you have to be careful with disputes. While the manager can't make illegal claims, they can pass on legitimate costs (even when acting incompetently) back to the residents. So you take the manager to court, you win, and the manager promptly asks you to pay them your share of THEIR legal costs.
Better to replace them if you can.

Paul McCarthy

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15:00 PM, 29th August 2018, About 6 years ago

Reply to the comment left by John Frith at 29/08/2018 - 14:57
not correct, the costs were not awarded to the landlord for his costs to be added to the SC. He lost big time and no costs.. there is no managing agent just the landlord who also manages it himself....

Jon Dahms

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11:19 AM, 30th August 2018, About 6 years ago

The general rule I believe is that if he issues fresh, legally compliant demands he will still need to properly prove the expenditure on the block for it not to be liable to challenge. I also believe that he will only be able to go back 18 months from the date he issues these new demands. Any earlier charges cannot simply be made compliant by issuing fresh paperwork, the accounts issues really shouldn't exist on such a small block. My advice is to focus on the matters where there is agreement because when he takes advice (which he should) he will realise how screwed he is and will need to treat you more respectfully. If he doesn't buck his ideas up you need to go down the 'appoint a manager' route or suggest to him that he gives himself a 999 year lease on the shop and sells you guys the freehold which you can then hold in a SPV company and take over the running of the building that way.

Paul McCarthy

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11:46 AM, 30th August 2018, About 6 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Jon Dahms at 30/08/2018 - 11:19
GREAT ADVICE, THANK YOU JON

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