Freeholders Obligations to Leaseholders.

[boomshanka]

Hi All,

I own a 2 bed leasehold flat, the freeholder is a elderly lady who, in the past, has sent general maintenance/buildings insurance requests to me in the post. These are in the form of scribbled notes with a "you owe me" type message on them, there is never any detail to these requests or any mention of where the funds are, supposedly, being spent and no subsequent receipts of my payments are sent.

Of late, the freeholders daughter has now taken over the "management" of the building. The requests are now in a more aggressive tone, "you need to pay or I will issues a section 21 immediately" type message and they are requested to be paid to the daughters "personal name". She tells me she is now the freeholder as her mother is too poorly, although I have checked with the land registry and the freehold is still in the mothers name.

I have 2 questions please. Does a freeholder need to send out documented accounts to the leaseholders for a building that they are receiving maintenance/ insurance payments?

And, I know full well that the freeholder and now her daughter are not maintaining the building and leaving it to fall into wrack and ruin, but what can I do about this? I have spoken to a solicitor today and they inform me it is very difficult to take on a freeholder.

Advise gratefully received.

Regards,

G.

[Melboy]

I can answer a couple of questions you have. More experienced flat owners will be along to answer your other questions.

She tells me she is now the freeholder as her mother is too poorly, although I have checked with the land registry and the freehold is still in the mothers name.

Changing property ownership is a lengthy procedure. I have just completed this procedure myself and it can take 4 to 6 months to action but once it's done it's done and the Daughter will have a copy of the land registry certificate. Costs about £400 to do this through a solicitor.

She may well be in the process of obtaining the land registry documentation or going through the legal process of doing so.

You will have to determine whether she is telling the truth or not and if she is not and you want to challenge her then do so with the facts of the land registry but once you do this of course the gloves are off aren't they.

These are in the form of scribbled notes with a "you owe me" type message on them, there is never any detail to these requests or any mention of where the funds are, supposedly, being spent and no subsequent receipts of my payments are sent.

Not good enough! I would refuse such actions of "scribbled notes" and legally you would be entitled to do so because money is changing hands for a service /business carried out.

Issuing threats of S21 will get her absolutely nowhere and you need to log all these actions should you ever need them for the Courts.

[Richlist]

My thoughts :

* I guess the daughter may be acting as her mothers agent. A freeholder using an agent is perfectly acceptable and this happens quite often. A copy of the letter authorising the daughter to act for the freeholder should be provided to you.

* Your rights and obligations in relation to variable service charges, must by law accompany a demand for service charges. Unless a summary is sent to you with a demand, you may withhold the service charge.

* You have a right to write to your landlord to request a written summary of the costs which make up the service charges. The summary must cover the last 12 months used for making up the accounts.

* You have a right, within 6 months of receiving a written summary of costs to require the landlord to provide you with reasonable facilities to inspect their accounts.

* You have a right to ask an accountant or surveyor to carry out an audit of the financial management of the premises.

* etc etc.

As you can see, its quite complex......you should get professional advice.

By the way......Your freeholder cannot issue you with a valid S21 notice. It has nothing to do with leaseholders & head landlords.

[Mortitia]

Agree with the above and.......

Section 21 only covers the Housing Act 1988 and refers to the letting of property - you own yours so it is not applicable.

You can force the freeholder to do essential repairs - read up on the Leasehold Reform Act.

The daughter may be acting with Power of Attorney and/or could also be her mother's agent.

[Grampa]

Before you start sending solicitor letter etc. I would suggest you request very nicely a face to face meeting with the FH & LH's to iron out the outstanding issues.

If so, do your homework first and it may be a good idea to point her in the direction of a local managing agent. This will cost the LH,S more per year but it (the block) will be at least run correctly and any repairs done property and a reserve fund built up. Point out this will not cost the FH anything and they will still get their ground every year without the hassle of arranging the insurance and repairs etc.