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Hi
any advice?
i bought a flat in 2014 which I do not live in
recently received (via email) from a solicitor demand for payment of service charges for 3 years, admin charges (£350 ish) and legal fees £480
apparently, my conveyancer did not tell them my permanent address - I don't know if this is true or not. They got my address through solicitor doing a search.
they say they sent an initial demand and 2 chasers to the flat address, none of which were received (unless my tenant binned them, which I don't believe, as she has always contacted me about other mail)
they say if I have any dispute about delivery I should contact the post office!
I am happy to pay the arrears but not admin fees and legal fees
any point arguing? i think I have some sort of legal cover through my bank account
i'm tempted to offer to pay service charges and legal fees but not admin charges to get it over and done with
thanks
Check with your tenant firstly that he/she hadn't binned them.
Otherwise tell them you didn't receive the demand and chasers and ask for proof of delivery?
What do they mean by contact the post office? They don't keep records for normal mail. If it was sent recorded then the sender will have proof, if they don't then tell them to do one*.
I think I'd be tempted to send them a payment for the service charge as a full and final payment and take it from there.
* legal term
Tenant says nothing received and I believe her - she apologises profusely if anything needs fixing, and phoned me immediately when something came through the other day
I have asked for proof of posting - all they could supply was an email to their mailing partners which didn't even have my name or address on it. Post wasn't sent recorded
What's the name and address on the Land Registry for the lease? Yours at the property, I assume.
I'd be thinking like [b]nickjb[/b] if there's no recorded delivery evidence.
If a delivery hasn't been received it's the sender's responsibility to chase. They're the ones who have paid for the service, it's nothing to do with you.
Pay the arrears and tell them, if they think they can prove that the previous demands were received by you, then they should take you to court for the rest.
Sounds odd to me they gave you 3 years credit on the service charge. I would pay the arrears promptly and ignore the rest. Are you paying any ground rent too?
These professional property managers are truly awful people to deal with. Just google peveril if you think you have dealt with bad businesses.
Okay - I offered to pay what I owed and nothing else and they accepted this, much to my amazement
Thanks