Leasehold Managing Agent Issue.

[chillimog]

My boyfriend is on a low income and only receipt of incapacity benefit and income support. The dwp are helping him with mortgage payments, but not with service charges.

As a result, he is finding it very difficult make payments towards service charges, and to add to it, his managing agent is a very unpleasant person to make matters worse!

He has asked the managing agent if he can make installment payments towards the service charges throughout the year, instead of all at once, but this has been refused.

As a result, today he has received a claim form from the court, with regard to unpaid service charges.

But, he has also noticed, tagged on to this claim is an outstanding amount of £1315.35, for roof repairs.

This has left my boyfriend rather confused firstly because:

a. he has never received a bill for these roof repairs.
b. the last he was advised about the roof repairs was that quotes were being sought.
c. the managing agent himself has not advised my boyfriend about non payment of costs towards roofing repairs.

While my boyfriend accepts the claim for the service charges and is prepared to make an arrangement with the court, he is not prepared to accept the claim for roof repairs on the above grounds.

What advice can you offer?

I should also point out, that many of the leaseholders in our block were not happy about the roof repairs at the time it went to consultation. I do suspect, that because dissatisfaction has been expressed, the managing agent is tagging the roof repairs on to the court claim to get the money out of my boyfriend by "sneaky" means. I know that probably sounds a bit far fetched, but that's the sort of thing the managing agent would do!

Can you help?

Cxxx

[JustinN]

There are two separate elements here (though the agent is trying to conflate them):

1: Your boyfriend's inability to pay the service charge that he accepts is due. He should admit liability for that part, and ask the court to order payment by instalments that he can afford. He will need to complete a form giving details of his means.

2: The roof repairs. I am not clear whether the consultation process was followed or not - it seems not, in that he has not been able to comment on quotes, in which case he cannot be made liable. He will need to defend this part and see what paperwork the agent produces