# late payment fee from management agent



## Burberry (14 Jun 2010)

Hello 
think I may have posted this in the wrong section.  Hope I get a reply here.  

Have been renting out a house for almost 10 yrs. Same Auctionering Company/Estate Agent collecting the management company fees throughout, and I've always paid the managment fee on time and in full, except for two years when I received no invoice from the management company. When they contacted me with a large bill I paid it immediately only to have them send me another bill for a late payment charge for those two years when they didn't invoice me. Last year before the managment company (ie the home owners) AGM I wrote to the Estate Agent  saying I didn't see why I should have a late fee applied as the mistake was on their part. No reply so I assumed all was well. Got another invoice for this year again with the late payment fee still on it. I've paid this yrs management fee and I'm getting nowhere with them re the late payment fee. I'm asking them for some goodwill but all I get is we have to talk to the manangement company ie the home owners where do I go from here. thank you


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## markpb (15 Jun 2010)

Look up the names and addresses of the directors on the CRO website and write them a letter explaining what happened, demonstrate your good payment history and ask them to instruct the agent to write off the fine. 

On the other hand, if you got no bill for two years, you should probably have contacted them to see what happened. These things don't go away


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## Burberry (15 Jun 2010)

thanks for the reply 
I have drafted a letter but I'd like to know if I have a leg to stand on at all.  Granted we didn't notice that we weren't invoiced for two years.  But I've been told you usually you get an invoice, then a reminder letter and then a letter outling what legal actions the management agent will take to recover the fee.  We got nothing.
We have paid the management fee in full and have no issue with that.  The place is well looked after.  Its killing me to pay this money when the mistake was theirs, we wrote to them 12 months ago and no reply so they don't have a great track record.  I'd like some sense of where I stand. 
thanks again


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## mathepac (15 Jun 2010)

I have to admit to being a bit puzzled.

AFAIK  the managing agent, acting on behalf of the management company,  has no charter to bill tenants for maintenance fees nor to impose penalties on them for late payment.

The property owner is liable for these charges (it's specified in their lease or their purchase-contract documents package) and while the property owner and tenant may have a private arrangement in place to cover the annual maintenance charges, legally the only recourse the management company and the agent on their behalf has for the fees or penalties is against the property owner. The management company / agent has no contract with the tenant.

I am not a lawyer so take all I've said above with a large dose of cautionary salt. Someone will surely explain where my reasoning falls down.


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## wheeler (15 Jun 2010)

Agreed with mathepac. 

I can't believe you even got mgt fee biils in your name ever. It's not up to you to ensure that they are paid. You can walk away at any time and leave that bill - the owner of the property is responsible for it and if they ever want to sell the property then they will have no use telling prospective buyers to follow up with the tennant or ex-tennant. 

Have you even got an agreement that you will pay that bill? If not then you could look into claiming back the last number of years.

As per mathepac - I'm not a lawyer.


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## Burberry (15 Jun 2010)

sorry If I've confused you I am the owner of the property and I have always paid the management fee.  The managing agent is billing me for late payment of the managemment fee when they didn't send an invoice.  When they did send an involice with 2 yrs management fee I paid it in full.  I'm just questioning whether they can charge me for late payment when they didn't invoice me.
thanks again


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## mathepac (15 Jun 2010)

Burberry said:


> ... Have been *renting out* a house for almost 10 yrs. ...


Sorry, my bad. 

As a member of the management company, did you  receive notification of the annual budgets that were formulated? Did you vote on and approve these and other relevant issues at the AGMs or by proxy? Did you contact any of the management company directors to inform them of the poor performance of the agent during the two years?  Did you register your correspondence with the agent, cc'ing your management company? Did other owners in the development get invoices or do you believe you were singled out for poor service? 

In short, if all you did was wait for invoices to appear, knowing money was owed, and only acting after the event, I don't see how you can avoid paying.


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## computerman (17 Jun 2010)

Sorry, but Im confused, the late payment fee, is this imposed by the management company or the managing agent?  

When the late fee is collected is it lodged to the management companies bank account or does the managing agent keep it?

If the managment agent keeps it, who authorised them to charge an additional fee for doing something that they get paid for anyway?


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## Burberry (17 Jun 2010)

Computerman you raise some interesting questions and I don't know the answers. I presume the late payment fee is imposed by the managing agent (the estate agent who collects the annual management fees from the home owners like me), to get people to pay on time.  The managing agent has not incurred any legal cost to get me to pay.  Unfortunately I can't find any documents relating to how the management company is set up etc. I've written to the MD of the Managing Agent so we'll see how that goes.


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## computerman (17 Jun 2010)

I would recommend writing to Director / Co Sec of the Managing Company also.  Ask who imposed the charge, if its not in the lease, ask for the minutes of the meeting where it was agreed that it would be imposed.

Its important that you send these and keep copies, if it goes legal you can show that you were looking for the information over a prolonged period of time.


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## DianeC401 (21 Jun 2010)

It is my understanding that interest can only be charged for late payment if it is noted in the terms of the lease. If this is the case, you will have signed the lease on purchasing the property and therefore will have agreed with its terms. So you wouldn't be in a strong position legally.

 You should check out your lease to see, but it's unlikely that the management company would have imposed this fee if they were not within their rights to do so.

Late or non payment of fees can cause huge hassles for a management company and may result in them incurring extra expense because of lack of funds. Extra fees should be going straight into the Man Co coffers, even if they are being collected by the Estate Manager. 

In saying all of that most Management Companies impose these interest fees, not as a way of generating income but to act as a deterrent for late payment.

I suppose you could engage with the Board of Directors and ask for the fees to be waived as this is a 'one off' occurance. They may do this as a good will gesture. 

But make sure you pay on time next year - you'll only be able to use the excuse once


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