Estate Managment Co struck off: have all our problems been solved now?

I’m a house owner and my estate is “mismanaged” by a management company. The two directors of which are the developers.

The management company has no assets as the common areas still belong to the developer (which is in receivership) and as far as i know it has no liabilities.

The residents of my estate do not want the management company as we can and do organize getting the grass cut by ourselves for a lot less money than that been charged by the company.

We were planning to call an agm and appoint residents as directors, we were then planning to fold up the company. However we have just learned that the company has been “struck off”. I’m wondering have all our problems been solved now.

A lot of residents refused to pay the management company its exorbitant fees and indeed the company directors are currently been investigated by the Gardai for defrauding the shareholders/homeowners – will those bills owed now be void or will there still be a “lee” against their homes if they try to sell.

Any advice appreciated.

moved from Askaboutbusiness to [URL="http://www.askaboutmoney.com/forumdisplay.php?f=67"]Management companies, apartments, etc[/URL]

Who will own the common areas? Could the receiver sell them off? Someone may see a future benefit to owning them for potential development.

Many people would want the council to take ownership of the common areas and that may be a positive outcome of the situation. The problem for the owners could be that with the management company struck off, there is no legal structure to transfer the common areas to. This may not be an issue if the council takes ownership.

If someone has an accident in the common area now, who would be liable? If someone wanted to sell their property it is likely that a purchaser's solicitor would raise a significant concern regarding the common areas which would probably make it impossible to sell in the short / medium term.

the common areas are still owned by the developer. He is in receivership and the receiver and the council are currently "negotiating" with no end in sight (3 years now). The common area and road are unfinished and we were aware that the receiver wanted to foist them onto the management company and thus the residents. The receiver is currently paying insurance and lights etc. We're paying for the grass cutting ourselves through the resident association

Are the services completed on the estate?

Public Lighting?
Roads?
Footpaths?
Surface Water Drainage?
Water Mains?
Sewers?

In short, is the estate up to or nearly up to the standard expected by the LA?

Is the development complete?

What condition are any boundary fences in?
Are there any large trees in the estate?

What do your deeds say about a management company?

When was the estate built?

It may have been a condition of planning that the mgt co be created and that the LA will not take over the common areas.

You need to check the deeds to your property because if the mgt co is mentioned a future sale of property may be made difficult if the management co has been struck off.

If someone has an accident in the common area now, who would be liable?

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The minister for finance.

Once struck off all assets become the ministers property.

does this mean the minister for finance has to pay my mortgage now ...nice!
joking aside, the deeds and the planning permission require a "management scheme" not a management company. The estate is mostly finished , the roads need to have a final surface level put on and the sewers need to be inspected. estate was abandoned by developer 7 years ago. Bond has let expire due to CC incompetence. LA wont take it in charge ,

meathmitchel said:

does this mean the minister for finance has to pay my mortgage now ...nice!
joking aside, the deeds and the planning permission require a "management scheme" not a management company. The estate is mostly finished , the roads need to have a final surface level put on and the sewers need to be inspected. estate was abandoned by developer 7 years ago. Bond has let expire due to CC incompetence. LA wont take it in charge ,

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Another paper bond! It should be a crime to accept these.

You need to qualify what your lease documents say. IF there were directors of a company AND an agent then it sounds like you do have a company. IF it is listed on the CRO website then you did have one.

Can you still access the documents for this like your articles of association? Maybe ask the cro to help if not.

A management company will be tied into your lease documents and will be an integral part of your ability to sell your property ensuring it is healthy and well.

It is just houses?

I'm very surpised the fraud squad are involved?!? Is it a big estate? Have you reported them to the ODCE as well?

ODCE told us to report the issues to the gardai because it was so blatent. The devloper through his directorship of the managemnt comapny was in cohots with the management agent. He was using money to cover his other building projects and paying for his lifestyle. Its just houses and they are freehold not leasehold

meathmitchel said:

We have just learned that the company has been “struck off”. I’m wondering have all our problems been solved now?
Any advice appreciated.

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Some how I doubt that all your problems will be solved.

I know that FLAC (ask at your local citizens advice) have provided residents in similar circumstances with a good steer on how to approach the problem.

You should gather together all the information you have and arrive prepared.

If they think you might need further professional advice they will put you on the right track.

If they are freehold then the management company has nothing to do with the sale of the house.

Time said:

If they are freehold then the management company has nothing to do with the sale of the house.

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Thats my thinking as well. We wet to FLAC but they were no use. From my reading of it we're in the clear. I'm getting legal advice tonight. Whatever they say, i'll post for others to learn from

ontour said:

The problem for the owners could be that with the management company struck off, there is no legal structure to transfer the common areas to. This may not be an issue if the council takes ownership.

If someone has an accident in the common area now, who would be liable? If someone wanted to sell their property it is likely that a purchaser's solicitor would raise a significant concern regarding the common areas which would probably make it impossible to sell in the short / medium term.

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Time said:

If they are freehold then the management company has nothing to do with the sale of the house.

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I agree with ontour when he says " it is likely that a purchaser's solicitor would raise a significant concern regarding the common areas which would probably make it impossible to sell in the short / medium term.

Im sorry that your experience with FLAC was that they were "no use". We had to wait a number of months until a solr with experience in the this field could see us but the steer we got from the FLAC solicitor was excellent.

" it is likely that a purchaser's solicitor would raise a significant concern regarding the common areas which would probably make it impossible to sell in the short / medium term."

That is true but it is still better than with what was happening with in which people were getting "leans" for thousands getting put on their houses by the mgt company. Those people rightly refused to pay a large amount money for a bad service and until questions about financial irregularities were answered. The current situation is that we can supply a letter to the solicitor outlining the circumstances, that the receiver is in charge of the common areas and their upkeep and the residents committee is getting the grass cut. Most housing estates don't have management companies and manage to do without them successfully. The legal situation will be no more different than most unfinished housing estates in ireland.

Joe_90 said:

It may have been a condition of planning that the mgt co be created and that the LA will not take over the common areas.

You need to check the deeds to your property because if the mgt co is mentioned a future sale of property may be made difficult if the management co has been struck off.

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What do the deeds to your properties say about a management company? I know that the owners of houses in most newer housing estates can be designated part owners of the management company.

meathmitchel said:

The legal situation will be no more different than most unfinished housing estates in ireland.

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the legal situation in most (if not all) unfinished housing estates in Ireland is a horrible mess. You might be able to mitigate this horrible mess somewhat by getting good relevant professional and legal advice at this stage that will save you and your neighbours a lot of time and aggravation in future.

Who is paying for the public lighting? When was the last time the PL bill was paid?

Are the drains in order? Are the water mains in order? Are the sewers in order? What condition are 3rd party boundaries in? What condition are the roads and footpaths in? These are the questions that prospective buyers might be asking and it is a well to have clarity around the answers now.

the deed s refer to a management scheme, which we have via the residents committee getting the grass cut
As i stated before, the receiver is responsible for lights, drains etc.