Our Management company has quit

F

Fionnuala7

Guest
Hi,

Our management agent has jsut sent out a letter informing us that they ceased to be our management agent as of the 17th Dec.

This is as a result of several apartment owners not paying their fees for the last few years (which is both extremely annoying and selfish on the rest of us).
The letter stated that they won't be able to hand over the books to a new agent until all the fees are paid up.. leaving us in limbo..

Does anyone know how we can go about getting at least the building insurance in place without a management agent? as I really dont' want to lose my property to fire/damage etc?

If anyone has other information/advice I would be grateful.

Thanks,
Fionnuala
 
"Does anyone know how we can go about getting at least the building insurance in place without a management agent? as I really dont' want to lose my property to fire/damage etc?"

Get as many owners together as possible, pay the managing agents fees, take over the running of the Management Company and pay the Block Policy.

It is extremely frustrating to be a compliant apartment owner when others do not care. It is however the price of apartment owning. The only way it will work is if all the compliant parties ( those involved in management ) make it impossible for the non compliant ones by suing for the recovery of debts and if necessary simply paying the non paying parties' share of the managment fees until such time as the non compliant ones pay up.

It is one reason why I would be very reluctant to ever live in an apartment in a complex unless it was big enough to be able to carry the occasional non compliant owner.

mf
 
The very first thing you should do (if you haven't already) is to immediately remove the agent as an authorised person from the company bank account(s). I would go as far as closing the account and opening a new one somewhere else.

Once that is done, I would tell them the books of accounts and registrar of shareholders are company property and were only held in trust by them while they were working for you. (Last weeks ODCE document says exactly that.) I would put this in writing and threaten legal action and complaints to the ODCE if they are not turned over to the directors immediately. If they want to pursue you for the money, they can do like the rest of the world and take a court case against the company and it's directors. They are not allowed to hold your property, this is tantamount to theft and you should treat it as such.

You don't need an agent to get insurance. Your existing insurance policy is in your (management company's) name, it has nothing to do with the agent so it should still be in place and will continue till it expires naturally. If you do have to get a new policy, ring insurance companies directly or make it easier for yourself and get a broker to do it for you. You'll need to speak to their commercial department and ask for structural, fire, damage and directors & officers insurance. You might need to get a quantity surveyor to tell you how much to insure it for. Most insurers will let you pay by direct debit (but they might charge you extra for it) - this will let you get up and running while you collect money from the others.

The final thing you should do is get a list of all the people who haven't paid and write to them (registered post) telling them this is their final warning. Check your lease agreement - it might say that you can charge interest on unpaid accounts. (This can be quite high, in my estate it's 18%!) If it does, say that in the letter too. After three weeks, pass on their details to a debt collection solicitor and let them handle it. A few solicitors letters later and you should see some of them pay up. Again, check your lease agreement - you might be able to pass on the costs of the solicitor to the person being threatened.

All this assumes you (or other owners) are the directors of the company. If the developer is still in charge, you need to put a lot of pressure on them to get it sorted out.
 
Thank you, the above two posts are really helpful.
 
Where are the apartments located? I know a few management companies that may be able to help you out (or at least give you some information) if the location is in an area they cover.
 
mr.green.69,

The company you recommend is in Budapest. Any reason to think that this management company is in Budapest?

Dearg Doom,

Management companies are the legal entity set up to manage a specific development. the property owners are the shareholders.
Management agents are service providers that can act on behalf of the management company to maintain the common areas, collect fees, enforce rules etc. I believe that you may be confusing the two.
 

Not confused. Fionnuala7's agent has quit and I know some companies who provide this service in specific areas of the country that may be able to help/guide her if she wishes to speak to them.
 
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