Solicitor recommendation for management company

Madangan said:
So get out now(while your sanity is still intact)>
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I appreciate the advice Madangan. Some good points in your post. With regard to selling it is certainly something I have thought about but in many respects it is not really my style. I am happy where I am living. Why should I be run out of my home because a bunch of idiots refuse to pay what they owe? I'll do my best to rectify the current situation by working with the other residents but I don't think I should be forced to sell.

That said I do have the luxury of living in a house in the estate rather than the apartment complex. Funnily enough, all the directors are house owners rather than apartment owners. The houses are freehold rather than leasehold but the car parking spaces attached to the houses are leasehold. All the long term debtors are apartment owners. The apartments pay significantly higher fees because of the higher costs associated with the maintenance, insurance and so forth of the apartment blocks.

Again this is the problem when it comes to meetings. Only the house owners and a couple of the apartment owners (all fully paid up) show up. I will certainly be sending out letters stressing the importance of everybody paying but am preparing myself for the worst given the length of time this has been going on. Basically, I'll follow pretty much all your points outlined but will stop short of selling my home! However, as a director I have an obligation to alert the CRO if the company becomes insolvent. Obviously I don't wish it to get that far but want to be prepared for the possibility.
 
Hi Billtopper,

I promise this is my last post.

I fully agree with you that if you are in a house you are in a better position than in an apartment in these circumstances. While the problems are the same they are magnified if you have an apartment rather than a house or duplex.

If I had heard my own advice (about selling ) a year ago Id have said it was crazy talk. So why do I say it now?

If you are in the market for a nice apartment and now in a more balanced market even maybe a buyers one you find 2 or 3 that fit your needs. Lovely well (internally) maintained apartments ..which do you buy?which do you push the boat out for and pay a wee bit more?

Apt A : common areas looking a bit rough round the edges,unloved, no sinking fund to speak of and a very high number of owners in arrears

Apt B : Same scenario but your solicitor tells you that the company is struck off and when viewing you bump into residents,start chatting to get the inside info on and they say management co useless never do anything etc..

Apt C :common areas lovely and clean, very tidy,great first impression, half decent sinking fund and relatively low level debtors,

Its a no brainer really! Also this whole area is now becoming a real hot potato so buyers in the future will be far more tuned in to this,they will be asking about these things from the off.

Lastly its takes a few years before a badly run management company begins to manifest itself physically ie grotty run down common areas but 5 to 10 years on it will be as clear as crystal.

Dont despair it can be turned around when people realise whats in it for them ( and with people like you willing to take on the responsibility),

good luck with it
 
I know i said it was my last post but this will be !

Most solicitors would be very reluctant to advise a client to proceed without getting at least a significant reduction in price to cover what the purchaser may have to pay towards reinstatement of company, many solicitors would insist on telling the bank who might then refuse to continue with the loan, some believe that as the company is gone( for the time being) the property cant be properly insured, no arrears can be successfully sued for until reinstatement so it becomes a big mess

Most problems can be solved if enough money is thrown at it but best case scenarioserious price drop worst case cant sell till problem solved.
 
Feel free to post as often as you wish Madangan - all help and advice is appreciated. Although I won't be selling my home, no matter how precarious the company's finances. Furthermore, it would involve being somewhat duplicitous to the person I'm selling to which is not something I'd be happy about either.

I don't agree that an apartment you cannot sell is worthless. Even with the management company stricken off I'm sure someone, somewhere would buy it for some amount. I can continue to live in it as well. It might be fairer to say that without a functioning management company the prices of all the houses/apartments are likely to experience serious depreciation but "worthless" is a bit harsh.

Examining the accounts in further detail I notice that there are a number of apartments which are rented but not shown as such on the accounts. Many of these landlords are in arrears. I am going to suggest we tackle these debts first as there is less likelihood of ill feeling being generated as a result. Is there any means of obtaining the landlord's addresses without contacting the tenants? None of them appear to be registered with the PRTB according to their website.

The more I think about it, the more I think we need to obtain advice from a solicitor with expertise in conveyancing. That's the main concern of the residents who are paying fees. What happens to the freehold if the company is stricken off and can we make moves now to lessen the impact - e.g. transfer freeholds to the leaseholders for a nominal sum wherever practical? Something I'm curious about as well is what happens to the debts people owe if the company is stricken off? Presumably they don't disappear, right?
 
billtopper said:
I don't agree that an apartment you cannot sell is worthless. Even with the management company stricken off I'm sure someone, somewhere would buy it for some amount.
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Or somebody will rent it.
but "worthless" is a bit harsh.
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I agree.
Examining the accounts in further detail I notice that there are a number of apartments which are rented but not shown as such on the accounts.
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Why would that be shown on the accounts? Our accounts make no mention of which properties are rented and which are owner occupied.
 
Is there any means of obtaining the landlord's addresses without contacting the tenants? None of them appear to be registered with the PRTB according to their website.
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A search of the land registry is needed here. Do that via a solicitior.

I retract my "worthless" comment, in hindsight it was a bit harsh. Sorry.
 

The house owners probably already own the freehold in their houses, apartment owners probably hold under long leases and the common areas both internal(in the apartment blocks including the roofs) and external eg roads footpaths etc.. are probably owned by the management company probably with a freehold title.

Transferring freehold to the apartment owners is not a good idea (for technical conveyancing reasons which you dont want or need to know) but more importantly it doesnt solve the problem because it is the common areas which are the problem.

Sadly there is no easy solution to the problem hence the need for a management company to exist and be properly run. Management companies are actually the solution to the problem but when badly run they become the problem.

The people who control the management company are not the few who take on the responsibility of running it but actually every single owner in the estate. If a management company is badly run it is the fault of all the owners but of course we live in an era where everyone wants to blame others for their woes without ever looking in the mirror! And if you were to repeat that last comment at an egm of the company youd probably be lynched!

You should go after the absentee lanldords as they also tend to be the last to pay up as they have no personal sense of responsibility and they dont have to put up with the problems day to day( a gross generalisation I know). Be aware though that any service charge more than 6 years old becomes statute barred so you should issue proceedings if anyone is more than 5 years in arrears. Also in such a case if someone pays part of their arrears you must only accept it if it is agreed that it is set off against the oldest arrears e.g 2003 not 2006.

As for yet another post on this thread I think I may have a posting probelm. an AAM addict so Im off now to find some counselling and addiction therapy,
Adios
 
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