Right to Manage...again!

[roxytoo]

Hi wise ones. We took out the RTM on a block of 6 flats in 2019

Here is the timeline

The limited company was set up in May 2019 in preparation for the Right To Manage if it was successful

The Freeholder agreed for the RTM in August 2019

The handover was in November 2019

After much tooing and froing and demanding I eventually got some sort of set of accounts from the old management company in Feb 2020

Apparetnly there was no monies owed to us though the balance sheet showed £136, we questioned it but were told there was nothing in the pot

Unbeknown to any of us the freeholder had asked for a report to be done by the property management company before us on the maintenance of the whole building which, unbeknown to any of us, was carried out in July 2019. The management company instructed a company to do it

Today I got an invoice dated August 2019 for £606 from that company as apparently it had never been paid, they had got my name off Companies House

On looking back now at all the paperwork that was sent in Feb 2020 there is a list of 2 creditors, one of them is the company who did the work. I either missed it or saw it and as there was never any invoice with it, forgot about it! I honestly cant remember!

Are we liable for this invoice?

[eagle2]

What was agreed at the date of takeover? Did you agree to collect the service charge arrears and pay outstanding bills? If not, it is the responsibility of the freeholder to deal with all items up to that date.

If the balance sheet indicates that there are some monies held, you are entitled to ask the freeholder to account for them. The freeholder is not entitled to simply say that there are no monies, it must explain how the balance has been used and provide invoices etc.

With regards to the invoice for £606, it is not your responsibility to pay the supplier because you did not enter into the legal contract and you should not interfere with that contract, so you should refer the Company to the freeholder. Whether or not you should reimburse the freeholder if and when it pays the invoice depends again on what was agreed at the date of takeover and whether or not you are satisfied that the charge is recoverable in full from the leaseholders under the terms of the lease.

[roxytoo]

Thank you so much

[roxytoo]

Following on from this the RTM got a quote for the redecoration of the outside. However now looking at the lease its says that this is the responsibility of the lessor, does that mean the freeholder pays for that?

[Macromia]

Following on from this the RTM got a quote for the redecoration of the outside. However now looking at the lease its says that this is the responsibility of the lessor, does that mean the freeholder pays for that?

RTM companies take over most of the responsibilities that the lease assigns to the freeholder.

If the lease makes external redecoration the responsibility of the freeholder (which most leases do), the freeholder would have the responsibility of organising the work and paying for it - but the lease will usually also include this as something that the freeholder can claim the costs for from leaseholders as part of the service charges (often in advance, but in arrears in some leases). There may also be a requirement to consult leaseholders before work is done, and this would usually apply to full external redecoration because of the cost to each individual leaseholder.
Your RTM Company will almost certainly now have the responsibility of organising, and paying for, the costs of external redecoration, with the costs shared by the leaseholders.

[roxytoo]

Many thanks, it makes more sense now!