S146

[Guest]

Thanks so much for your response! I'm escalating the complaint regarding misinformation/limited information from the lender to the Financial Ombudsman, but in all honestly I'm not so sure it will achieve much. I'm quite sure they will still insist on the S146 - my only argument would be that perhaps they should also assume the legal costs involved given what I feel is their 'lapse', but I don't hold out much hope for that either.

My building's freehold is owned by an external freeholder, there is no lease manager or residents owned company. The freeholder is a hugely rich individual in London, so strictly speaking, waiting for my £2K until next April would be of no real consequence to them. But of course I do not expect any compliance on their behalf simply because of this fact!

If I absolutely have to I could sell up now and move, it's just that I was hoping to avoid that as I won't be able to purchase another property without my pension which is due next April, so I'd have to go into rented, which would present other problems given my current circumstances, not to mention the additional costs involved with having to move yet again next April/May when I AM in a position to buy. ALSO March/April "Spring" is the optimum time to sell here.

Again I suppose I am at the mercy of the Managing Agents and/or Freeholder, to see if they are prepared to wait or even subsidise (if need be) my service charges until next April. It was left with the MA's that I would phone them back in about a fortnight. I think what they're hoping is that in between now and then they will have received additional funds from other leaseholders of the building, which will fatten the kitty, and they will feel less worried about doing without my contribution for 8 months. At the moment there's only about £900 in a fund that needs to cover the costs of running a building with 5 flats in it from now until next April! The other leaseholders are clearly a bit late in paying as well (the service charges were due end of June), but not as late as me, in that my late service charges include a portion of shortfall from last year's service charges as well!

Thanks again for everyone's advice!!!

[leaseholdanswers]

sharon, that means that you cant actually pay until june. most sales take three months from listing to completion.

[Guest]

I would pay it with my pension, which I get in April!

[Guest]

I will most likely start marketing the flat in Feb/March, hoping that I can complete in April as close to pension day as poss.

[leaseholdanswers]

Ok as you have to be clear when and if you can pay it.

At this stage as long your lender confirm that they will pay it on receipt of the s 146 ( the last thing you want to do is admit the charge and then be lumbered with no defence if they wont pay) you are better off doing that unless you can convince the freeholder to carry the debt and pay interest if the lease allows that.

[Guest]

Thanks for that, I'll make sure about that before I go down the route, IF I have to.

In the meantime I'm hoping the freeholder/MA takes pity on me and gives me a bit more time. I think if everyone else pays up on time they might be in a position to overlook my contribution for a bit, especially if I offer to pay interest or a late payment fee. I think this might turn out to be a classic case of why one should never bury one's head in the sand and ignore demands. Often if you engage with people and try to address the problem you might find them a lot more flexible. Although I certainly can't say that about my lenders, who are totally heavy-handed and 'by the book'. Even speaking to them on the phone is like speaking to a robot that is failing to even address what you are saying.

[bbva]

Why dont you ask if you can do a monthly payment plan? This is what we have done in the past for those who are finding it difficult to pay.

[Guest]

I just can't afford a reasonable payment plan at the moment - had an illness that put me on disability benefit last year, barely keeping up with the mortgage as it is. It's just a matter of buying time until April, at which point I'm selling and will have all the equity and pension as well. Can't sell until I get the pension, as I need both equity and pension to move elsewhere. Just one of those things.

[leaseholdanswers]

if you are on ESA or PIP then you may be entitled to support and in turn ( real) debt advice and support. That may hekp in ultimately drawing up a deed, agreement, that you will pay in a certain time, with interest, and, in some cases, agree a charge on the property, which prevents you running off with the loot

this is if the freeholder or service charge account can stand the missing cash, of course! I hope that the earlier comments help put it into context but I suspect wating until April at the earliest and realisticallly almost a year with perhaps another charge or two e.g. year end balancing charges ground rent or insurance maybe a charge in December (?) willl be too much to ask and they will steam on with debt recovery.

How about a further advance on the mortgage enough to pay the bill and to make monthly payments on the mortgage until May? This is where debt advice can help to arrange these funds.

[Guest]

Yeah I've had some debt advice. The problem with any borrowing, despite the amount of equity you might have, is that you have to demonstrate some capacity to meet the monthly payments straight away. For that reason there's no way my mortgage company would agree to any sort of advance. If I had that capacity then I could start making instalments towards the overdue service charge now. At least that's what I've found so far. I asked my MA about agreeing to put a charge on the property, but they said they would not be able to do that, certainly not unless solicitors were involved, so more expenses - go back to GO and do NOT collect $200!

Fortunately there are no more charges due now until next June, so nothing in December - whew! They bill June-June, in advance, only once a year. In fact when I DO pay up in April the MA's will end up owing me money most likely, as I intend to leave around April time, so they may very well end up owing me two-months service charges reimbursed.

[leaseholdanswers]

It really sounds like you have a difficult lender as in the circumstances they should be happy to make the loan as set out. This is something I have had to discuss with lenders and leaseholders over the years in similar situations and major works and frankly I have found that there is a scale of lets say imagination when it comes to these cases, and you can guess where yours lie

[Guest]

Thanks! Well whether the borrowing would be with my lender or anyone else they would not be prepared to consider it until I could substantiate an ability to repay the borrowing, starting immediately, which I won't have until next April. That is the stumbling block that I keep encountering unfortunately.

[leaseholdanswers]

What about a loan from a family member or friend secured on the property or as a private mortgage?

The only reason that I am pushing you on this is
a its unlikely that they will be this patient
b if the push debt recovery you will have explored, and crucially be able to demonstrate that with proof, every avenue open to you

If your lender will pay on the s 146 as earlier in writing preferably in blood then thats the route to go. I have accessed their website and other non public materials (CML handbook) and I cannot find a clear policy on these cases that might help you. Sorry.

[leaseholdanswers]

Fortunately there are no more charges due now until next June, so nothing in December - whew! They bill June-June, in advance, only once a year. In fact when I DO pay up in April the MA's will end up owing me money most likely, as I intend to leave around April time, so they may very well end up owing me two-months service charges reimbursed.

Aah I am not so sure. As the charge is estimated for the year, sometime in the year following, accounts will be produced and therefore if they overspent in the year up to June 2013, then there may be a further balancing charge. You'll have to take a squint at your lease.

You are also required to pay the full years charge even if you move early as leases and service charges don't work like the council tax or electricity bill.

1 you purchaser will pay you the price and an apportionment of the SC for the months April May etc. The exception is that if you pay on completion out of proceeds you will pay the agents the full amount though you have the buyers 2 months in your pocket.
2 As above when the year is over 2014/2015 that is there may be balancing charge too and your sale contract will require that any deficit/overspend is yours to pay ( ie 10 of 12 months worth) and any surplus/underspend has to be paid over to you.

this may seem complicated but your lease requires ( on what I have seen here) that you pay what has actually been spent( which you dont know until some time after the year end) and in the meantime pay an estimated charge to give them the cash to spend.

[Guest]

Thanks again for the advice! Yes, a personal loan would solve all the problems. Unfortunately that's just not an option at the moment.

The accounts for the year normally are not produced until March/April each year, so fortunately I shouldn't get hit with that potentially additional problem until then, at which point my pension and flat sale will be imminent. Fortunately my management company never seems to overspend, and there is usually a reimbursement applied to the following service charges each year of a couple of hundred pounds. But who knows, the roof might blow off in between now and then - just my luck!

I'm going to speak to my MA again next week. I got the impression that they may very well be prepared to wait as long as some of the other leaseholders have paid up. During our last conversation none had done so (only one, partially), despite being billed in June. Hopefully others will have coughed up a bit by then.

My last ditch scenario might be that, through transferring my pension to another provider, I may be able to access at least a portion of the funds sooner (October). I'm hoping I don't have to do this, as there will, once again, be solicitors' fees involved, and most likely some sort of admin/early redemption fees. But this process 'might' be available if all else fails!

I shall just have to hold my breath for the next fortnight and see what happens. It's really down to the MA now... Also waiting to hear back from the Financial Ombudsman re my complaint about my lender not informing me fully of all the facts (which they have surprisingly completely admitted to in correspondence!).

Thanks again...