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[eagle2]

You are entitled to a satisfactory explanation and if you do not receive one, you are entitled to deduct that amount until you receive an explanation or to estimate a reasonable amount yourself. I very much doubt that legal action would be threatened or taken over estimated charges. You would need to...

[eagle2]

Q1 - Very unlikely, you would need evidence that the monies have not been repaid and evidence of further failings of the RTM over the last 3 years. A Tribunal would want to know the views of other leaseholders. I also doubt that a Tribunal appointed manager will assist you. It is always better to control...

[eagle2]

The Banks seem to be changing their stance. They seemed to be happy to hold funds, which can be substantial, without paying any or much interest and not to charge for transactions....

[eagle2]

The ICAEW stated that the service charge funds should not appear in the balance sheet of the RMC because they do not belong to the RMC. Unhelpfully it was left at that point, there was supposed to be a further statement but it appears that no-one has been able to reach agreement, proposals have been...

[eagle2]

Well done for persisting and obtaining a reversal of the unreasonable charges.

[eagle2]

Lawcruncher - As I explained in #28 there are strong views for and against RMCs being regarded as dormant companies. That probably explains why there has been no updated statement made by the ICAEW. The current practice adopted by most management companies seems to be to treat them as dormant companies...

[eagle2]

I do not think that a management company or an agent would receive any sympathy from a Tribunal if it failed to respond to a reasonable request from a leaseholder for an explanation of what he/she is being asked to pay. The suggestion of withholding monies was made to encourage the agent to respond...

[eagle2]

The case for the RMC being dormant is that the service charge funds do not belong to the RMC, the RMC has the ability to "deploy" rather than "enjoy" the funds and service charge transactions are kept in separate accounting records. Tech 03/11 explains further and states that the...

[eagle2]

If you wish to retain the dormant status of the RMC, I would reimburse each payment made by the RMC separately and promptly. It would be very difficult to argue that the RMC is dormant if it is holding a bank balance throughout the year,

Most RMCs appear to be treated as dormant companies...

[eagle2]

If you are satisfied that the lease allows the costs of the RMC to be charged as service charge expenditure, there is no problem, the bank charges can be reimbursed from the service charge funds. You will have similar issues with filing fees payable to Companies House and any costs of an AGM.
...

[eagle2]

A 20% increase should be explained by the agent. Perhaps if you threaten to withhold part of the charges, including part of the agent's fee, until you receive a response, it will prompt them to be reasonable and reply to you.

[eagle2]

You should check your lease carefully to see if the running costs of the RMC are allowed to be charged as service charge expenditure. If there is no mention of those costs in the lease, there is conflicting advice as to whether or not you may pay for them out of service charge funds.

To...

[eagle2]

You should be very careful to use service charge monies only for purposes which are stated within the lease. You are not allowed to transfer monies from the service charge fund to the RMC business account simply because the RMC is short of monies.

Was it your or the Bank's idea to have...

[eagle2]

The agent should be transparent and explain any new proposed charges and any other significant changes in the budget

[eagle2]

That appears to be normal. Does the lease allow service charge funds to be lent to the RMC? Does it allow the running costs of the RMC to be treated as service charge expenditure?

I used to hold client accounts at Barclays and they made no transaction charges at all. Maybe they have changed...

[eagle2]

I suggest that you ask the management company to seek advice or suggest that you jointly instruct a solicitor or barrister or a surveyor to resolve the matter. That would be better than the alternative of threatening or taking legal action against the company. As a precaution you should take pictures...

[eagle2]

You need to distinguish between members and leaseholders even if they are the same persons. You can only charge leaseholders in accordance with the terms of the lease. You do not appear to have the right to transfer monies from the service charge funds to the business bank account. I would speak to...

[eagle2]

You effectively lent the money to the management company and if you have not recovered the full cost, the management company owes you money. It remains the management company's responsibility to carry out repairs and the lease will say if and when it can charge the leaseholders. If monies are needed...

[eagle2]

The Company affairs and the service charge funds need to be kept entirely separate. You would still not be able to use DDs and cheques on the business account for the service charge expenditure. If the Bank charges the Company business account, the RMC may not be able to recover the amounts under the...

[eagle2]

It is a very odd way of dealing with repairs but if the management company asked you to instruct a contractor, you were acting as agent of the management company and the contractor should have issued the invoice to the management company. You should have asked the management company to pay the bill....