Hi,
I own a property (apartment) which i rent out quite recently. I have just received a letter from a solicitor which is claiming that i have not paid my £200 Ground rent annual charge to the free hold owner and now wants to charge me admin fees late payment fees which total up to £1000 (£500 of which is the solicitors fee for sending me a letter).
I have never received an invoice from the free hold owner for the ground rent as i was receiving invoices for the Apartment service charges quarterly via email from a separate management company which manages that aspect so i had assumed this other management company that handles the ground rent would email me an invoice for the annual cost at some point.
Turns out they had been sending a letter of the invoice to the actual flat that i rent out, and its managed by a letting agency and so i had never received an invoice and had no opportunity to pay as i was never aware of the invoice. (they sent the first annual charge invoice in January 2020 apparently and then subsequently 1 a month till march apparently to the apartment)
I'm happy to pay the ground rent but not the accompanying additional late payment fee's and now a solicitor cost on top. What legal standing do i have to refuse payment and take it to court? ( if i never received it, but it was only sent to the property which i rent out)
Thanks for any help or pointers or even advice!
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I own a property (apartment) which i rent out quite recently. I have just received a letter from a solicitor which is claiming that i have not paid my £200 Ground rent annual charge to the free hold owner and now wants to charge me admin fees late payment fees which total up to £1000 (£500 of which is the solicitors fee for sending me a letter).
I have never received an invoice from the free hold owner for the ground rent as i was receiving invoices for the Apartment service charges quarterly via email from a separate management company which manages that aspect so i had assumed this other management company that handles the ground rent would email me an invoice for the annual cost at some point.
Turns out they had been sending a letter of the invoice to the actual flat that i rent out, and its managed by a letting agency and so i had never received an invoice and had no opportunity to pay as i was never aware of the invoice. (they sent the first annual charge invoice in January 2020 apparently and then subsequently 1 a month till march apparently to the apartment)
I'm happy to pay the ground rent but not the accompanying additional late payment fee's and now a solicitor cost on top. What legal standing do i have to refuse payment and take it to court? ( if i never received it, but it was only sent to the property which i rent out)
Thanks for any help or pointers or even advice!
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