Brady Solicitors has an impressive track record in the speedy recovery of service charge arrears that have eluded other legal teams, including finding alternative routes to securing a settlement.
This was the case where an RMC was facing substantial unpaid service charges and a leaseholder who was avoiding all attempts to recover the debt.
The RMC had initially instructed the County Court bailiff to help recover the arrears. The leaseholder had no mortgage and so forfeiture was unlikely to be a successful option.
In our experience, County Court Bailiffs can take a pretty lacklustre approach to enforcement; they are not paid on results and will only visit a debtor during the working day when parties are often out – so it was no surprise that many months passed with no progress.
The bailiff finally gave up and submitted a final return on the warrant.
A better approach to recovering the service charge arrears
Bradys’ Cheryl Bates reviewed the progress (or lack of!) to date and instructed a High Court Enforcement Officer (HCEO) to take over the debt recovery work.
Within two weeks the HCEO had made contact with the leaseholder and secured an agreement for a repayment of £500 a month over a period of 11 months.
The situation improved further, when the leaseholder decided to obtain a small mortgage and clear the debt sooner, so as not to have the debt hanging over him for the best part of a year.
This meant that all the outstanding service charge arrears were recovered in a relatively short time frame from instruction of the HCEO by the RMC. The funds were back into the block management account, and the relationship with the leaseholder was restored.
For a supportive approach to service charge recovery, talk to the legal property management experts at Brady Solicitors.
