Money: The landlords from hell who exploit a lax law

Homebattles

The landlord may own the freehold, but it's your flat. So what is your position if you suffer exorbitant charges, poor service or outright harassment? Karen Woolfson offers advice.

Maintenance and management charges are a potentially explosive area between landlords and tenants. In big blocks, there is a significant amount of maintenance, as well as hands-on management which the landlord has a right to charge for. The amount charged is sometimes inflated, and heated disputes can arise over what it should cover. In small blocks of six flats or less, where leaseholders own their own freehold collectively and manage the block themselves, it is normal to carry out the limited managerial duties without any charge, though there may be a small maintenance charge for, eg, a regular cleaner for the communal parts - normally the landlord's responsibility.

Of course, if the management is farmed out to an independent company then a fee will be necessary. This may be preferable to a group of inexperienced leasehold freeholders running the show; for example, in one unusual situation, six people have bought the freehold but only five of them are on the board of directors. If the managers fail to disclose exactly what the maintenance and management charges are for, or are tempted to include inappropriate items, the sixth leaseholder is vulnerable to exploitation.

The tasks of management companies and managers are to some extent dictated by the terms of the lease - for example to keep clean the common parts and to replace broken light bulbs. For any other tasks, the managers should obtain a written agreement with specific descriptions of what they intend to do, before carrying it out. This agreement should be obtained from the freeholder where a management company is employed to look after a block. In the case of a small block of 10 flats or fewer, it would be good practice to obtain agreement from all tenants in the block, particularly where the leaseholders collectively own the freehold.

Charges should be "appropriate" to the task and be accompanied by a menu of details, preferably giving the amount levied for each item carried out. Managers should provide adequate explanation and notice of any increase in charges.

They should do nothing likely to interfere with the peace or comfort of leaseholders; should be prepared to support leaseholders who are being harassed or victimised; and dispatch any communications promptly.

Managers must also register under the Data Protection Act and comply with its principles if they keep personal information on computer, and must inform themselves of developments in the law affecting leaseholders and freeholders to ensure they keep wholly within it.

Many management companies and managers do their best to follow the procedures. Tenants who question those who don't, have been known to suffer intimidation, and in some cases serious harassment.

One leaseholder on the south coast has set up a victim support group after experiencing difficulties. Her landlord has been jailed. She alleges that one member of the group was the victim of a campaign that included abusive phone calls, damage to his car, verbal abuse, physical assault and intercepting his mail.

The worrying thing is that these psychological ploys are not uncommon, though physical assaults happen less often.

Another tenant, who complains of damage to his car, late-night phone calls, threatening correspondence and big bills arriving on his doorstep without proper explanation, underlines the "Empress" manager syndrome. This is when the manager rarely responds to letters, is difficult to get hold of, refuses contact with leaseholders and attempts to create confusion by not making clear which manager is responsible for what.

Another widespread problem is management companies charging fees for duties they have failed to carry out. Many leaseholders claim the managers are breaching the lease by not cleaning the building. One tenant alleges that after he questioned his landlord about charges, scratches started to appear on his car, and he received weird phone calls and threatening demands. He has not let these bully-boy tactics faze him, and intends to take his landlord to a LVT (Leasehold Valuation Tribunal).

These problems are unlikely to disappear unless the laws are tightened further, or leaseholders are given more power to combat bad landlords.

The current system is fundamentally flawed and could be done away with in favour of common-holds - where each leaseholder owns his or her own freehold. The Government has promised to look into this issue, but leaseholders are becoming impatient for action.

Karen Woolfson welcomes comments for her column. Write to: Homebattles, c/o Nic Cicutti, Personal Finance Section, `The Independent', 1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5DL. She regrets she is unable to reply personally to all letters.

Tactics of aggressive landlords

Scratching cars, breaking car windows

Late-night telephone calls

Tampering with mail

Threatening letters

Verbal abuse

Threats of physical abuse

Failure to respond to letters

Inflated service charge bills

Inflated maintenance charges

Failure to clean common parts

Ignoring legal procedures

Failure to distribute information about the property

Failure to consult tenants

Damage to personal property

Picking on elderly people and young women

Adding a tenant's name to mailing lists so that they receive piles of junk mail