How to recoup overpayment of apportioned management fee?

Moose15

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I purchased an apartment this year and paid an apportioned rate of the property tax and management fee. Fair enough.

However, the calculations were based on a jan to Dec year and once I moved in almost immediately had to pay the next year's fee as the year actually ran July to June.

I notified my solicitor who has repeatedly sent letters and made calls to the vendors solicitor. They have made no response and refuse to engage. This is now 5 months later.

Another small matter that I have let go is that the apportionment of the management fee was based on the total amount whereas I subsequently found out they received a 17% discount for paying upfront. I'm happy to let that go as it was their discount but it feels like a symptom of bad faith here.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get this rectified?
 
If your own solicitor won't engage your on the back foot. Unless you can get a copy of the bill from the Management Company showing Jan - December then your dispute is with the vendor and it's unlikely that you will have any success getting funds from them.
 
Your solicitor should have cleared all that up in advance. If the vendor doesn't volunteer it, not sure there's much you can do.
 
If your own solicitor won't engage your on the back foot. Unless you can get a copy of the bill from the Management Company showing Jan - December then your dispute is with the vendor and it's unlikely that you will have any success getting funds from them.
Thanks for the response. My own solicitor is making efforts here but the vendors solicitor refuses to respond to the letters or take her calls. I've provide my solicitor with last year's and this year's statement of account from the management company. It seems very clear cut to me that there was a error on their part. My solicitor should have caught it but didn't.

I guess the information I'm looking for at this stage is, does anyone kmow of a way to escalate this e.g. should I be calling myself, write to the managing partner, talk to the law society? It is a small amount in the context of the overall purchase price but not in terms of my day to day life and it is significant for me as I had had to find the cash to pay the management fee in full a month after moving in rather than having 6 months to save like I thought.
 
This is entirely your solicitors fault.

Write and tell then that you want them to reimburse you, one nice letter then a second threatening to escalate. If that doesn't work, escalate it slowly, managing partner, their professional indemnity insurer, the law society.

I predict you will get a check about the second step on this ladder.
 
This is entirely your solicitors fault.

Write and tell then that you want them to reimburse you, one nice letter then a second threatening to escalate. If that doesn't work, escalate it slowly, managing partner, their professional indemnity insurer, the law society.

I predict you will get a check about the second step on this ladder.

Thanks for the reply.

To be fair to my solicitor, the vendor's solicitor was the one who drew up the account statement and indicated the amount I had to pay. My solicitor passed it on to me. I think she probably should have checked with the management company, but that was the extent of her error. The vendors solicitor, however obviously made a complete hash of it.

I'm not really interested in pursuing an agonistic relationship with my solicitor, as we have a good working relationship and wider business connections. I do however want to escalate with the vendors solicitor, which my solicitor seems reluctant to do. Same advice applies?
 
Your solicitor is reluctant because they know the vendor or their solicitor has no case to answer.
 
I agree with not wanting to have a go at your solicitor, in the context of things, it would ruin a good working relationship, as you say. Your solicitor took information from the other side in good faith. What ever happened to taking professionals at their word. I would however be totally pi**ed off at the other sides cock up, and would use creamegg`s advise, but, you send it for the attention of the vendor`s solicitor. if nothing else, just to rattle the branches and test the responce.
 
Ummm. Its a bit of a mess.

OP's own solicitor should have spotted this - we do pre-Contract Requisitions and in this case the Management Company should have provided the information. Not clear as to why the Vendor's solicitor provided it? Unless it was just the apportionment figures at the end? They got them wrong ( probably accidentally) and have, probably, given the money to their client , who is, probably, long gone!

If is it not very much money, I'd be asking your own solicitor to pay it back to you. It is probably easier and more cost efficient for her to do that than to issue proceedings against the vendor on your behalf to recover the overpayment.

But if you don't have a forwarding address for the Vendor and their solicitor is non communicative , it could all be a fruitless exercise.

mf
 
I just wanted to update on this in case of anyone searching on a similar matter. Thanks to all who provided input. Also in response to MF1, it was the apportionment figure at the end provided by the vendor's solicitor, who got it wrong.

After further friendly attempts to get this resolved, a registered letter to both managing partners (my solicitor and the vendor solicitor) stating that my next step was a complaint to the law society resolved this issue within a week. My solicitor fronted the cost back to me and recouped from the vendors solicitor. This was in January but I just thought to update now.

The more junior solicitor handling the purchase now longer works for the firm... not sure if that's coincidental.

My advice to anyone in a similar situation is escalate asap to more senior partners.
 
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