County council querying nppr payment from management company

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snowdrop

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Has anyone else come across this request?
At the end of september, our estate management ltd company (mix of 40 private and section 23 homes) received letter from kerry county council asking the management company to confirm if the nppr charges are paid up to date for ALL of these properties.

I'm gobsmacked as to how a county council could think a management company would be privy to the tax compliance of 40 homeowners? And why should it be anything to do with the company anyway?

Are they just being lazy and trawling for info? do they not understand how the nppr works or is this a new procedure/responsibility they want to fob off on management companies?
any ideas?
 
Don't bother replying to them. As you say yourself, they have no business asking you this in the first instance.
 
I would see this more as a saving of postage and the LA having an incomplete list of owners rather than anything else.
This may be part of a strategy seeking confirmations of Members identitiesto establish and up-to-date register of people liable to pay nppr.

They may see this as a useful heads up for people liable for the nppr and as evidence that they have done something about it without actually going after people.
As a company, it is unprofessional to leave an unanswered letter from a local authority on file.

I don't think you should you sit on this in-house either - you may have responsibilities to your Members.
As a management company you should consider informing your members that the Council have made this approach.

Consider writing back acknowledging receipt and querying where the local authority thinks the management company acquired responsibility to authority to answer the query.
Consider stating your understanding that this responsibility does not arise and your company does not have the authority to make such confirmations on behalf of its Members.


ONQ.
 
onq said:
As a company, it is unprofessional to leave an unanswered letter from a local authority on file, nor should you sit on this - you may have responsibilities to your Members.
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I would count the letter from the council to be the height of unprofessionalism, and I could count it as seriously unprofessional for the management company to be allow itself to be misused by the council in this manner

onq said:
This may be a stalking horse to seek confirmations of Members identities as part of a trawl to establish and up-to-date register of people liable to pay nppr.
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Have they not got land registry records and the voting register like the rest of us?
 
More important, do management companies have records of whether properties are occupied by owners or rented out ? I doubt they would necessarily have this information.
 
T McGibney said:
I would count the letter from the council to be the height of unprofessionalism, and I could count it as seriously unprofessional for the management company to be allow itself to be misused by the council in this manner
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Let's take an extreme example.
You may be approached by a corrupt representative or person seeking you to do something illegal for money.
Unless you record and document the encounter you may find you have your role misrepresented at a later date.
This is an extreme case, but there is a definite value to engagement and recording the exchange contemporaneously.
Have they not got land registry records and the voting register like the rest of us?
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I don't know what resources are available to them.
I'd say they know that some members in ANY management company may not be compliant in their payments.

In this regard I would see the letter as a shot across the bows.
In my opinion, the management company, to be able to show it is not complicit in any way has to -
(i) write back disavowing any responsibility for the gathering or passing on of such information and
(ii) makes its Members aware of the correspondence.
I would carry out the latter function in advance of any AGM if there is no monthly newsletter / interim Update correspondence issued as part of the normal running of the development.

Ignoring letters from local authority officials is not something I would advise.
Things aren't as bad as they used were, but there are still people in unaccountable positions who don't actually know the law as it pertains to them, or the limits of their authority.
Add an incompetent County Solicitor to the mix and you could end up with matters escalating to court and draining the cash reserves of the management company needlessly.
A simple rebuttal and pass it on strategy costs very little, alerts the Members and allows the management company to stand aside.

:)

ONQ.
 
onq said:
In my opinion, the management company, to be able to show it is not complicit in any way
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complicit in what?

Are you seriously suggesting that a council could take legal action against a management company for its members' NPPR liabilities?

onq said:
Let's take an extreme example.
You may be approached by a corrupt representative or person seeking you to do something illegal for money.
Unless you record and document the encounter you may find you have your role misrepresented at a later date.
This is an extreme case, but there is a definite value to engagement and recording the exchange contemporaneously.
Click to expand...
There is a world of difference between contemporaneously recording the exchange for future reference and dignifying it with a written response.
 
I've seen county solicitors do very stupid things T McGibney. :)

You have to ask - in light of your understanding (with which I concur) that the Management Company have no role to play in this - what is the Council's game?

I don't disagree with your position on the responsibility of the management company, but I feel they should be seen to engage with the council and inform their Members.
 
They are clearly either naive enough to expect that at least some management company reps will either shop their owners' details to them, or optimistic enough to expect that their requests will scare NPPR dodgers into settling their liabilities. Either way they are acting outside their powers and I would suggest that most management companies have enough problems on their own plates without being forced also to do the council's dirty work in relation to NPPR collection.
 
elcato said:
More important, do management companies have records of whether properties are occupied by owners or rented out ? I doubt they would necessarily have this information.
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It tends to be a standard clause in deeds/leases for purchase in a managed development that you inform the company if you rent the property out and give them contact details for tenants, as well as owners.

I would imagine the council are actually looking for a list of non-owner occupied units rather than asking if the fees have been paid. One could argue that it's in the best interest of all owners to furnish this in that it is in the best interest of the country to raise as much money as possible from this fee. At the same time I would think data protection would prohibit sharing this information.
 
Thanks for all the replies and like most of you we're at a loss as to why this correspondence would be sent to the management company. We, the board, agreed to acknowledge the letter with wording to the following (if we hear anything back, I'll post it up here). Thanks again.

"We refer to your letter of the 28.09.2011. The management company for XX do not collect the NPPR charge from the owners. The charge, where applicable, is the responsibility of each individual home owner to remit and XX have no information regarding individuals financial matters."


 
(nods)

That acknowledges the letter and places the ball squarely back in the Council's court.
 
snowdrop said:
At the end of September, our estate management ltd company (mix of 40 private and section 23 homes) received letter from kerry county council asking the management company to confirm if the nppr charges are paid up to date for ALL of these properties.
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Is your estate management ltd company a straight up management company or does it fulfill some holiday letting agency tasks as well?

What was the exact wording of the request from the County Council? Knowing this would make it easier to weigh up the response of your Board.

BiN
 
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