I can fully understand where you are coming from. Have you spoken to any legal professionals as yet? Even if you have then I would still recommend you have a chat with James Butler at Landmark Leasehold Advisory Services Ltd – James’ very knowledgeable about the whole ‘leasehold minefield’ and very (VERY!) helpful! If you already have a successful LVT decision against Solitaire and they’ve just ignored it (not the first we’ve heard of this happening!) then I think your case would be even stronger!

Also of interest to you particularly after your comment “After losing the 1st court case due to my lack of solicitor (1 mistake I will not make again)” would be the recent case of Mr. and Mrs. Houston in the Telegraph and their David versus Goliath battle against Fairhold (owned by Peverel Group, which in turn, is owned by Consensus Group – a property and finance firm established by the billionaire Vincent Tchenguiz!)

Landmark’s full contact details are listed in the TTAS Directory

GOOD LUCK and do keep us all posted on TTAS with how it goes for you!

I have been in constant battle with Solitaire since buying my property 6 years ago. I was told when purchasing the property that the Mgt fees would be £650 p/yr, after the first year they jumped to £1500-£2000 p/yr and that’s only to look after 3 flats!
After losing the 1st court case due to my lack of solicitor (1 mistake I will not make again), we complained to the LVT (Land tribunal)who sided in our favour and ordered Solitaire to drop the prices deemed as unreasonable. Solitaire have ignored the LVT and did not provide us with new invoices/credits, instead the increased their prices furthermore with no explanation. I have complained via email, letters, phone calls, all of which have been ignored. Then today, I have received a letter from their solicitors, ordering me to pay the full amount within 7 days… I am now looking for a solicitor to take on my case.
Solitaire are a bunch of con artists and I cannot believe that the government is not taking any action against Mgt companies who continually rob people blind without providing them with any services whatsoever…

According to the solicitors I spoke to recently

“Your local authority has the power AND the DUTY to take action against landlords or property managers where the premises pose a risk to the health and safety of leaseholders. They can prosecute them for not repairing [the problem] and force them to carry out improvements or repairs to premises that contain hazards. However, the cost of the repairs will then very likely be reflected in your service charge.”

So you can see they have us over a barrel either way – best solution is to apply to the LVT to appoint different managers immediately, citing this serious danger to your health.

Andy may say that he will get it fixed but this what Solitaire always say, indeed, they have already lied to the Fire Service.

The fact that Andy needs you to tell him which property under their management is a death trap, despite the fact that they have already told the Fire Brigade that repair was imminent, and instead of taking notice of such a serious problem and prioritising it as of the utmost urgency, (ie a serious health and safety risk), means there is little chance of any immediate remedy.

I would also suggest that the Fire Brigade might want to take their own action against Solitaire after their incompetence / lies have caused serious risk to the public.

Basically, don’t bother with any further attempts to communicate with Solitaire, the only option you have is to force them to comply with the Law and the terms of your lease.

Specifically, they are in breach of contract once you have notified them of an item that requires repair – this is why they continually pretend that they have not received letters or phone calls, – because once they have been notified that a repair is required, they are in breach of contract and can be taken to the county court for remedy.

Thanks for your posting,

I am extremely concerned to read of the problems that you have been experiencing at your development.

I have forwarded your email directly onto the Solitaire Operations team for further investigation. I would be very grateful if you could forward me your development details so that we can look into resolving these issues immediately.

My direct email address is: andy.solitairepm@peverel.co.uk

Thanks

Andy

Solitaire Online Feedback Manager

A leak in the communal skylight has resulted in water damage to the ceiling,and leakage on overhead electrical sockets.
Reported this in 2008,then again in September this year.
I also involved the local Fire Brigade,as this presents a Fire Risk.
They,and I were assured that repair was imminent.
As of this date,the leak,and attendant danger persists.
I cannot rouse Solitaire to action,and I wonder,in this case of potential Negligence,should my next legal step be?

It is appalling that Solitaire expects us to pay professional fees up front for an inefficient, indifferent incompetent and unacceptable service. In practically every other type of business it would be rightly bankrupt and in receivership by now.

It’s been a while since I last contributed to the website, but this has been due to a few things going on with our estates cause.

So much has gone on and I have spoken with so many people that I can’t quite remember, if I have mentioned that following the advice of ARMA, we applied for an Independent Adjudication to be undertaken by a company called IDRS Ltd to look at our complaints.

I wont go into too much detail on this at present, as I don’t want affect the outcome of the adjudication, apart from the fact that we are awaiting Solitaire to provide re-audited accounts to the Independent Adjudicators by the 30th September, having highlighted discrepancies.

In addition to this going on, I have also rallied the residents to prove to Estates & Management that everyone at our estate wanted rid of Solitaire, because we all shared the views that we were being ripped off by them.

This evening I received confirmation from Hilary Quinn of Estates & Management, that our chosen property management company were likely to be appointed to manage our estate as of a 1st November handover date.

She did advise that all lessees have to settle any outstanding accounts with Solitaire, prior to the appointment of the new property management company. (a kind of clause in the appointment to ensure that Solitaire get their money!)

But pending the outcome of the independent adjudication and our re-audited accounts, it makes sense to withhold this payment until they provide accurate information.

I’m not building my hopes up just yet, because things could change (knowing what Solitaire / E&M are like) but it’s a positive feeling that possibly by the 1st November, we will no longer have to deal with Solitaire.

Bearing in mind that since May / June of this year, we haven’t had any services provided by Solitaire apart from grass cutting and you can only imagine how quickly our estate has deteriorated in that period. So there will be a lot of effort to be made, to get the place looking nice again. Its just a shame that it’s now the autumn/winter by the time of the appointment and couldn’t enjoy the place looking nice in the summer.

Oh well never mind! My advice to everyone that feels the same as I did: be determined and don’t give up, because it’s a marathon and not a sprint dealing with Solitaire, but in the end and with the right advice / evidence you can change things.

I’ll post again once the Independent Adjudicators have come to a decision.

Thanks for your recent postings; I am here to help find resolution to your enquiries.

Solitaire manages a large number of properties, so to answer each individual complaint that is posted on this site can be very difficult, if we cannot identify who you are and the development which your issue relates to.

Please feel free to email me directly at: andy.solitairepm@peverel.co.uk the more details you can supply me with the quicker I can bring it to the attention of the Solitaire Senior team and come back to you with a detailed response.

Many Thanks

Andy

Solitaire Online Feedback Manager

Happy birthday “The truth about Solitaire” Thank you for all your hard work over the past year. At least I know I am not alone in fighting Solitaire