The Effects Solitaire Could Have On Your HIP
By admin | September 22nd, 2009 | Category: Past Articles | 16 commentsOver the weekend I was speaking with a friend that is an Estate Agent and the topic of ‘Property Management’ came up in conversation and how the Property Management agent can actually affect you selling your home.
Firstly, if the lessee is not in receipt of their Lease, they have to contact the leaseholder to request a copy of the Lease for their property, as the lease has to be included within the ‘HIP’ (Home Information Pack). More than likely, the leaseholder will charge to provide the copy of the lease!
It is this request, where the first delay in advertising the lessee’s property can be encountered. Until the HIP is completed (subject to certain survey’s and timescales) the Estate Agent is unable to advertise the property, therefore, delaying any potential buyers viewing the property.
Secondly, it is necessary to include details of the management accounts for the lessees property within the HIP. From some of the experiences contributors to TheTruthAboutSolitaire have highlighted. It appears that many of the Management Accounts are incorrect and therefore, this incorrect information could possibly affect the sell of the property.
It is all very well for Andy and co from Solitaire / Peverel / Consensus Business Group, to blame the accounts system and make excuses for these errors, but these errors could contribute to a lessee being unable to sell their property.
I’m sure all of us would agree, that had we had the experiences of Solitaire / Peverel we now have, prior to purchasing our properties, none of us would have bought them, due to the fact that Solitaire would rip us off! Therefore, why would any potential buyers want to get into this position, no matter how nice the property is.
I do have a question for those contributors that have managed to escape the claws of Solitaire and may be able to answer for us is:
Now that you have appointed a different Management Company, has your lease changed?
I ask this question as, many of the properties that are managed by Solitaire, appear to have Estates & Management as their Leaseholder (who is acting on behalf of Holdings & Management (Solitaire) Ltd). In my case, my lease states that Holdings & Management are the Leaseholders and explains the percentages of contributions each property makes to the management charge and informs me that Solitaire Property Management are the management company.
I have a copy of my lease and if our development were to change property management companies, my lease would still detail ‘Solitaire Property Management’, despite them no longer being responsible for the development.
Therefore, leading to the lease I enclose within the HIP (when I come to sell my property) being incorrect. Which would then mean I require a copy of the new lease from the leaseholder (which I’d have to pay for)!
Bringing me to ask another question of whether the leaseholder did/will/would issue a new lease to lessees to sign?
Andy from Solitaire
Finally, on another note having asked for Andy to answer a few questions, together with asking whether he was Andy M, he appears to have gone very quiet?
TheTruthAboutSolitaire contributor ‘Brian’ raised a very good point yesterday in saying:
how about we end all of this impersonal email messsaging and Andy you organise a User Group meeting in the Midlands and we can all come along and meet you and the board of Peverel. We can invite the Times and Watchdog and we can have a discussion like men, in the open for all to hear and sort out of differences.
You pay for the room and we all get oursleves there and you invite every Solitaire, Peverel, E&M customer and supplier and we give each party a platform to speak from. Solitaire/Peverel/E&M, a representative from TheThruthAboutSolitaire and a couple of supplier reps
I am up for it and I am sure everyone else would be – so come on lets all get together face to face!!!!
I think this is a fantastic opportunity for Peverel / Solitaire to prove themselves to their customers, however it’s highly unlikely that they will do this. Especially, if the Property Managers don’t tell residents when they will be onsite (for fear of complaints and arguements), what chance would they have with thousands of clients in one location.
‘Matts’ comment about Villa Park holding 40,000 was a good idea, although I feel that may still not be big enough! Wembley possibly??
If Solitaire / Peverel wish to take the ‘silent approach’, that is fine with us. But please do not expect to use TheTruthAboutSolitaire as a tool to try and promote efficiency, customer service and the fact you listen to our complaints, as this will not be tolerated.
Interesting. I did try to sell my flat last year and therefore had to get a HIP done – luckily, I’ve always had a copy of my lease, so I didn’t have to get a new one from Solitaire.
I do recall that when I bought my flat 10 years ago, I chased up my conveyancing solicitor to see why it was taking so long (I had my mortgage sorted, and there was no chain), the answer I got back was that it was taking a long time for my solicitor to get the necessary information from the management company….. If only I’d known then what I know now…!!!
As it happens, I couldn’t sell last year due to the collapsing housing & mortgage markets – if I had, I wouldn’t now be visiting this website on a daily basis….. I’d found another leasehold flat (and agreed a purchase price), and had established that the management company who looked after the development were a local, small company, and that the residents’ association were very happy with the management company… The development was also immaculate – somebody actually cared about it…..
Such is life…..
Regarding changes to a management company possibly affecting the wording of the lease, and this in turn potentially messing up an already-prepared HIP, bear in mind that the Conservatives are rumoured to want to scrap HIPs, should they get into power. The General Election must happen no later than 3rd June 2010, so HIPs could be consigned to the bin within 9 months or so…..
I had my flat nearly sold at the height of the market a couple of years ago – guess why it fell through…?
Solitaire failed to respond to any enquiries from the estate agent regarding the service charge, so the buyer got fed up and the sale fell through.
Incompetent morons who have cost me and will continue to cost me and anyone who has any dealings with them a lot of money.
…this thread should be re-titled “The Effects Solitaire Could Have On Your Mind!” – their actions are enuff to drive any sane person crazy!
I am absolutely livid. After CF telling she would do a better job then Anthea Moors (lets face it, that wouldn’t be hard) she’s renegaded on nearly every promise and over a year since demanding revised figures, having CF promise to do them, we have received, yet again, threatening letters.
And now this? Incompetent doesn’t do their moronic ineptitude justice.
Hi admin, Matt & IHS
Having read your posting on HIP’s I thought it was worth asking whether you have come across the useful website http://www.homeinformationpacks.gov.uk ?
This takes you direct to the DirectGov site that lists what is required in a HIPS pack as far as Leasehold property in concerned. As I’m sure many people will know the HIP is made up of compulsory and optional items. The compulsory documents you need are:
1. Home Information Pack Index
2. The new Property Information Questionnaire (PIQ) (from 6 April 2009)
3. Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) or Predicted Energy Assessment (PEA)
4. sustainability information (required for newly built homes)
5. sale statement
6. evidence of title
7. standard searches (local authority, drainage and water)
8. a copy of the lease (NB If there’s a delay getting a copy of the lease, it can be added to the HIP after the property goes on the market, within 28 days of that date)
Other documents can be included within your HIP, but these are optional.
1. Home Condition Report
2. legal summary
3. home use/contents form
4. other documents like specialist searches (for example,a mining search in a mining area)
I asked our Company Solicitor to give his view on several of the points you raised.
Normally a seller will have a copy of their lease or, if they have lost or mislaid it, they will ask their solicitor to obtain a copy for them. The seller, or their solicitor, will contact the Land Registry for a copy – they don’t need to contact Solitaire or any other managing agent. It is rare for the managing agent to be asked for a copy. The Land Registry normally takes about a week to supply a lease, certainly well within the 28 day requirement.
In fact the Property Information Questionnaire (PIQ), published by the Department for Communities and Local Government, suggests that you should contact Land Registry direct if you want a copy of your lease:
“All leaseholders should have their own copy of the lease although sometimes this is held by the mortgage lender or the conveyancer who handled the purchase. A copy can normally be obtained from the Land Registry – http://www.landregisteronline.gov.uk. It is unlikely that the managing agent will be able to provide a copy of the lease.”
Our Company Solicitor was at pains to stress that a change of managing agent does not change the terms of the lease or require a new lease to be prepared. The seller only has to provide details of the current company or managing agent to whom you pay service charges on the PIQ.
If anyone selling their property does experience a delay in their solicitor obtaining relevant information from us please let me know by emailing me direct on andy.solitairepm@peverel.co.uk and I will alert the relevant people.
I hope this helps to answer your questions.
Thanks
Andy
Solitaire Online Feedback Manager
ha ha CF’s first name… the irony
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassandra [Admin Edit - Andy, this isn't being removed because it has no association to CF']
“…no one would ever believe her predictions.”
If you are receiving threats for money, report Solitaire or the collection company to the police and let them deal with it.
It is criminal behaviour to demand monies with threats.
Admin
I am a fortunate one in that RTM is soon to be granted.
Could anyone tell me how we get access to our accounts so they can be independently verified?
Jon
I have recently moved my Solitaire managed flat from my own use to tenanted use and needed Solitaire to provide agreement to change my mortgage accordingly. I spoke to several people at Solitaire all of whom suggested a different course of action and requirement from Solitaire. Meanwhile my solicitor had the same problem. In the end we got the permission but it took so long for them to do the paperwork – including losing records of payments made and letters already written – that it threatened to derail my mortgage application.
I have now got a new problem – I have paid my service charges for forthcoming six months using Solitaire’s payment system. I have confirmed with my card provider that they took this money on the date I expected. Yet 7 days after the payment was in fact made they arranged for bailiffs to contact me and I am still struggling to get a response from the bailiffs!
None of this would be so annoying if the level of service was good – but as we all know, it isn’t! Has anyone else had this happen?
Rey – this sounds like ANOTHER problem with Solitaire’s accounting systems…..
Your card holder’s information is surely sufficient proof that you have made the payment to Solitaire as required – if said payment has then gone AWOL their end, then that’s their problem. You can prove you’ve paid, so you are in the clear.
I would suggest you have a copy (i.e. proof) of the payment made to hand, just in case the bailiffs should come knocking. If they do, you can then prove that you have made payment as required, and then politely tell them to get lost, and talk to Solitaire…..
I wonder how many others have had problems with payments made via Solitaire’s payment system…??? Is it a common problem that having used the system, payments made are seemingly not registered against individual accounts (which seems to be what has happened to Rey), leading to un-necessary bailiff threats – which Solitaire seem to be very good at issuing…???
I’m sure the bailiff companies themselves are not impressed when they get aborted cases when it turns out it’s an accounting and/or administrative cock-up….. But then the bailiff companies are probably all part of the family too…..
Hi Rey
Thanks for your posting,
I’m sorry to hear of your frustrations, if you would like to email me further details of your complaint and your development address, I will forward them directly on to the senior Solitaire team for investigation.
My direct email address is: andy.solitairepm@peverel.co.uk
Thanks
Andy
Solitaire Online Feedback Manager
Re. Having a “User Group Meeting” – even if Solitaire are not up to the challenge of dealing with their ‘customers’ directly at such an event it still might be worth having something like this in the future, inviting (Solitaire of course and also!) MP’s, BBC, Ch4, OFT, The Times etc. along too so they can hear first hand what the situation is!
It would also be helpful to ‘sufferers’ all to meet, share experiences and empathise with each other. This site has helped start a following and there is strength in numbers!
Admin is this something you would consider helping to organise?
If a “User Group Meeting” with Solitaire was organised, to include the media, I suspect Solitaire would not attend. I suspect they would not want to face up to a large group of aggrieved residents, and even less so with the media present to record it all.
I might be wrong – perhaps Andy could advise on whether representation from Solitaire / Peverel etc. would attend such a meeting if invited. If not, what reasons / excuses would be given for declining the invitation…???
Message to Andy
Andy I have just received an extra charge for my property at Kennedy Court Chapleford, Warrington for another £221.52 i.e. an extra 25%.
Perhaps you could explain a couple of things to me
1. Cleaning estimated at £5800 Actual (or fabricated) £7233.61. How can you underestimate cleaing by almost 50% plus how can this be when I spent the first six months of the year complaining that no cleaning had been done and only laterly has the building been properly cleaned
2. Electricity estimated at £1300 Actual £7401.27 i.e. you estimated the electricity based on the previous 4 years and were 600% wrong.
3. Repairs and maintenence £3000 Actual £5902.01 depsite the fact that you have been paying the cleaner to do the repairs(the little repairs that have actually been done), I know this because the property manager told me when I met up with her. This means that the cleaner has earned around £13000 just on my building alone – he must be the richest cleaner on the planet.
This statement stinks of corruption and lies, but before i proceed any further I will give you the opportunity to have somebody explain it to me.
Admin – can you pop these figures on “The Times” and “Watchdog” section please. If either want to talk to me I am more than happy to do so.
if anybody else using this site has a property in Chapelford could you please send me your email address
Hi brian
Thanks for your posting,
The queries you raise are very detailed and will require further investigation; I have sent these directly to the senior Solitaire team, who will come back to you with a detailed response.
Thanks
Andy
Solitaire Online Feedback Manager