Carparking Private Apartments

Father in law lives in privately owned apartment in Laois. Pays yearly management company fees since moving in. Recenly got letter from Company that own the carpark looking for "arrears" of 7 years car parking charges despite only moving in 15 months ago. Clampers starting to operate in the middle of the night on behalf this company.

Would the "arrears" for 5.5 years not be for the company to chase the old owners for? and liability for balance rest with him?

SharkMX

Solicitor should have checked if there were any outstanding fees left on the apartment when buying.

3DataModem

The solicitor who did the conveyance for him will have insisted on any claim for previous liability being with the vendors. Tell them that you only acquired the property on X date, show the management company minutes of the meeting where the fees were agreed, and you'll deal with the 1.5 years.

I got an apartment two years ago and the owner owed 15k to the management company(!) and tried to make it my problem. My solicitor got an undertaking that the vendor would deal with any arrears with the management company.

Peregrinus

When you say he lives in a privately owned apartment, does he own it? Or is he renting it from a private owner?

Assuming he owns it, and that he bought it 15 months ago, he (or his solicitor) should have got an assurance (and, ideally, proof) at the time of purchase that all fees and charges associated with the property were paid up to date, or else the amount of any outstanding fees and charges should have been deducted from the purchase price. You'd need to look in detail at the title deeds relating to the property but it is likely that liability for outstanding fees does indeed pass with the property (you can see why things would be set up that way) so probably he does have to pay the management company.

The question is whether he recovers the amount he has to pay from the people who sold him the apartment for breach of warranty (assuming they warranted that everything was paid up to date) or from his own solicitor for negligently failing to nail this down and get such a warranty.

It's possible that he can't recover from either — e.g. if you buy a foreclosed property the seller will usually say that they simply don't know about any liabilities of this kind and can't give you any warranty, and the risk of there being liabilities of this kind is yours, and you factor that into the price you are willing to pay for the property.

Former Former Former

From what you’re saying, the car park is owned and operated by a different company to the one that manages the apartments, is that correct?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121627360#Comment_121627360

Yes you are correct. Seems to be resolved though. Mods please close thread. Sincere thanks to all who took the time to reply.

Marcusm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121627348#Comment_121627348

It’s not as simple as that. The solicitor should have obtained an undertaking from the other solicitor that they would be discharged out of the purchase funds and the relevant receipt furnished as soon as possible after closing. The charges will be a burden on the apartment and the OMC can seek forfeiture of your ownership to pay outstanding charges even if they relate to a period prior to your ownership.