Monifieth residents have voted to sack the factor for their estate, even as the firm threatened a fine far in excess of its dues.
The first item on the agenda at Saturday’s special meeting of West Grange Residents’ Association was to terminate Greenhome Property Management as factor with immediate effect.
A quote from Angus Council to act as contractor is around half the cost and the association will move towards appointing the local authority as from April.
However, residents have received correspondence about £1,500 in unpaid fees from Greenhome, which threatened to fine all 131 occupants £100 each.
The residents expect the sacking to be challenged by Greenhome, which maintains public open space on the estate and has 2,700 customers in similar housing developments across Scotland.
They say their title deeds allowed the residents’ association to call a special meeting and AGM, at which they could ”reappoint the current factor, appoint another factor or do not appoint any factor.”
Chairman Stephen O’Brien said: ”We had a very good meeting, which went on for two and a half hours and was well attended for this kind of business.
”It was a unanimous vote, with four abstentions, but by the end of the meeting they (abstainers) were probably the most vocal for getting rid of the company.
”The residents received a bit of a threatening letter from Greenhome, which referred to us as ‘the purported residents’ association,’ which is of course a lie.
”It was written to divide and conquer, but it has really just put everyone’s backs up. We just wanted them to uphold their end of the agreement now we just want them out.”
Mr O’Brien will attend a Scottish Government workshop in Edinburgh this week on the subject of factor agreements, to which he will take evidence of the association’s battle.
Greenhome has said that residents are ”perfectly entitled to sack or appoint anyone they wish, provided the correct procedures are followed.”
However, the firm says it is ”not aware of any properly constituted residents’ association, and have never been provided with proof that office bearers have been duly elected to such positions.”
It also added: ”Currently Greenhome have no outstanding issues on the development and no complaints about the service provided.”
Mr O’Brien said the group was ”constitutionally formed by a lawyer acting on behalf of Taylor Wimpey Homes in line with the requirements of our title deeds.”
The meeting at the Panmure Hotel came after Monifieth families lost a lengthy court battle for non-payment of charges (link).
The householders, led by Graham Thoms, began to withhold payment for factoring because they were unhappy with both the quality of work and the amount being charged.
Many claimed they had never signed up for such a service, but the court ruled that a clause in the title deeds of their homes meant Taylor Wimpey, which built the estate, had the power to appoint a factor.
Mr Thoms challenged the firm’s right to charge a fee to look after common ground, claiming that the contract was both unfair and illegal.
If the court judgment had gone in favour of the residents it could have set a legal precedent for claims across the UK.
However, Sheriff Derek Pyle concluded that Greenhome’s contract was valid, which is why the residents have to pay.
The Glasgow firm charges for management and maintenance costs and takes a fee to cover public liability insurance.
Despite finding in favour of Greenhome, Sheriff Pyle did note a number of flaws in how the firm had acted.
Photo by Flickr user Rennett Stowe.