Page 13 - 81_COURT ORDERS OCR _1-11-16 (from 8-8-16)

On 23 March 2016 a number of questions were put to Mr Brown-Constable formally through Mrs Hill- garth's solicitor. These requested a breakdown/ explanation of the "Reserves utilised" which, accord- ing to the Service Charge Accounts for the year to 31 December 2016, amounted to £105,877 against the budgeted figure of £105,019.38 for the agreed works. If the whole of this sum of £105,877 had not been paid to AR Lawrence & Sons Ltd, to whom had the balance been paid? Had any payments been made to MHML, or to any director of MHML, or to any person, firm or company connected with MHML or any of its directors? As regards the additional charges made to Mrs Hill- garth and others, outside the scope of the approved refurbishment scheme, including those for a water tank replacement (£867.87), communal TV Sky and HD (£593), a Sky Dish re-install re cable (£250) and for keys (£50), MHML was asked to supply the original supplier invoices for these items, not the MHML invoices/statements which Mr Brown-Constable had supplied on 18-21 September 2015.
Mr Brown-Constable has a duty as a director of MHML, the head lessor managing (or purporting to manage) Mitre House, to supply this information. He has failed to do so. Under Section 22 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 Mrs Hillgarth and other leaseholders have the right to inspect ac- counts, receipts, and other documents supporting the accounts summary, and MHML is obliged to afford her reasonable facilities to do so, including the ability to take copies or extracts.
(comment/reply) already well covered in previous correspondence - repetitious and explained - We will rely on presentation of all correspondence to date including initial 23 March letter with comments attached, Draft Crime Report dated 12 July with comments attached, all with supporting documents to explain or deny as required.
11. Blackmail and Intimidation
At paragraphs 43-73 of her Witness Statement, Mrs Hillgarth has made serious allegations that Mr Brown-Constable attempted to blackmail and intimidate her in September/October 2014, in the course of the refurbishment project at Mitre House. Specifically the allegation, which is supported and evidenced by detailed e-mail correspondence, is that by threatening unpleasant but unrelated recriminations (as'detailed in the statement) Mr Brown-Constable tried to pressure her (a) to pay cer- tain additional funding requirements related to the refurbishment project and (b) to secure the pay- ment of those funding requirements by other leaseholders at Mitre House.
(comment/reply) already well covered in previous correspondence - repetitious and explained - We will rely on presentation of all correspondence to date including initial 23 March letter with comments attached, Draft Crime Report dated 12 July with comments attached, all with supporting documents to explain or deny as required.
12. Lack of Competence
It is apparent from the correspondence that MHML and Mr Brown-Constable have proved wholly in- competent in managing the refurbishment project as well as the budget. At no time was this more ap- parent than in the course of September 2014. In a flurry of some 20 e-mails to the leaseholders over as many days Mr Brown-Constable moved from a statement to the effect that no additional funding would be required from the leaseholders, to a request for additional funds of £2,000 (both for addi- tional service charge and for one off reserves), to a statement that certain approved and funded works were to be cancelled.
In the course of the refurbishment project leaseholders were advised, at 10.30 pm on a Friday night, of the urgent necessity to replace their water tank, but unsupported by any sort of rational explana- tion, or third party inspection report, or by alternative quotations. This compounded a similar un- scheduled "emergency" on 10 August 2014 when leaseholders had been advised that: "due to some emergency electric works following our recent electrical report, electricians will be attending Mitre House for a week and whilst various other electrical works are carried out as a further economy measure". This had "only become apparent on Friday 8th [August] and best to get out of the way be- fore major works commence on Ist September." These electrics were "not included in the A&R Lawrence quote".
13