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Third Schedule - Matters relied on by the tenants
The matters which will be relied upon by the tenants for the purposes of establishing the grounds in the Second Schedule above are set out in this Third Schedule below. They explain and develop (seriatim) the specific grounds set out in the Second Schedule, with reference to relevant supporting documents. The key items of evidence are Witness Statements from Mrs Michele Hillgarth (the leaseholder of Flat 5 at Mitre House) and Mr Tony White, the Managing Director of AR Lawrence and Sons Ltd (a building firm which was engaged to carry out the refurbishment project at Mitre House). Where admissions have been made in correspondence the relevant letters are numbered appropriately and attached to this Notice - see list of documents in the Fifth Schedule below.
(comment/reply) both Witness Statements already proved inaccurate. 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.
There are nine residential flats in total at Mitre House and there are retail premises on the ground floor. Mitre House Management Limited ("MHML") acquired the headlease of the block at Mitre House from River's Edge (Dorrington) in August 2011. Each of the three directors of MHML owns a flat in the block - Paul Brown-Constable owns Flat 7, Segar Karupiah owns Flat 2 and Jamil Raja (Dima International Lim- ited) owns Flat 6 - and each of them holds 25% of the shares of MHML. The balance of 25% is owned by Mrs Hillgarth, who was a director but was dismissed from office by the other three on 18 September 2014. The causes and consequences of this rupture are explained in the paragraphs below.
1. Background and the issue of Management Charges
MHML was originally established in 2011 in order to acquire the head lease of Mitre House and to ap- point an acceptable independent professional firm to manage the block. However no properly qualified managing agent was ever appointed and Mrs Hillgarth was persuaded, against her better judgement, that MHML would be better off managing the block itself. Since January 2012 MHML has (through Mr Paul Brown-Constable) been managing the block itself and imposing, as part of the overall service charge for the block, an MHML management charge to its own leaseholders/tenants.
The imposition of these MHML management charges lies at the root of all the problems that have subse- quently arisen at Mitre House, and which have recently given rise to serious allegations of blackmail, fraud, theft and false accounting.
Under Clause 13 of Schedule 7 of the various Leases (including Mrs Hillgarth's lease) the Head Lessee is obliged to employ a firm of surveyors or managing agents "if considered to be requisite". It is clear that MHML, as Head Lessee, may employ surveyors or managing agents and charge the lessees for the cost of engaging them. Equally MHML is entitled to take the view that it does not need to employ surveyors or managing agents. However this does not mean that MHML itself, as Head Lessee, is entitled to charge for its own time, or rather for the time incurred by its own directors, in doing (or attempting to do) the work that a proper managing agent would have done. Nor to call itself a managing agent and to charge the leaseholders as though it were one.
(comment/reply) already well covered in previous correspondence - legal opinions differ - 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 docu- ments to explain or deny as required.
2. Lack of Qualifications
While it is true that specific qualifications are not required to serve as a managing agent, it is not true, as asserted in an e-mail from Mr Brown-Constable to Mr Diego Fortunati (Flat 9) of 18 December 2015, that a "monkey can be an Agent these days". The role implies appropriate training and qualifications, relevant
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