Page 6 - STATEMENT OF CASE re-OCR s22_1

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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 enti- tled 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) All nine leases of Mitre House leasehold properties contain the following clause on page 16, Schedule 7 (Covenants on the part of the Lessor), clause 13: The Lessor shall em- ploy a firm of Surveyors or Managing Agents (if considered by the Lessor to be requisite) to manage the Property for and on behalf of or in conjunction with the Lessor or to assist and ad- vise the Lessor of its obligations hereunder and to pay their proper costs therefor and for this purpose the Surveyors or Managing Agents may be company connected with the Lessor or may be within the same group of Companies as the Lessor.
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 expertise, a relevant regulatory authority (such as the RICS or the Association of Residential Managing Agents), a code of conduct, professional indemnity insurance, complaints procedures and so on. Mr Brown-Constable, to whom all the management activity has been delegated by his co-directors, is a graphic designer by profession. The lessees see no reason why they should pay for his (unquali- fied) services the same sort of charge as they would have to pay for a properly qualified agent. (Indeed MHML is arguably extorting a higher than market charge - see para 6 below). MHML has no office costs to cover, no personnel costs, no professional indemnity or fidelity insurance, and no relevant expertise.
(comment/reply) All four original Directors being of mature age were considered professionals in their field, two of whom are Chartered Accountants, one of whom, the respondent Mrs M. Hill- garth is a Property Developer, and all three mentioned own or manage multiple properties. The fourth director, Mr Paul Brown-Constable is a retired Graphic Designer.
3. Misrepresentation and the MHML Website.
In order to justify its management charges MHML previously held itself out on its Mitre House website (http://www.mitrehouse.com/mitre-house-management-limited.html) as having relevant property man- agement experience.
MHML asserted, amongst many other claims, that MHML is lithe most used RTM service provider", "forms over 85% of all RTM companies" and had experience of handling collective freehold enfran- chisement applications. They further stated that MHML carried £3 million of professional indemnity cover. In fact these representations were all untrue and had simply been plagiarized in totality from the website of Canonbury Management - a bona fide property management company. MHML had also downloaded all of Canonbury's terms and conditions of business on to its own website. MHML had sim- ply changed the corporate name, wherever it appeared, from Canonbury to MHML.
As soon as this flagrant abuse was drawn to their attention, Canonbury objected to this breach of their copyright and forced MHML to withdraw and take down from the MHML website all the false misrepre- sentations as well as the plagiarized terms and conditions. However the leaseholders/tenants have re- tained copies of the previous website text for evidential purposes.
(comment/reply) Like many websites, it cannot be denied we did “borrow without permission” a lengthy listing of very boring conditions. We deleted the offending material and apologised pro- fusely to the company for the list of conditions we had plagiarised and it was gracefully accepted and the end of the matter. It is, one regrets, an endemic online crime worldwide.