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Fury at ‘life-shattering’ forfeiture case held in a secret court

April 3, 2013 by
Freeholder's barrister Alexander Bastin insisted public were barred from court

Freeholder’s barrister Alexander Bastin insisted public were barred from court

Both the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership and Dennis Jackson, a leaseholder at Plantation Wharf in Battersea, have complained to the Ministry of Justice that a forfeiture case was held in a secret court.

Jackson, 73, had his lease forfeited on January 30 and had 28 days to ask a court to lift the order before it became absolute and he lost his £800,000 property.

On February 26 at Wandsworth County Court considered the case but barrister Alexander Bastin, representing freeholder Cube Real Estate requested that the hearing be held in private.

He objected to the presence of Sebastian O’Kelly, of LKP, as “press” and referred to the Human Rights Act as grounds to hold the hearing in private. [Read more...]

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Dennis Jackson and Plantation Wharf: Did it have to end like this?

February 28, 2013 by
Plantation Wharf, opposite Chelsea Harbour, has seen a series of poisonous forfeiture disputes. The latest involving Dennis Jackson came close to ending in utter disaster

Plantation Wharf, opposite Chelsea Harbour, has seen a series of poisonous forfeiture disputes. The latest involving Dennis Jackson came close to ending in utter disaster

COMMENT by Sebastian O’Kelly

SEBASTIAN-OKELLY--144x150Two days ago when the barrister Alexander Bastin successfully asked the judge at Wandsworth County Court to throw me out of his court – citing the Human Rights Act – the whole sorry saga of Dennis Jackson and Plantation Wharf reached a new low-point … although not one without an element of dark humour.

Bastin, representing the freeholder of Plantation Wharf, Cube Real Estate, has defeated Jackson at every turn to the point where the latter was facing homelessness and destitution. The hearing – with only two days to go before Jackson’s £800,000 flat could have been lost forever – was to request the lifting of the forfeit order granted on January 30.

So when Bastin suggested that the Human Rights Act was grounds for ejecting the “press”, to use his term, one can only assume he was cracking some sort of lawyerly joke. The only human rights at issue were those of Jackson himself, by whose invitation I, and Martin Boyd, my colleague at the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership, had come to the court.

Jackson, 73, who was not legally represented, and a barrister for the Prudential, his mortgage lender, told the judge that they had no objection to our attending. But Bastin insisted and the judge – apologetically – ordered us out.

As a result, a closed court was convened to decide whether to take from Jackson every significant asset that he has, without the public having any right to be present.

Only in leasehold would such a thing be possible, one is tempted to conclude.

Having taken one bad decision – it should never be a minor matter to throw the public out of a court – Deputy District Judge Colquohoun sensibly lifted the forfeiture order returning the lease to Jackson as the Prudential agreed to pay off his outstanding debts.

The strain shows on the face of Dennis Jackson, 73, on Monday ... but at least Wandsworth County Court gave him back his home

The strain shows on the face of Dennis Jackson, 73, on Monday … but at least Wandsworth County Court gave him back his home

These are £76,086.20, and are wholly accounted for in legal costs. Jackson paid off the original disputed £7,548 service charges years ago.

Enormous though the legal costs are, the lawyers have appealed to the Upper Tribunal (Land Chamber) for more.

Jackson is desperately trying to sell his flat, where he has lived for 16 years, and what he walks away with is the open question.

At this point, it is worth re-capping on what has been going on at Plantation Wharf, a complex on the river at Battersea of 160 flats and 94 commercial premises that was built 18 years ago.

The neighbours include John Bercow, the Speaker of the House of Commons, who bought a £935,000 leasehold house in January, and Nigella Lawson, who has her TV studio kitchen there.

[Read more...]

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Leasehold pensioner reprieved from forfeiture … but the legal bill is £76,000 and rising

February 26, 2013 by
Dennis Jackson, 73, faced losing his home and his life-savings in a forfeiture action heard behind closed doors today

Dennis Jackson, 73, faced losing his home and his life-savings in a forfeiture action heard behind closed doors today

The pensioner who had the lease on his £800,000 flat forfeited won a reprieve today when his mortgage lender stepped in to pay his outstanding debts.

Dennis Jackson, 73, a former commercial photographer, had the lease on his split-level flat at Plantation Wharf in Battersea forfeited last month and had 28 days to be out of the property.

But in a court action this morning – the day before Jackson faced being ruined and made homeless – the Prudential, which has a £175,000 mortgage on the property, undertook to pay the outstanding debt.

Ninety per cent of the amount owed is accounted for in legal fees for the freeholder, Cube Real Estate. The original dispute involved only £7,000 in service charges.

[Read more...]

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Plantation Wharf leasehold pensioner has forfeiture order on his £800,000 flat

February 10, 2013 by
Dennis Jackson at Wandsworth County Court

Dennis Jackson at Wandsworth County Court

Dennis Jackson, a neighbour of Commons speaker John Bercow and TV chef Nigella Lawson, has had his leasehold £800,000 riverside London flat at Plantation Wharf forfeited by court order.

Unless a deal is brokered, retired photographer Jackson, 73, has until February 27  to pack his bags and get out of the attractive split-level apartment in Battersea in south London. He has been living there for 16 years.

Sir Peter Bottomley, Tory MP for Worthing West who has an interest in leasehold issues, has urged Jackson’s lenders, the Prudential, to intervene to prevent the flat being lost.

Three years ago Jackson refused to pay £9,000 in service charges for works he says were never carried out and was taken to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal. But although he won some points, the freeholder, Cube Real Estate, successfully argued that its £70,000 in legal costs be awarded against him.

On January 30, his lease was forfeited at Wandsworth County Court. Forfeiture of a lease – which is not the same as repossession – means that Jackson will lose all the equity he has in the property amounting to more than £600,000.

“I face absolute ruin because of this,” says Jackson. “I was arguing about service charges for items such as new hallway carpets and now I face losing my home and my entire life savings.

“I am looking at complete and utter destitution.”

The Leasehold Knowledge Partnership claims that this is the worst case of forfeiture it has encountered.

“This is not remotely justice,” said Sebastian O’Kelly, of the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership. “An argument over £9,000 becomes a legal bill of £70,000 and now a totally undeserved windfall for the freeholder of £800,000. Nothing better illustrates the absurdity of English leasehold law than this.

“If the forfeiture order is not overturned, it will be a national scandal.

[Read more...]

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Plantation Wharf pensioner wins 28-day reprieve on forfeiture

November 28, 2012 by

… but the legal feeding frenzy continues with a £4,000 bill

Dennis Jackson outside Wandsworth County Court this afternoon

Dennis Jackson, 73, escaped forfeiture today of his £800,000 flat at the Plantation Wharf in Battersea.

In a five-minute hearing Deputy District Judge Cole brushed aside arguments from Alexander Bastin, the barrister representing the freeholders and Plantation Wharf Management Limited, who demanded forfeiture of Jackson’s lease.

But Helen Turnbull, an open access barrister found for Jackson by LKP yesterday, successful argued that as Bastin and his team were appealing against the LVT decision that restricted their legal costs the issue was not concluded and therefore Jackson’s case should be adjourned. She also argued that it should be adjourned anyway to give Jackson time to contest the action.

To Jackson’s surprise, a representative of Prudential, his mortgage company, also was present asking for an adjournment in order to protect its £175,000 mortgage on the property. Jackson had thought Prudential would not be present.

Meanwhile, the legal costs gravy train kept on flowing with the freeholder’s extended legal team presenting a £4,000 estimated bill for the hearing.

Bastin argued that these should be paid. They would cover his fees, those of the solicitor Janice Northover, who was present but silent, her assistant who helps carry her bag, and even Phillip John, chief executive of managing agents Tideway, who at the LVT hearings successfully demanded £250 an hour in order to explain his “complex” accounts that the tribunal said were “very difficult for a lay leaseholder to understand without some kind of proper explanation”.

In spite of Bastin’s repeated objections, the judge ruled that costs were to be delayed and reserved.

The adjournment gives Jackson time to consider his options in the case. “That was as good a result as I could have got today,” he said.

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Battersea MP told to stay out of Plantation Wharf dispute

November 24, 2012 by

Battersea MP Jane Ellison (left) has been told not to interfere in the Plantation Wharf dispute where pensioner Dennis Jackson, 73, faces the forfeiture of his £800,000 flat on Wednesday.

There is a real possibility that this will happen. He is fighting the action alone and his mortgage company, owed £175,000, to date has not indicated it would be involved.

Ellison wrote to Bryan [Howard] Lewis, the ex-solicitor with an appalling professional record including a criminal conviction involving dishonesty, who chairs Plantation Wharf Management Limited. The residents have nominally controlled the company since October last year.

But Ellison has received a reply from Mike Benton, a director of PWML, but also an employee of Cube Real Estate, the freehold owner at Plantation Wharf.

“You will appreciate that this is a contractual dispute between Mr Jackson and this company [that is, PWML], which is currently the subject of ongoing proceedings in the Wandsworth County Court. Accordingly, it would be inappropriate to correspond with you on a matter that is the subject of judicial proceedings,” he writes.

But the wider question is why the residents’ management company should assist Cube Real Estate pursue this action, running up what an LVT has described as disproportionate “colossal” sums in legal fees in doing so?

Even the most phlegmatic Plantation Wharf resident might be concerned that their management company is doing the freeholder’s bidding and running up huge legal fees.

[Read more...]

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Plantation Wharf residents demand extraordinary general meeting to stop pensioner losing his home

November 20, 2012 by

Plantation Wharf was built 18 years ago, but it was only in October last year that the residents took over the management company that had been set up on their behalf

Leaseholders at Plantation Wharf are demanding an Extraordinary General Meeting to halt the legal action to forfeit the £800,000 flat of pensioner Dennis Jackson, 73.

Leaflets are circulating at the prime Battersea development overlooking the River Thames, where Nigella Lawson has her TV studio kitchen and where Commons Speaker John Bercow is in the process of buying a £935,000.

Jackson faces court action on November 28. It is the final stage of a protracted dispute over £9,000 of service charges that began in 2009 when Plantation Wharf Management Limited was controlled by the site’s freeholder. Since October 2011 the company has been controlled by the residents, but the board supports continuing the very expensive legal action.

One resident has written to the board: “My strong feeling is that, as this is such an important issue, the shareholders MUST have a say in this action, and Plantation Wharf Management Limited must have an explicit mandate from the majority of the shareholders for repossession.”

[Read more...]

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Pay first, argue later: Plantation Wharf shows how LVT’s £500 limit on legal costs can be bypassed

November 15, 2012 by

If you are in dispute with your freeholder over service charges (see Plantation Wharf case), pay the sum and fight the action retrospectively. Make sure that you are the applicant of the action, rather than the respondent.

The case of Dennis Jackson at Plantation Wharf raises the prospect of  freeholders seeking to circumvent the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal’s £500 limits on legal costs.

Since publishing the article, two leaseholders who own apartments worth several million pounds, have contacted LKP for advice on this issue.

Many leases do allow landlords to pass on their legal charges, but the LVT has the power to limit them being passed on as service charges provided leaseholders have reasonably brought a case and have been able to show that the charges have been unreasonably incurred.

What the Jackson case shows is that if a landlord – in this case a management company – is seeking recovery of a debt he may be able to claim legal costs as administrative charges under Schedule 11 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act. This would then circumvent the LVT’s ability to limit costs.

It is important not to withhold service charges for any reason to avoid this use of the law. Paying the service charge does not mean you accept liability to pay that amount – you must indicate that you do not accept the liability – and it can be challenged at the LVT retrospectively.

[Read more...]

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Pensioner who defied ‘complex’ service charges faces forfeiture of his £800,000 flat at Plantation Wharf

November 9, 2012 by

Plantation Wharf, Battersea, where pensioner Dennis Jackson faces having his home forfeited over a service charge dispute

By Sebastian O’Kelly

A pensioner faces having his £800,000 flat in one of London’s prime riverside developments forfeited by court order for refusing to pay service charges that he could not understand.

Astonishingly, the court action on November 28 is being pursued by the pensioner’s own neighbours in Plantation Wharf, Battersea – who may shortly include John Bercow, the Speaker of the House of Commons, and his wife Sally, who are negotiating the purchase of a flat.

Most of the residents have no idea that this drastic action – the absolute last stage in a leasehold dispute – is being carried out in their name.

The legal action was begun by Plantation Wharf Management Limited when it was controlled by the freehold owners at the mixed residential and commercial complex of 13 blocks. But residents took control of the company in October last year and the resident directors have ‘unanimously’ decided to continue the action.

In a further twist – also unknown to the residents – the chairman they elected to head Plantation Wharf Management Limited, Bryan [Howard] Lewis is a disgraced ex-solicitor, who has a criminal conviction for dishonesty. There is no suggestion that Plantation Wharf Management has acted improperly at any stage in the proceedings.

Following the intercession of the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership, local Battersea MP Jane Ellison has written to Lewis and his fellow directors urging restraint and to settle the issue without making the pensioner homeless.

Sir Peter Bottomley, MP for Worthing West who is intent on ending abuses in leasehold, has today urged Lewis to halt the litigation, with its spiralling costs.

“My direct request to you is that you see how to limit the costs he [the pensioner] may face, that you stay the action to take control of his property for forced sale and that you review whether the additional costs since you took responsibility have been as limited as possible.”

Baroness Gardner of Parkes, a strong campaigner for leaseholders, referred to “this absolutely tragic case” at last night’s meeting of the Federation of Private Residents Associations in London. She also met and commiserated with the individual concerned.

[Read more...]

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