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Forfeiture restrictions
Service charge cases - restriction on forfeiture
Mohammadi v Anston Investments Ltd [2003] EWCA Civ 981
Section 81 of 1996 Act
Section 81 of the Housing Act 1996 (prior to the amendement by s170 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002) provided as follows:(1) A landlord may not, in relation to premises let as a dwelling, exercise a right of re-entry or forfeiture for failure to pay a service charge unless the amount of the service charge-(a) is agreed or admitted by the tenant, or
(b) has been the subject of determination by a court or by an arbitral tribunal .. (2) Where the amount is the subject of determination, the landlord may not exercise any such right of re-entry or forfeiture until after the end of the period of 14 days beginning with the day on which the decision of the court or arbitral tribunal is given. Facts
This case highlights the importance of s81. T had refused to pay the service charges because of a dispute over disrepair and claimed damages for disrepair. L counter-claimed for forfeiture based on non-payment of ground rent and the service charges. Save for a small sum the trial judge dismissed T's claim and gave judgment for L in the sum of £297 arrears of rent and £8,511.26 arrears of service charges. He also made an order for posse ... THIS IS AN EXTRACT OF THE FULL TEXT. TO GET THE FULL TEXT, SEE BELOW
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