LVT Praises “Impressive” Managing Agent As Vexatious Flat-Owner Loses Case

The case concerned an application brought by Mr. and Mrs. Aitken for the Appointment of a Manager. They own two out of the 84 flats in Park South in South West London. Mr. and Mrs. Aitken had been responsible for a considerable amount of previous litigation concerning the building. The Aitken’s had lost all of those cases, and be ordered to pay a total of £7,420.99 in costs.

The Aitken’s complained that the property was not being managed properly, and sought to argue about a number of issues which had already been decided in previous legal proceedings. The Tribunal remarked that the Aitken’s bundle of documents stretched to some 1,000 pages - “allowing for some rather eccentric pagination” - including three witness statements totalling 181 pages. Further, to support their application, the Aitken’s brought their proposed new managing agent, Mr. Newell, to the hearing. However, after patiently listening to the evidence Mr. Newell withdrew and informed the Tribunal that he no longer wanted to be considered for the appointment.

Commenting on Mr. Newell’s decision, the Tribunal said: “We are not surprised that Mr Newell decided to withdraw after the hearing of the evidence.”

In a rare expression of commendation for a managing agent, the Tribunal remarked:

“We were impressed with the evidence of Mr Freilich whose company has an impressive record in the field of leasehold management.”

The Tribunal, which was chaired by Professor James Driscoll, decisively dismissed the Aitken’s “vexatious” application and ordered them to pay £500 towards the costs of the resident-owned Landlord company.