COMMUNICATIONS Features
When it's hard to talk
Communication is key to a good relationship between managing agents and their customers. But sometimes it's just not that easy, as Sue Maunder Taylor reports
When faced with an irrational or unreasonable 'won't pay, can't pay’ leaseholder, or control freak director, communication is
difficult. You cannot hold a discussion with 'brick walls', 'crusaders', the obsessed and the entrenched. They know only one way to communicate - their way or no way. The self- interested director of an RMC and the amateur lawyer know every principle and authority which supports their case and refuse to listen to any alternatives. And the apathetic directors who will not make decisions or give you instructions present a whole different set of problems.
There are also the leaseholders who habitually avoid payment of service charges and ground rent. Either they think they will pay you when it suits them or, because they are a director and see themselves as “your client”, they think the obligations of the lease do not apply to them. And there are the leaseholders who
Issue 20
won't pay and insist they never received the invoices, nor the reminders or indeed the final reminders. Ordinary communication will not solve these problems. This particular type of lessee is a game player and the game is played out every time the service charges are due. So how can managing agents tackle these problem leaseholders and ensure that other residents' lives are not adversely affected by these difficult and often intransigent characters?
Resolving the problem Successful communication results from:
listening; being objective and fair; balancing one person's position with another person's position; finding areas of agreement and building upon them; giving logical reasons for disagreement; correcting any misinformation and agreeing
relevant facts; admitting an error and sincerely apologising; being knowledgeable about the consequences of a particular decision or agreement; being willing to consider different options for resolution; and firmly, but courteously, effecting a decision and confirming it in writing.
Communication involves at least two people. You are lucky if each is prepared to engage in the old cliché of two ears and one mouth. You do not need an experienced and trained managing agent for that. A table, chairs and coffee will do just as well.
There is a certain amount you can learn from training but experience is invaluable and natural people skills are irreplaceable. As a managing agent, always start by carefully reading the lease; reading what it actually says
45
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72