Service charges are the lifeblood of any Owner Management Company. Without the regular flow of cash, it becomes very difficult to keep the operations of apartment blocks running smoothly. So how best to handle situations where service charges are not being paid?
Service Charge Collection
When surveyed by KPM, one of the main reasons our communities say they don’t pay service charges on time is because they don’t understand where their money goes.
The most important thing is to have clear communication with your residents. They should be fully aware of the charges they are responsible for, what it will be used towards and when they will be expected to pay. Our advice is to make everything about your service charge demands straightforward and easy to understand.
You should provide a clear summary of any outstanding charges, including a plain English explanation for any increases in fees, details of how residents can make payments and a clear deadline for payment. You should also provide a clear route for residents with any queries to follow, including helplines or email addresses. A summary of potential penalties for late or non-payment of fees should also be included.
Hire a Property Management Company
At KPM Group we have an in-house team of fully qualified ACCA accountants and we pride ourselves in the quality and responsiveness of our financial management and reporting. Our integrated property management and financial management IT system allows us to report in detail to clients on any agreed basis relating to the collection of service charges.
Ensuring financial liquidity is vital for any apartment development and KPM’s in-house credit control division ensures a high rate of service charge collections with minimum debtors in each financial year. A robust process of steps to be undertaken for the collection of outstanding service charges outside of the relevant financial year is adapted by credit control when and if the position arises.
If you have any questions or need advice regarding service charge fee collection for your property, then contact us here at KPM Group today and a member of staff will be happy to help in any way we can.
