Management company debacle

AS EVERY day goes by, tens of thousands of householders continue to be the victim of unregulated management companies. These companies demand hundreds and indeed thousands of euro every year for services that in many cases are not provided and in many more are overpriced and should be provided as a public service without a direct charge as in established estates.
It is generally those who are shackled to massive mortgages, for properties bought at the height of the boom, that are also tied up in these companies. Promises by the Greens in particular that they would enter no government, unless this extortion racket was sorted out, have long been forgotten as they sit in their comfortable jobs with their secure pensions.
Meanwhile, residents on the ground are suffering pay cuts and job losses. The level of non-payment of management fees is escalating sharply. Not a District Court session takes place without these cases being listed. Increasingly, householders are being forced to make a stand. Even the judiciary is fed up that nothing has been done.
Before Christmas, residents from Ridgewood in Swords and Martello in Balbriggan had their cases struck out. Balbriggan’s Brackenwood residents are back up in court in February, the management company having failed to reach agreement with the residents, as ordered by the judge.
This entire situation is an utter debacle, which is putting ordinary homeowners under huge and unwanted pressure. In many estates, residents have come together in order to try and take on these companies. But we need to link up beyond that.
Throughout the course of January and February, the Socialist Party is organising information forums in the areas most affected by this issue, in order to bring together those people from the different estates to exchange experiences and step up the pressure on this issue. For more information, contact Cllr. Clare Daly on 8408059.