A mum and her young son have been evicted from a flat she actually owns after she refused to back down over a service charge dispute.
Caroline Perry and her 12-year-old boy were forced to leave the £220,000 property in West Derby, Merseyside.
They were booted out of their Basil Grange home following her failure to meet the deadline for the repayment of legal fees, the Liverpool Echo reports.
It was claimed that £20,000 was owed and they are now "homeless" as the row escalated.
The 50-year-old parent, whose services charges were £1,800-per-year, originally disputed the fee because she couldn't see any evidence of work being carried out.
But Basil Grange Management Company Limited told her she was in breach of contract after withholding payment - and they took her to a property tribunal, and she had to foot the bill.
The “completely traumatised” parent says they are now living with a friend.
Basil Grange Management Company Limited were awarded possession of the flat on September 3 2020, but the possession order was suspended until March 1 2021 so she could raise the funds, which were in excess of £20,000.
She claims she couldn't earn the money because of the third lockdown.
She said: “Behind the lovely gates and lovely area of Sandfield Park, it is absolutely toxic.
“Granted there was a deadline for me to pay it, but we were still in lockdown.
“The kids were still doing remote learning and no businesses were sufficient enough to be in the position to lend anyone any money.”
She added: “All my property has been emptied and I wasn't allowed back in. I couldn’t get my medication, any identification documents.
“My son’s TV, his games, his Lego, everything’s just been taken away for the sake of a debt.
“I just want them to be reasonable, accept the money, albeit late. My son is my only priority.”
Ms Perry claims she has been denied access to her belongings because her name is not registered to where they are being held.
Basil Grange Management Company were asked for a statement regarding Ms Perry's belongings, but did not respond to the request.
Speaking on behalf of their client, Dallas and Richardson told the ECHO Ms Perry had accrued service charges dating back to 2012.
They said: “Ms Perry failed to pay — or make any offers to pay - her liabilities, while continuing to accrue service charge arrears for the years 2019 and 2020.
“This created a significant service charge deficit to the detriment of the other leaseholders at Basil Grange.
“On 1 September 2020, the Court granted an order to BGMC for it to enforce the charging orders by way of sale of Ms Perry’s property.
“Ms Perry was legally represented throughout these proceedings and the order was made after a fully contested final hearing.
“The court made provision that the order for sale would not take effect if Ms Perry paid by 1 March 2021 and if in the event payment was not made by 1 March 2021, Ms Perry was ordered to deliver up possession of the property on or before 29 March 2021.
“As Ms Perry failed to pay, make any offer to pay or vacate the property as ordered by the court, on 15 September 2021, BGMC took possession of the property.
“There can be no criticism directed to BGMC, its directors or its legal representatives for the actions taken against Ms Perry in respect of her longstanding and habitual refusal to pay services charges, which date back to 2012.
“BGMC have acted, at all times, in the best interests of the leaseholders of Basil Grange and made repeated attempts to resolve the dispute without recourse to legal proceedings, to no avail.
“Ms Perry’s persistent refusal to pay service charges and liabilities has led Ms Perry to the position in which she now finds herself.”
