Deeds not transferred on leasehold garage, owner missing!

dizzybee001 · 19 May 2017 at 11:44AM

Hi
I don't have her on facebook, I've found her on facebook. I've sent a message, we will see if she answers. If we had an address we could ask her if she objects, but we have to find her first.

My solicitor has been very clear on costs to sell the property, and he has never given any implication that I would be liable for any of the costs to sort this out. I agree that they were negligent, and I will argue that if they try to charge me anything. I'll let them go ahead and sort it out, if they then try to charge me I too will be writing to the senior partner!

This is a complete nightmare, and I am so stressed with it all.

dizzybee001 · 20 May 2017 at 2:12PM

Update!!
I sent a really nice message to the original owner saying sorry for bothering her etc but this was holding up my sale, please could she sign the paperwork if I got her in touch with my solicitor.
I got a really stroppy answer back, basically she wants nothing to do with it all, she felt that she had been forced to sign the original papers and she refused to be intimidated to sign these, that the house has been sold twice since and to not contact her again.
So, she said no!!
We've lost our buyer and Taylor wimpey have given us two weeks to sort this out or they will have to remarket their property. Which is fair enough really.
So, because I was the only one to pick up this mistake, because two solicitors and land registry have missed this and transferred the house without the garage, twice, even though the deeds clearly state they shouldn't have, I am now left with a house I can't sell.

dizzybee001 · 19 June 2017 at 4:09PM

“ dizzybee - fortunately this type of thing is a very rare occurence but can happen. We can't help re the insurance aspect but if you want to email us at [EMAIL="customer.service@landregistry.co.uk"]customer.service@landregistry.co.uk[/EMAIL] with the specific details re title(s) and address we can at least try to help unravel the FH/LH scenario for you

I'll edit out the email details once email received or you post otherwise
Originally posted by Land Registry representative

hi my solicitor has made the application, but would it be any use for me to email land registry myself to explain the situation, bearing in mind my application was rejected.
Thanks

Land_Registry · 21 June 2017 at 4:31PM

Apologies for slow response. Reading what you have posted since I don't believe it will make any difference if you wrote yourself to explain.

Land law and the registration requirements are quite clear as to how registered titles must be transferred. Unfortunately it simply did not happen in this case.

As I posted it is very rare but sadly it can happen. Unfortunately it is invariably down to poor conveyancing in the part of both seller and buyer as it is important to check that what is being sold/bought matches what is registered.

As a house can easily be sold and a garage kept or vice versa it can't just be later accepted on the word of everyone other than the still registered owner.

It is disappointing to note that the solicitor considers it 'obtuse' to worry about the legal ownership of a garage. It is after all our role to protect the legal interests of all parties.

And the key here is that the still registered owner is alive and presumably able to transfer the legal ownership. How that is achieved is really up to you and will very likely mean you have to make all the effort to make it as easy as possible for them to complete things.

Very rare. Very difficult to tackle sometimes. But necessary

dizzybee001 · 21 June 2017 at 4:46PM

Hi
Thank you for your reply, I really appreciate it.

We are doing all we can to get the title transferred, it's taking ages and now the new house has been sold on (which was inevitable). Such is life, it wasn't meant to be.

I appreciate that things have got to be done legally and correctly, it just feels that we have had to tackle a problem on every turn!

I will keep waiting (and nagging my solicitor!)

Thanks again

Slinky · 21 June 2017 at 5:36PM

Sorry to hear of your problem. Have you thought of offering this woman some money to sign?

dizzybee001 · 21 June 2017 at 7:43PM

Hi I did think of that but I think the problem might now be that the original owners solicitor is dragging their heels with the paperwork

dizzybee001 · 13 July 2017 at 3:13PM

Ok, update
We have lost our buyer, and the new house. TW withdrew the contracts, so we are back to square one. We are now waiting for the original owner to return the forms, we have sent her letter warning her that if she doesn't respond within 14 days then we will have to get the litigators involved. She won't take kindly to that but we have no choice.

So, we decided to enjoy the summer and not worry about things. But, I have now had a bill from the solicitor we were using to purchase the property and they want us to pay £600 towards work already done. Although it was TW that withdrew from the sale, it was because of the garage deeds that the purchase didn't go ahead. I don't think we should pay this, as we have already lost our buyer and our dream home, why should I be out of pocket £600 for someone else's mistake???

My solicitor is still reassuring me that we will get the garage transferred over, as it should have been done at the time, its linked on the deeds to the house, and we just need this person's signature. But, someone please tell me, if that is the argument, then why have the Land Registry refused to just sign it over?? If the original owner refuses to sign then where does that leave me??

Gutted, fed up and about to cry

Thanks

Land_Registry · 13 July 2017 at 4:36PM

dizzybee001 although it is just a signature on a form that is needed the law is quite clear that the ownership has to be legally transferred. By executing the form TR1 they are effectively transferring the legal ownership.

Whilst the garage/property may be 'linked' that is not enough - I'm sure you will appreciate that someone might sell the garage separately or vice versa. So without that legal transfer of ownership it is not as 'simple as that'

As far as the 'mistake' is concerned you may have a tough and therefore expensive time in proving where any blame lies. I say expensive as your solicitor should be able to explain that for you, suggest who may be to blame and pursue it on your behalf. But they are unlikely to do that for free.

The alternative is to contact the firm who you think made or contributed to the mistake? Whether they respond is another matter but if they don't and you feel you have a case then they should have a complaints process and/or their website should indicate who their regulatory authority are.

I'm really sorry to read you lost the sale/purchase but pleased to note that your are close to securing the legal transfer you need

dizzybee001 · 13 July 2017 at 4:54PM

Hi thanks again for your advice and for replying. When i say the garage is linked on the title, I mean that there is a clause clearly stating that the title of the house cannot be transferred without contemporaneously transferring the deeds of the garage at the same time. So the garage cannot be sold separately.
So my worry is, with this in mind, if the original owner refuses to sign, just to be difficult, I will never be able to sell my house.

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Deeds not transferred on leasehold garage, owner missing!

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