Can they lie about repo property?

formulaonefan

Hello,

We viewed a property last week and we have been told by the EA that the property is part-exchanged and owned by a relocation company. But I have feeling it is a repo property. How can I find whether it is repo or not?

I paid £3 and bought land registry details. In 2002 it was bought by the owners and belonged to Lloyds TSB (mortgage providers). In 2007 it had registered charge changed to GE Money Home Finance Ltd. I'm confused. There isn't any information about part-exchanged in the records. Here is the last 4 points from the land registry record.

4 (13.05.2002) The Transfer dated 27 March 2002 referred to above contains a
covenant by the Transferee with the Transferor as to the grant of rights
as therein mentioned.
5 (13.05.2002) REGISTERED CHARGE dated 27 March 2002 to secure the moneys
including the further advances therein mentioned.
6 (12.12.2007) Proprietor: LLOYDS TSB BANK PLC (Co. Regn. No. 2065) of
Barnett Way, Gloucester GL4 3RL.
7 (13.05.2002) The Charge Certificate relating to the charge dated 27 March
2002 in favour of Cheltenham & Gloucester PLC is retained in Land Registry
(Section 63 of the Land Registration Act 1925)
8 (23.03.2007) REGISTERED CHARGE dated 12 February 2007.
9 (23.03.2007) Proprietor: GE MONEY HOME FINANCE LIMITED (Co. Regn. No.
592986) of 53-61 College Road, Harrow, Middx HA1 1FB.

In the first page of land registry record it says:

Lender(s): GE Money Home Finance Limited
Lloyds TSB Bank PLC

So is it owned by both Lloyds TSB and GE Money? Looking into it in detail I found GE money home finance ltd only deal with Secured Loans. Is it a repo property? If it is then why the EA says it is part-exchanged?

ad9898_3

'Relocation Company !', never heard of that, if I was a gambling man, I would say it was a repo. The best thing EA's are good at is lying, the next best thing is bending the truth.

harryhound

It is or nearly was a second mortgage repo to the sub prime lender from USA.
(Presumably the financial arm of General Electric?).
A classic MEW

It is just possible that the mortgagors got out from under by selling their home to one of those part exchange/sell to rent spiv firms, who have yet to register their ownership. Or perhaps it has already been a repo and the people who bought it at
auction are trying to make a quick turn.

What does the HIP say!!!!!!!!!!!!! Knock on their doors and ask the neighbours - they will love to dish the dirt if you ask with tact.

Perhaps the EA is trying to avoid telling you who actually owns the property?
Ask for the details of the sellers solicitors and ask them who their client is.

The only drawback in buying a repossession is that all the documentation will read "limited title guarantee". all this means is "you have actually seen the property so you probably know more about it than we do, don't bother to ask us any questions, if its not in the pack, then we don't know."
You might have a bit of a problem because there are two mortgagees Lloyds/C&G plus GE Money. Hopefully the law is clear on who gets what - perhaps someone with experience of buying in these circumstances will explain the rights of the first v second mortgagee?

They also might try to insist they will only reveal guilty secrets to your solicitor, don't know if they are legally allowed to take this stance, but when I was interested in repo (admittedly 10 years ago) I had to give my "family" solicitor a "consideration" to ask for the details and redirect them to me. (It turned out to be a good buy, when it was sold again 7 years later)

Harry.

Afterthoughts, find out when the postman delivers, see what he delivers, try and go and view it while the pile of mail is still on the mat - if, as we suspect, the previous owner was under financial distress, the letters on the mat might confirm it (we got a stream of letters and visits from those looking for the previous owner, who had "done a runner". )
Has the water been drained down - ordinary people don't bother, they want the property to look homely, so they leave the heating on a minimal setting.

Jorgan_2

EA's are not usually allowed to to say a property is a repossession, some will say they have been instructed by a company to sell the property, your EA may have got a little carried away with his/her story.

Repo's usually have the central heating & water systems drained down and the gas & electric turned off, there is usually an abundance of stickers saying 'Drained Down do not use' on sinks/fires/boilers/hot water cylinders etc. This does sometime happen on part ex properties, usually only in the winter. The chattels notice stuck in a window, a sealed letterbox & visitor log recording who has been to the property and for what purpose are also a give away the property is a repo.

As has been said, if its available, check the HIP, that will tell you who the seller is.

fatpig_2

formulaonefan wrote: »

Hello,

We viewed a property last week and we have been told by the EA that the property is part-exchanged and owned by a relocation company. But I have feeling it is a repo property. How can I find whether it is repo or not?
?

how do you know if an EA is lying? His/her lips are moving

Cat695

fatpig wrote: »

how do you know if an EA is lying? His/her lips are moving

Fatpig you are one of the very few posters on here that doesn't sit on the fence.....and I like it mate:D

Lotus-eater

Does it matter if it is a repo or not?

When I made an offer on a repo in the early 90', my offer had to go in the pocal paper and they had to wait some amount of time to see if anyone else would make a higher offer, do they still do that?

hethmar

Yes Lotus, they do advertise for 7 days I think and you are still open to gazumping up to exchange.

silvercar

You might have a bit of a problem because there are two mortgagees Lloyds/C&G plus GE Money. Hopefully the law is clear on who gets what - perhaps someone with experience of buying in these circumstances will explain the rights of the first v second mortgagee?

That is straightforward, the first charge gets repaid in full (including any arrears, early redemption penalties and sale costs if they organised the sale) before the second charge sees a penny.

zappahey

ad9898 wrote: »

'Relocation Company !', never heard of that,

I used one a couple of years ago when I changed job within our organisation. They basically buy your property from you at an agreed, independent valuation so that you can make a clean start at your new location. They then take over the sale of the house.

It's a business service and the employer picks up the costs.

ginvzt

Ok, we saw one of the houses 'bought' by relocation company and we could see it on the land registry data - we could see for how much it went and when the sale happened. (£220k in December). It then was empty ever since and finally sold in August this year - just checked sold prices and it went for £181.5k! No houses sold for less than that since 2003!

On the other hand - the repo house we were considering, is not recorded on land registry, had stickers all the around the house about drained central heating, disconnected electricity, gas and water supply, And 14 day notice stuck to the living room window.